Meaning and Definition of Contrabass | Concept and What is.

What is Contrabass?

The double bass is a bowed string instrument; the most serious of such instruments and the largest within the family of the violin. The double bass is the only family that does not derive from that instrument that also combines elements of the viola da gamba (influence can be recognized by the back flat, and then cut at a right angle). The instrument is popular for use mainly in the field of jazz, but it is an instrument of classical music and an essential part of any Orchestra.

Bass appeared the year 1620, much later than the rest of the violin family bowed string instruments. He was soon replaced by the double bass viola da gamba, since it was too big and heavy. Eventually, the bass player of the viola da gamba was evolving to become the bass we know today, combining elements of the violin family. At the beginning of the 17TH century, it was already included in the orchestras with the function of sounding an octave below the cello than. It was considered one of the instruments that sounded with more power and clarity.

The bass has a very similar to that of the cello and the violin form, except his drooping shoulders, its flat bottom, the top pointing towards the handle and your little pronounced weight loss central that are characteristic of the viola da gamba. The rest of the instrument is the same as the violin and the cello. Your box is composed of the mentioned Fund and CAP, United by the ring that gives the curvatures. On the ring is screwed the pica, whose function is the support of the instrument on the floor. Pica, on top, above is the tailpiece, which holds the strings. Almost to the middle of the box is the bridge that holds high the strings and thus adapt to the position of the tuning fork that is located in the handle at an angle backwards. On both sides of the bridge are the characteristics of the violin efes. The fingerboard is along the handle and doesn't fret. It ends at headstock tip called scroll spiral shaped. The headstock is mechanical because so long and thick bass strings are not suitable for the system of plugs. Finally, as in their relatives, the double bass presents inside, the harmonic toolbar and the soul, which are structures responsible for the special sound of the instrument.

As it is a bowed string instrument, the bass also used a bow consisting of a rod of wood with stretch horse hairs. These hairs produced vibrations in the four strings of the bass guitar to slip by them. The vibrations are transformed into sound entering the resonance box. So that appropriate vibrations occur, resin should be applied to horse hairs.

You can touch the double bass standing and sitting. If done standing, the height of the instrument by pica, must be regulated so that the bridge is near the right hand of the artist. The latter may touch it with both the arc and the pizzicato technique, which involves using the fingers (in fact in the field of jazz played with the fingers, used mainly while classical music is dominated by the use of the bow). Being a large instrument, the tuning fork is very long and requires the artist to learn to use his hands with a greater displacement. Those who have short hands, have more difficulty.

Some of the great bassists are Domenico Dragonetti, Giovanni Bottesini, Franz Simandl, Edouard Nanny and Serge Koussevitzky.

Translated for educational purposes.