octobass

• Name — Octobass • Classification — *Bowed string instrument • Inventors — Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume • Related — * Double bass

Because it would be impossible for a person to reach the heights of the extremely long fingerboard and because the strings are very thick, the musician plays the octobass using a system of levers and pedals. The levers serve to engage metal clamps that are positioned above the neck at specific positions. These clamps act as fretting devices when the performer presses the levers. The octobass has never been produced on a large scale, and is not commonly used by composers. Hector Berlioz wrote favorably about the instrument, however, and proposed its widespread adoption. The only known work that calls for the octobass is Charles Gounod's Messe solennelle de Sainte-Cécile of 1855. In this work, the octobass only appears in the "Benedictus" and the "Agnus Dei" and is specified to be tuned Bflat, Eflat, and Bflat. It typically plays one octave below the double bass. In addition to the Paris instrument, octobasses exist in the collections of the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona (made in 2007 by the Italian luthier Antonio Dattis), and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The Montreal Symphony Orchestra is currently the only orchestra in the world to own and use the octobass in performances. The first of these instruments was made by the luthier Jean-Jacques Pagès of Mirecourt, France, in 2010. Two other octobasses are known to exist with private owners. One, which belongs to the Italian musician Nicola Moneta, was made in 1995 by the luthier Pierre Bohr. The instrument is a copy of those made by Vuillaume, but with innovative elements, especially in the mechanics. A library of samples from this instrument was created by Daniele Bertinelli and Giorgio Riolo in collaboration with SoundIron.

According to Berlioz, the three open strings were tuned C, G, and C. This tuning gave it a low range one octave below the cello and equal to the modern double bass with low C extension. However, at the time when the octobass was invented, the double bass lacked this extension and could descend only to E or G. The mechanism enabled each string to chromatically cover the range of a perfect fifth and gave the instrument a high range to G. The instrument at the Musée de la Musique in Paris, which uses period-accurate gut strings, is tuned thus (though on at least some recordings the overall tuning is a half-step flat). • Illustration — The playing range of the octobass, according to Berlioz. The instrument at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, which uses modern wound metal strings, is tuned C, G, D. This tuning gives it a low range two octaves below the cello and one octave below the modern double bass with low C extension. Berlioz specifically noted this tuning in his orchestration treatise, but considered it erroneous. As on the Paris instrument, the mechanism allows each string to cover a perfect fifth, giving it a high range to A. The fundamental frequencies of the lowest notes in this tuning lie below 20 Hz—the commonly-stated lower bound of human hearing range—but these notes are nevertheless audible due to the overtones they produce. (An organ's 32′ stop also exceeds the supposed 20 Hz limit.) • Illustration — The playing range of the octobass owned by the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. The Montreal Symphony Orchestra octobass uses gut strings, is tuned A, E, B and has a high range to F. • Illustration — The playing range of the octobass owned by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.