Contrabassoon: Characteristics, price, and history of orchestral instruments

Instrument

Do you know the instrument called contrabassoon? This instrument, which was born in Vienna, Austria, is often used as an orchestral instrument, but not many people know about it. This instrument is one of the woodwind instruments, and is a gigantic instrument that is twice the size of a bassoon.

Origin of musical instruments

This instrument was born in Vienna, Austria. It is a wind instrument that is arranged alongside other instruments such as the oboe and bassoon. Since it is a contra, it is called a bass reed, and the tone and pitch are usually very low. It is a specialized bass instrument. A wide variety of second-hand items are available for sale at online shops. The notation is also called contrabassoon.

About the price

Prices range from tens of thousands of yen to hundreds of thousands of yen.

History of the contrabassoon

The contrabassoon is an orchestral instrument that is said to have been developed around the 17th century. At that time, orchestras were at their peak in the music world, so there was a background to the creation of this instrument. However, the contrabassoon at the time had an extremely narrow range and a very low volume, so it had to be considered a defective product. However, in the 19th century, Haeckel improved the contrabassoon. The addition of keys and tuning slides greatly improved the volume and expressive power of this instrument, and it began to play an important role in orchestral performances. Works written for contrabassoon also appeared. However, since the contrabassoon cannot be called a star instrument, it is still considered to be extremely rare even in modern times, and the reality is that the number of players is very small. However, this instrument often appears in movies, dramas, games, etc.

Characteristics of contrabassoon

The contrabassoon is twice the size of the bassoon and has a range an octave lower than the bassoon. It is one of the instruments with the lowest range among woodwind instruments, and is often used to reinforce the lowest notes. The pipe length is 6m, so it is very long, and is unique in that it is bent four times. It weighs about 6 kg, so small children cannot hold it. The range is about 3 octaves. The contrabassoon tends to be used in orchestral compositions that use a large number of notes. However, since the tube is very long, lung capacity is required. It is also a fairly expensive instrument, costing 5 million to 6 million yen in Japanese yen, and there are very few players.

contrabassoon song

The contrabassoon is an instrument that appears in orchestras.

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