Basses are big instruments, of course, and it doesn't matter what kind of instrument it is. If it's bass, it's big. This is because a bass instrument must produce low frequency sound waves which are a much bigger and longer than higher frequency waves. As a result, they travel further which is why foghorns are usually of low pitch--to warn vessels at sea further out so they have less chance of running upon the rocks. For instruments, the production of bass frequencies require longer and/or thicker strings and/or larger resonance chambers. A tuba is lower pitched than a trumpet because it has larger diameter tubing as well as many inches of extra tubing that a trumpet does not. A bass violin has a longer scale length (the section of string between nut and bridge) as well as thicker diameter strings than a regular violin and its large resonance chamber allow the low frequencies to form inside it.
Here, we are going to read about some of the largest known bass violins. In his 1620 work, Theatrum Instrumentorum, Praetorius includes in Plate V, a 5-string Gross Contra-Bass Geig that stood about 7 feet and 4 inches tall. Its scale length could vary between 51-55 inches (today's basses don't generally go more than 42 inches).
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The reason for this huge bass was to reach 16' D. A bass very similar to this one is housed at the Brussels Museum although it is in very poor shape.
There is a 1731 account by the baron of Pollnitz concerning a huge bass he had seen in the collection of the duke of Saxe-Merseburg, Wilhelm Mauritz, who had invited the baron to Merseburg on the Saal River in Germany to see his instrument collection. The baron wrote:
The Prince led me to a hall that was entirely clad with bass viols like an armoury of helmets and breast-plates. In the middle of the hall, a viol stood conspicuously among all the others. It reached to the wooden ceiling and could be played by means of a ladder with several steps. It was indeed the grandest bass ever built... The Duke made me admire it greatly and was pleased by the applause I gave him. He also entertained me with a few pieces which he played on a bass he called his Favourite and which was but an in quarto in comparison to the other... At the lodgings, I came upon one of the Duke's gentlemen..., and I brought up the subject of his Master's bass viols; whereupon he told me, without requiring much pressing: "You know that every man has a taste of his own, Princes and commoners alike; one is fond of magnificence, the other of troops, a third one has mistresses. As for my august Master, he only likes bass viols, and whoever wishes to seek employment or benefit from a favour, cannot do any better than to enrich his 'arsenal' with one of these instruments. The large machine that you saw in the hall, where all the viols are displayed, was given to him by a man who wanted to be Private-Counsellor. He obtained this title, and could have obtained anything he asked."
Ah, a duke after my own heart!! I would have loved to have seen his collection!!
An 1872 article from Die Gartenlaube magazine contained an account of a 1615 concert in Dresden which featured a double bass so large that it had to be transported via a cart pulled by eight mules. The bass measured over 13 feet high. The bassist was a virtuoso named Rapodsky who was obliged to climb deftly up and down a ladder to play the beast. But even this bass could not go low enough and so a second bass team had strung a four-inch thick cable tautly between two arms of a windmill whereupon two men drew across its length very quickly a two-man carpenter's saw with the teeth filed down to nubs that made the cable vibrate producing a deep, sonorous tone. The two teams of bassists worked in skillful unison much to the great delight of the audience.
In the Victoria & Albert Museum in London sits a 9-foot tall 17th century bass that had once belonged to the great 19th century virtuoso bassist Domenico Dragonetti (1763-1846). It was called "The Giant."
![Image]()
Dragonetti's Giant. Like many basses of that time, it had three strings (but was originally built for four). The E string back then had tendency to twist while being bowed on making it inaudible. Since the lowest string was rarely used for soloing, many bassists and bass makers began omit the string. This reduced tension on the belly plate of the instrument allowing it to vibrate more freely and therefore with greater volume. Until wound string technology improved in the 1920s, most basses were three-stringed.
