Double bass

The double bass is widely considered to be the largest and lowest-tuned member of the violin family of string instruments. In reality, however, it is not. It is the only modern descendant of the viola da gamba family of instruments, a family which originated in the 15th century. Members of the viola da gamba family can be characterized most easily by the sloping shoulders (as opposed to the bulging shoulders of the violin).It resembles the other members of the family, but is much larger and has slight differences in shape. The instrument is known by several other names (especially when used in folk, bluegrass, Western and jazz music), including contrabass, string bass, upright bass, standup bass, acoustic bass, bass viol, bass violin, doghouse bass, dog-house, bull fiddle, hoss bass, and bunkhouse bass. A person who plays this instrument is called a double-bassist or contrabassist.

Design

The double bass compared to the rest of the violin family is not an instrument that has gained a physical standardisation (even today).

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In general there are three major approaches to the design outline shape of the double bass, these being violin, viol, and less common the busetto shape (and very rarely the guitar or pear shape). The back of the instrument can vary from being a carved rounded back similar to the violin, or a flat and angled back similar to the viol family (with variations in-between).

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The double bass, unlike the rest of the violin family, still reflects influence and can be considered partly derived from the viol family of instruments, in particular the violone, the contrabass member of the viol family.

Related Topics:
Viol - Violone

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Elements of this viol influence are tuning in fourths to avoid a too long finger stretch, whereas the violin, viola and cello are tuned in fifths. Other differences with the violin, viola and cello are the (sometimes) sloped shoulders of the instrument, the often angled back (both to allow easier access to the instrument, particularly in the upper range) and the near-universal use of machine heads for tuning.

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Dance-band bass players had used conventional microphones as pickups for years without altering their playing styles. Some recent variations of the double bass have been fitted with electromagnetic pickups like an electric guitar's and are designed exclusively for use with electric amplification. These instruments, generally known as electric upright basses (mostly called ) often have a minimal or skeleton body, to reduce size and weight. The first electric upright basses were built around 1935 (by Rickenbacker). However, it took quite some years to develop high quality transducers to amplify the sound. Nowadays electric upright basses have become quite popular.

Related Topics:
Pickup - Electric guitar - Electric upright bass

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One of the most famous EUB players is Sting. He used to play a Dutch brand, a Van Zalinge.

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The principal logistical difficulty facing a double bass player is the sheer weight and bulk of the instrument itself. These issues, combined with the sensitivity of the instrument to changes in the environment (like all wooden string instruments) and relative fragility of the wooden body of the instrument tend to make double bassists relatively sedentary musicians, as the instrument is difficult to transport safely on typical motor vehicles and airlines are usually not prepared to handle such an item properly. Recently, however, violin/viol family instruments (including double basses) made of carbon fiber laminates have become available. These instruments are supposedly nearly impervious to changes in heat and humidity and extremely resilient to the knocking about that occurs during transport, and also (supposedly) have no reduction in sound quality from more traditional wooden basses.

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This lack of standardisation means that one double bass can sound and look very different from another. To see some of the variations and construction approaches discussed above see the following web sites:

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• The Contrabass Shoppe
• World of basses
• Stefan Johann krattenmacher Instrument builder