and a good section will attempt to stagger the changes
Was wondering just the other day exactly that.
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Double Bass Double stops on bowed double bass
- Thread starter the exile
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- bowed double double bass
and a good section will attempt to stagger the changes
Was wondering just the other day exactly that.
"Could" is the question that is being asked, where "should" might be more appropriate. If you are writing for an orchestra, you essentially have two options: If you have an orchestra that has commissioned the piece and will be performing it, you can (and arguably should) write with that particular orchestra in mind or you can write "for orchestra" with the decisions being made reflective of what would be considered possible within the scope of a professional orchestra.
If you are writing for a particular orchestra, then understanding the scope of what is available to you is very important. Many community/amateur/semi-professional orchestras have a wide range of abilities within their orchestras ranging from some fairly weak players up to professionals who are either paid principal players, or hired subs to fill in vacancies in the orchestra. If you only have three violas regardless to how strong they are, that limits what you can do with them. In the bass section, number of players is one of the first questions to ask yourself, followed by access to the low notes, and then an overall sense of their capabilities. There are some exceptionally strong and/or large community orchestra bass sections out there, and some very weak and/or small ones as well.
If you are writing "for orchestra" then you can make a few assumptions that you will have a standard sized orchestra that is capable of playing anything asked for in the standard repertoire. Most professional double bassists would be capable of playing double stops, and working on them as part of a practice routine or at least during their formal study of the instrument would be common as well. Having a section play double stops in tune, be it basses or violins, is not an easy thing to ask for. As Paul mentioned most orchestras will divide them and often do so even when the composer has asked for them not to be divided. If you assume a standard section of 8, then you can make decisions based on how thin you want them spread. Keep in mind that it is quite rare to see divisi in double bass parts as the majority of what we play in orchestral music is one part with a few exceptions. Three or four part divisi are exceptionally rare and while we can all point to particular examples that do exist, they need to be considered in the context of how often we are playing a unison line. We also spend a significant amount of time doubling the cellos, and often share lines with the bassoons, trombones, tuba, etc.
"Thick" in a score or as playback on a notation software can often come across as "mud" or "indiscriminate rumble" when you add in a real orchestra, and the acoustics of the performance space. Double basses in three parts could work on its own and there are more than a few double bass quartets out there that can get really crunchy at times, but that is in isolation and not in the context of the orchestra. If you have three double bass lines along with a cello line (or two or three) two bassoons, 4th horn, three trombones, tuba, and timpani all in the same register playing independent parts, you could create a real mess. With just the bass part you have provided and not the other bass part or any idea of what the rest of the orchestra is doing we can say "yes, this is possible" and answer the could question, but we really can't answer the should question with whether or not it is advisable or would yield favourable results.
If you are writing for a particular orchestra, then understanding the scope of what is available to you is very important. Many community/amateur/semi-professional orchestras have a wide range of abilities within their orchestras ranging from some fairly weak players up to professionals who are either paid principal players, or hired subs to fill in vacancies in the orchestra. If you only have three violas regardless to how strong they are, that limits what you can do with them. In the bass section, number of players is one of the first questions to ask yourself, followed by access to the low notes, and then an overall sense of their capabilities. There are some exceptionally strong and/or large community orchestra bass sections out there, and some very weak and/or small ones as well.
If you are writing "for orchestra" then you can make a few assumptions that you will have a standard sized orchestra that is capable of playing anything asked for in the standard repertoire. Most professional double bassists would be capable of playing double stops, and working on them as part of a practice routine or at least during their formal study of the instrument would be common as well. Having a section play double stops in tune, be it basses or violins, is not an easy thing to ask for. As Paul mentioned most orchestras will divide them and often do so even when the composer has asked for them not to be divided. If you assume a standard section of 8, then you can make decisions based on how thin you want them spread. Keep in mind that it is quite rare to see divisi in double bass parts as the majority of what we play in orchestral music is one part with a few exceptions. Three or four part divisi are exceptionally rare and while we can all point to particular examples that do exist, they need to be considered in the context of how often we are playing a unison line. We also spend a significant amount of time doubling the cellos, and often share lines with the bassoons, trombones, tuba, etc.
"Thick" in a score or as playback on a notation software can often come across as "mud" or "indiscriminate rumble" when you add in a real orchestra, and the acoustics of the performance space. Double basses in three parts could work on its own and there are more than a few double bass quartets out there that can get really crunchy at times, but that is in isolation and not in the context of the orchestra. If you have three double bass lines along with a cello line (or two or three) two bassoons, 4th horn, three trombones, tuba, and timpani all in the same register playing independent parts, you could create a real mess. With just the bass part you have provided and not the other bass part or any idea of what the rest of the orchestra is doing we can say "yes, this is possible" and answer the could question, but we really can't answer the should question with whether or not it is advisable or would yield favourable results.
Another aspect to consider is if how connected you want the chords to be. If they are played as double stops there will most likely be space between some of the chords.
Unless you are looking for a specific sound that the double stop provides dividing it will be more reliable.
Unless you are looking for a specific sound that the double stop provides dividing it will be more reliable.
I would suggest writing in fingering that goes across 2 strings like with e and a do the e in 3rd position on the a string and the a in 2nd position on the e. In one of my orchestras we have a thing were, if double stopping appears, the outside desk player plays the top note. Hope i helpedHi - just wondered if any orchestral double bass players would have any issues playing the following bowed double stops.
Cheers.
- Jan 24, 2002
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Please don't add fingerings. They're almost never helpful, or they're too obvious to be required, and it's just more ink on the page. It's especially messy if I need to add bowings or my own fingerings on top of that.
