The contrabass oboe is a

double reed A double reed is a type of reed used to produce sound in various wind instruments. In contrast with a single reed instrument, where the instrument is played by channeling air against one piece of cane which vibrates against the mouthpiece and c ...

woodwind instrument Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and Reed ...

in the key of C or F, sounding two

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

s or an octave and a fifth (respectively) lower than the standard

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

. Recent research, in particular that by

historian Bruce Haynes, suggests that such instruments may have been developed in France as part of an attempt to maintain the complete family of double reed instruments when the oboe was created from the

shawm The shawm () is a conical bore, double-reed woodwind instrument made in Europe from the 12th century to the present day. It achieved its peak of popularity during the medieval and Renaissance periods, after which it was gradually eclipsed by th ...

. There was an instrument referred to by H. de Garsault in 1761 as the basse de

cromorne Cromorne is a French woodwind reed instrument of uncertain identity, used in the early Baroque period in French court music. The name is sometimes confused with the similar-sounding name crumhorn, a musical woodwind instrument probably of differe ...

or basse de hautbois which was used by

Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he ...

Charpentier Charpentier () is the French language, French word for "carpenter", and it is also a French surname; a variant spelling is Carpentier. In English, the equivalent word and name is "Carpenter (surname), Carpenter"; in German, "Zimmermann (disambigua ...

, and other French Baroque composers. This apparently was an oboe-type instrument in the

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

range. It had, nonetheless, a distinct tonal quality of its own.

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

states, in his edition of Hector Berlioz's ''Treatise on Instrumentation'', that its tone "...had not the slightest similarity with the low tones of the bassoon" . Cb Oboe

Despite this distinction, the contrabass oboe never became popular or widely used, and few remain today.

References

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External links

Contrabass oboe page
at contrabass.com {{Oboe family Single oboes with conical bore Contrabass instruments

See also

References

External links