Double Bass Why Do They Call It Double Bass?

[ekspain]

um, yeah...I think you guys are all wrong about the origins of the term "double bass". I think double, stems from the fact that, the bass is doubly cooler than...like all the other singular basses out there

 

[mandocaster]

It's a double bass because after you carry it up and down a few flights of steep stairs you are seeing double and have a double hernia.

 

[anon65884001]

This is what i've heard
When celli were first invented,
They were supposed to be the bass instrument
However,
As string bass sound an octive lower compared to celli,
They would be bass doubled
In a way, it makes sense
Like celli are bass
Then an octice lower than that is bass bass
So double bass

 

[Mikio]

the name comes probably because the Cello is already a bass instrument, and the Contrabass [contra means something like "way more" lol] goes an octave bellow, we actually read transposed, the Contrabass [Doublebass, two times bass] goes bellow the "bass clef", hence... DOUBLE bass...

That's what I think. And yes, it has more to do with the Viola da Gamba family.