Triple basses?

I believe the 'double' part is English in origin, meaning more 'bass' than 'bass'. I think that they also call the contra-bass clarinet the double-bass clarinet.

 

Hello Ray, I see that you were once a farmerdude. I agree with "non-musical environment". My parents still can't figure out why I'm so obsessed with music....back to topic....
My teacher once told me of a bass he had seen that was 10'-11' tall, had to be played while standing on a stool and had some kind of mechanism (push button) to stop the notes. I'll have to ask him about it again. He also told me about a bass that was provided to him in Jerusalem (he use to travel without a bass). Some old guy showed up with a very old bass he was proud of and was excited to se it played but it turned out to be unplayable as it had VINE for strings.

 

Vine? And I thought Thomastiks were mean!

There were a bunch of experimental beasts like that. I've seen drawings of a bass that had pedals to stop notes and guides to hold the bow lateral. In Cincinnati there was a bass at the now-defunct Bass Viol shop that someone at the Cincinnati symphony hall (I forget the name of the hall) had thrown in the trash! Luckily someone noticed and it was rescued. That bass was so huge that they disassembled it for storage. I'm not sure where that one is now. I hop eit wasn't detroyed in the (last!) fire.

Yup -- spent some time on both a John Deere 60 and an Oliver 1370 on the clay of North/Central Ohio.

 

You heard wrong, Hyamule. "Doublebass" is actually a reference to the instrument's register. The function of doubling the violoncello (literally translated as 'little bas') came later. This has discussed in other threads too.

 

I'll have to look it up, but I have my doubts as to that story, as the 'cello is the bass of the violin family. The Bass, its history sketchy at best, is more likely a descendant of the viol family of instruments -- the flat back, german bow, sloped shoulders, and 4ths tuning are some examples serving as evidence of genetic diversity. I'll get on that later tonight or tomorrow and let you know what I learn. Also -- the 'double' of double bass is definitely English in origin (the country), whereas the rest of the world calls it the Contrabass, the Brits have their own, funny way of talking.

 

You may find this resource interesting, one of the links on my Double Bass Links Page - http://www.urbbob.com/basslink.html

ORPHEON Museum of Historical Musical Instruments

http://www.orpheon.org/

 

Read through the stuff, Bob. Thanks!

It looks like I'm not too far off. Given the reading and a little logic, I'd still say that the 'double' of Double Bass is a UK oddity. English is the only language that I know of where that type of name is given to the instrument, where contrabass(e) and its various spellings is the universal name. Although the doubling of the cello line was mentioned in a few places, the contra (16') register is what seems to be the important detail. You could double the cello line on any instrument, right? The Octobass was an octave below Double Bass -- a little quick math makes Octo a mistaken prefix-- it should then have been called the SixteenoBass

 

Regarding the origin of the bass, we've had this discussion here a few times. Check out _A New History of the Doublebass_ by Paul Brun. He provides a compelling arguement against the doublebass as we know it being in any way related to the viol (gamba) family. All previous arguements contended that because of flatbacks, sloped shoulders, etc. there must be a link. He sees it very differently and provides historical evidence to back up his claims that the doublebass is truly of the violin family.

 

Hmmm.. getting very close to sarcasm here... not sure if you're just giving the DBers some fun - but I would have said that your friend was talking about the infamous prog-rock triple neck bass. I'm sure I could find a photo to give the regulars a good laugh.

Now are you going to ask about 7/8 and full-size basses next?

 

Yea, JT has more strings than the Vancouver Symphony!

 

My fault -- I started the digression. Double=Contra is the point I was really trying to make.

 

As Moderator, I will not permit it to be said that JT also has more gas than the Vancouver Symphony.

 

John, I'm so sorry...I...MWAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

My latest addition...

 

NO drummer can get too far behind you when you're playing THAT axe!