Posted on by Matt Gilligan

The Octobass Is Nearly Too Big to Play – or Hear

Get a load of this instrument.

You might never have seen an octobass in person – but if you have, there’s no way you’ll ever forget it.

The wooden instrument is 12 feet tall and capable of producing sounds so low the human ear has trouble detecting them. And even though it otherwise resembles its smaller cousins (a bass, cello, violin, or viola), even a professional basketball player would need to stand on something to reach its neck.

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Throughout history human society have created thousands of various music instruments – and some of them are rather strange. One of such instruments, the Octobass, was constructed in 1850 by certifiable genius and fan of massive string instruments Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume. The Octobass is a chuffing massive double bass that stands at 3.5 meters tall. Which is ridiculous, really, seeing as it's too big to play with the hands – there are elaborate foot-pedals to make it possible. Apparently Berlioz was a fan, and wrote about it in his treatise on orchestration. What weird and bizarre music instruments do you know? Share with us! За свою истортю человечество создало тысячи различных видов музыкальных инструментов, и некоторые из них оказались довольно странными. Одним из таких стал октобас (или субконтрабас), созданный в 1850 году французским скрипичным мастером и поклонником больших струнных инструментов Жаном Батистом Вийомом, и представляющий из себя массивный контрабас высотой около трех с половиной метров. Это смешно, но инструмент слишком большой, чтобы играть на нем руками – для этого был применен сложный механизм с использованием педалей. Видимо, Берлиоз был впечатлен октобасом и написал о нем в своем трактате об оркестровке. О каких странных инструментах знаете вы? Расскажите нам! #interestingfacts #musicfacts #musichistory #classicalmusic #history #octobass #huge #doublebass #bizarre #weird #musicinstrument #invention #why #how #интересно #фактыомузыке #историямузыки #октобас #огромный #контрабас #странно #инструмент #изобретение #как #зачем #почему

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The octobass produces sound in the same manner as other string instruments: the player holds down certain strings in specific patterns, drawing out or shortening the sounds by plucking, strumming, or bowing the strings. In addition to knowing which strings to push, though, someone learning the octobass must also become familiar with a series of levels used to press down the strings.

Then they handle a (very heavy and large) bow, drawing it across the strings.

The instrument was designed and constructed by French luthier Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume in 1850, and for a long time, two musicians worked together to play it. Modern uses are few and far between, partly because there are only three playable replicas in the world – one in Phoenix, one in Paris, and another in Oslo.

Nico Abondolo, principal bass player with the LA Chamber Orchestra had the opportunity to play one, and called it “a surreal experience.”

It tunes to two full octaves below a cello and one octave below a double bass (or the lowest note on a piano), extending to a C note pitched at 16 hertz – lower than the normal range of human hearing, which ends around 20 hertz.

Colin Pearson, curator of the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, explains why he’s so excited to have one nearby.

“It’s wonderful for demonstrating how sound waves work, and how a string vibrates. These strings are so large and so massive that the vibrations are slow enough for us to actually see them.”

Science project or not, there’s one thing the octobass can do that nothing else can in quite the same way – play the theme song from Jaws.

So even if you’re not a science or music buff, there’s still a good reason to keep one around.

The post The Octobass Is Nearly Too Big to Play – or Hear appeared first on UberFacts.