Related
The contrabassoon is the bassoon an octave lower — and the lowest standard wind instrument in the orchestra: its bottom B♭0 is two octaves below a cello and a major third below the double bass's E1.
It is the one woodwind so low that its notation has to be reconsidered — written an octave above sounding, for exactly the reason the piccolo's is written an octave below.
| Classification | Value |
|---|---|
| HS class | Aerophone · reed · double reed |
| Sub-type | Vertical · conical bore (folded twice) · C transposing instrument (written an octave above sounding) |
| Family | Western · Woodwinds (oboe family, contrabass branch) |
| Bayin | Not applicable — a Chinese system; the contrabassoon is outside it |
⚠️ One conceptual point: with the piccolo it forms an exact mirror image. The piccolo sits an octave above its family's standard and is written an octave below sounding (to avoid ledger lines above the staff); the contrabassoon sits an octave below and is written an octave above sounding (to avoid them below it). The same logic, two directions. Learn the pair and woodwind transposition stops being confusing.
Structure: how six metres of tube is held
Three points:
1. Double the tube, double the folds. The bassoon folds once, the contrabassoon twice — one size larger outside, more than twice the tube inside. The number of folds is the evidence of length. 2. Slower response. A long, winding air path makes the attack and staccato duller than a bassoon's — the physical reason it rarely carries fast lines. 3. It takes more air. A larger reed on a wider, longer tube needs a big, steady supply.
Range: the orchestra's floor
⚠️ 低音巴松是移调乐器 —— 记谱比实音高一个八度。谱面写 B♭1–B♭4，实际出声 B♭0–B♭3。它的最低音 B♭0 比低音提琴的 E1 还低，是管弦乐团里音最低的常规管乐器。
- Sounding B♭0–B♭3: only three octaves, but placed very low.
- The working register is B♭0–F2 — almost all its work happens at the very bottom.
- It carries no melody. What it does is give the whole band's bass a floor and a weight. When it appears alone (rarely), it is usually to create an unusual sense of mass.
Timbre, and how to hear it
Four cues:
1. Extremely low, dark, turbid. Unlike a bassoon it has no crisp attack — it is a mass of low frequency with weight. 2. Audible mechanical noise. A long tube with large holes lets key and air noise into the low register — which has become part of its colour. 3. Hard to identify by pitch. Very low notes are also hard for the ear to place, so it is felt as weight rather than as notes. 4. It pulls the whole band's bass down. With and without a contrabassoon, the centre of gravity of the sound is completely different — that is its entire value in a score.
⚠️ On the audio: the General MIDI set has no contrabassoon. A bassoon sample, placed in its low register, is sounding above — a hint of register, not the real colour.
Playing techniques
The technique comes from the bassoon; the differences are largely physical:
- The greatest air demand of the family. The widest, longest tube needs a very large steady supply.
- A slow attack. A long air path makes crisp staccato hard to achieve.
- A stand and a strap. It is far heavier than a bassoon and is usually supported.
- The player makes the reed, as everywhere in this family, and it is larger still.
The family
| Instrument | Key | Written vs sounding | Tube (unfolded) | Range (sounding) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oboe | C | at pitch | about 0.6 m | B♭3–A6 |
| English horn | F | written a fifth above sounding | about 0.8 m | E3–B♭5 |
| Bassoon | C | at pitch | about 2.5 m | B♭1–E5 |
| Contrabassoon | C | written an octave above sounding | about 5.9 m | B♭0–B♭3 |
| Double bass | C | written an octave above sounding | — | E1–G4 |
The oboe family's four stops line up by tube length: 0.6 → 0.8 → 2.5 → 5.9 m, each a step lower. Length is the only scale. Note that the contrabassoon and the double bass transpose in exactly the same way (an octave up) — that is about keeping the page readable, and has nothing to do with which family an instrument belongs to.
History
| Period | State |
|---|---|
| 18th c. | early contrabass double-reed instruments appear in inconsistent forms, mostly for military and large ensembles |
| 19th c. | the folded wooden body and keywork settle; it enters orchestral scores |
| Late 19th–20th c. | a standard orchestral member; Wagner, Mahler and Richard Strauss use it heavily to thicken the bass |
| 20th c. | modern works occasionally bring it forward (low solo passages), but its main role is still underpinning |
| Late 20th c. | metal and composite versions appear, improving size and stability |
Common misconceptions
- "A contrabassoon is a big bassoon played the same way." Similar fingerings, but air demand, attack speed and how it is held all differ; it needs its own practice.
- "The lowest instrument in an orchestra is the double bass." Among standard winds it is the contrabassoon: its B♭0 is lower than the double bass's E1.
- "Written an octave high means it is a high instrument." Notation has nothing to do with register — its sound is extremely low, and the page is high only to avoid ledger lines.
- "It is just the bassoon shifted down." Double the tube and the folds and you get different physics: slower response, more noise, harder to place by ear. It is weight, not "a bassoon an octave lower".
- "General MIDI has one." It does not; a bassoon sample is the only stand-in (as on this page).
Next
That completes all four stops of the oboe family (oboe · English horn · bassoon · contrabassoon) — one family, four heights, set by tube length.
The next group on the woodwind line changes the combination of drive and bore: the saxophone drives a conical tube with a single reed — the point where the two dimensions of woodwind classification cross. That is also why it is so at home in both bands and jazz. :::
Listen in the library
All tracks from midicn-lib — inline badge is the license tier (C1 commercial / C2 non-commercial / C3 study only).
Sources
- 结构依通行制琴资料：管身展开约 5.9 米，折叠两次后立高约 1.6 米；木质圆锥管，顶端经金属弯管后插双簧哨片，喇叭口朝下后再外张
- 「低音巴松为 C 调移调乐器，记谱比实音高一个八度」依通行配器资料
- 「音域记谱 B♭1–B♭4（实音 B♭0–B♭3）」依通行配器资料
- 「最低音 B♭0 低于低音提琴的 E1，是管弦乐团里音最低的常规管乐器」依通行配器资料
- ⚠️ 库内没有标题可确认为低音巴松的曲目 —— 本条给出的是同族巴松曲目作音区对照，音色由试听件负责
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.