Professional bassists are more likely to have adjustable bridges, which have a metal screw mechanism. This enables the bassist to raise or lower the height of the strings to accommodate changing humidity or temperature conditions. The metal tuning machines are attached to the sides of the pegbox with metal screws. While tuning mechanisms generally differ from the higher-pitched orchestral stringed instruments, some basses have non-functional, ornamental tuning pegs projecting from the side of the pegbox, in imitation of the tuning pegs on a cello or violin. [ citation needed]

A bassist holding a French bow; note how the thumb rests on the shaft of the bow next to the frog. Bow construction and materials [ edit ] Jazz bass players are expected to improvise an accompaniment line or solo for a given chord progression. They are also expected to know the rhythmic patterns that are appropriate for different styles (e.g., Afro-Cuban). Bassists playing in a big band must also be able to read written-out bass lines, as some arrangements have written bass parts. Built by Erwin Lustenberger in 2006, the largest double-bass to ever be constructed was called an Octobass and was over 18-feet tall and 7-feet wide! The double bass ( / ˈ d ʌ b əl b eɪ s/), also known simply as the bass ( / b eɪ s/), amongst other names, is the largest and, therefore, lowest-pitched chordophone [1] in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). [2] Similar in structure to the cello, it has four, although occasionally five, strings. I previously used one like this for years: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/stagg_sv_db_double_bass_stand.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/stagg_sv_db_double_bass_stand.htm[/url]Brun, Paul, A New History of the Double Bass, Seillons source d'Argens, Paul Brun Productions, 2018. ISBN 2-9514461-0-1. Double Bass stands are made with various kinds of materials such as steel, aluminum, wood and much more while the sizes of bass instruments it fits and can carry are also of various sizes though some come as a universal bass stand. In the baroque and classical periods, composers typically had the double bass double the cello part in orchestral passages. A notable exception is Haydn, who composed solo passages for the double bass in his Symphonies No.6 Le Matin, No.7 Le midi, No.8 Le Soir, No.31 Horn Signal, and No.45 Farewell—but who otherwise grouped bass and cello parts together. Beethoven paved the way for separate double bass parts, which became more common in the romantic era. The scherzo and trio from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony are famous orchestral excerpts, as is the recitative at the beginning of the fourth movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. In many nineteenth century symphonies and concertos, the typical impact of separate bass and cello parts was that bass parts became simpler and cello parts got the melodic lines and rapid passage work. [ citation needed] quote name='Gareth Hughes' post='1236602' date='May 19 2011, 08:29 AM']I have this: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/basix_kontrabassstaender.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/basix_kontrabassstaender.htm[/url] Orchestral parts from the standard Classical repertoire rarely demand the double bass exceed a two-octave and a minor third range, from E 1 to G 3, with occasional A 3s appearing in the standard repertoire (an exception to this rule is Orff's Carmina Burana, which calls for three octaves and a perfect fourth). The upper limit of this range is extended a great deal for 20th- and 21st-century orchestral parts (e.g., Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé Suite ( c.1933) bass solo, which calls for notes as high as D 4 and E ♭ 4). The upper range a virtuoso solo player can achieve using natural and artificial harmonics is hard to define, as it depends on the skill of the particular player. The high harmonic in the range illustration found at the head of this article may be taken as representative rather than normative.

The Italian bass virtuoso Domenico Dragonetti helped to encourage composers to give more difficult parts for his instrument. It's okay - not amazing. The endpin cup sits a few inches of the ground, which means if you were to rest your bass with endpin extended in it, the bass would sit quite high and make it a little prone to toppling. However, it works fine if you position your endpin behind the front bar that's on the ground (hope that makes sense). Having the arms around the bouts is confidence inspiring.

While the double bass is the official title for this instrument in most cases, it also has a few other names that you might hear it called occasionally. In the first decade of the 21st century, new concerti include Frank Proto's "Nine Variants on Paganini" (2002), Kalevi Aho's Concerto (2005), John Harbison's Concerto for Bass Viol (2006), André Previn's Double Concerto for violin, double bass, and orchestra (2007) and John Woolrich's To the Silver Bow, for double bass, viola and strings (2014). Bass, upright bass, string bass, acoustic bass, acoustic string bass, contrabass, contrabass viol, bass viol, bass violin, standup bass, bull fiddle, doghouse bass, and bass fiddle