![Image]()
Dragonetti, left, photographed in the Italian Opera orchestra of London. Although Italian, Dragonetti spent little time in Italy due to Napoleon's occupation and spent most of his life in England starting in the 1790s. He also played a lot in continental Europe and was great friends with composers as Liszt and Beethoven who were astonished at the speed and dexterity that Dragonetti possessed that enabled him to play the huge, unwieldy basses with far more proficiencyand complexity than any other bassist. Beethoven was encouraged by Dragonetti's talent to write more complex bass sections for his pieces but would have to hire Dragonetti to play them as no one else could (he had huge, meaty, powerful hands and long fingers with broad, flattened tips). In the days before conductors, the principal bassist was responsible for keeping the orchestra in time and Dragonetti was considered with virtual unanimity to be the best time-keeper ever. Dragonetti played in the Italian Opera for over 50 years and died in London.
Dragonetti left the Giant to his close friend and student, Charles William, the fourth Duke of Leinster. The duke lent it out for the 19th century Mammoth Concerts which were quite popular at that time but donated it to the museum in 1872.
Bartolomeo Cristofori, inventor of the piano hammer mechanism, built a bass in the city of Florence in 1715 that stood 7 feet high. It was built for four strings but a fifth was added in 1904 by Valentino De-Zorzi. Today, the bass is housed at the Florence Conservatoire.
In 1787, King George III commissioned William Forster II to build a double bass so large that it could not be outdone. Forster completed the task two years later. Apparently, Forster built several such basses for George. This one was used for almost 50 years before it was acquired by a dealer named William Davis in 1838. It was sold by Sotheby's at a public auction in the U.S. in 1972.
![Image]()
A 5-string bass commissioned by George and built by Forster circa 1795. It has roughly the same dimensions as the 1789 bass. I can find no information on how tall the bass is but its scale in only about 42 inches which is not any different on modern basses. Both my basses have a 41-inch scale length.
![Image]()
Scroll of the Forster bass.
There is an account of a huge double bass made in England in the late 1780s by a man named Martin who owned a tavern of sorts called The Blackamoor Lady. This instrument was so large that a hole had to be cut in the ceiling to stand it upright and the tuning pegs were only accessible by climbing to the upper floor. A bassist named William Boyce, quite famous in his day, was chosen to play the beast. A writer named William Gardiner was invited by Martin to witness the event. When Boyce began to bow, the sound was so loud and powerful that the walls shook and people ran outside in fear. Martin yelled to Boyce his apprehension that the establishment was ready to collapse if Boyce continued any longer. Lost in ecstasy, Boyce yelled back, "Let it!"
Boyce later had a somewhat smaller version of Martin's bass made for the Westminster Abbey Festival held in May of 1791. It was said to be larger than the Forster bass of 1789. Gardiner attended the festival and wrote:
The orchestra was so very steep that it was dangerous to come down, and some accidents took place; one of a ludicrous nature. A person falling upon a double bass, as it lay on its side, immediately disappeared; nothing was seen of him but his legs protruding out of then [sic] instrument. For some time, no one could assist him for laughing.
During the French Revolution there existed a bass in France so tall that the player required a ladder to stop the strings, according to Adrien de la Fage. It was played publicly during national holidays. When the king was restored to power--presumably during the Bourbon Restoration of 1814--the bass served as an unhappy reminder of the Revolution and so was stored away in a warehouse that was part of the king's conservatory. There it sat for some years before disappearing apparently for good.
In the second decade of the 19th century, an odd but very intriguing 7-stringed double bass machine played with a mechanized bow was installed at Vienna's Kaernthnerthor theatre. The bass was so large that even the largest orchestral basses were in scale about the size of a cello to a double bass. An account of this singular instrument is found in the Revue musicale. But whatever became of this monster is not known.
Here, we are going to read about some of the largest known bass violins. In his 1620 work, Theatrum Instrumentorum, Praetorius includes in Plate V, a 5-string Gross Contra-Bass Geig that stood about 7 feet and 4 inches tall. Its scale length could vary between 51-55 inches (today's basses don't generally go more than 42 inches).
The reason for this huge bass was to reach 16' D. A bass very similar to this one is housed at the Brussels Museum although it is in very poor shape.
There is a 1731 account by the baron of Pollnitz concerning a huge bass he had seen in the collection of the duke of Saxe-Merseburg, Wilhelm Mauritz, who had invited the baron to Merseburg on the Saal River in Germany to see his instrument collection. The baron wrote:
The Prince led me to a hall that was entirely clad with bass viols like an armoury of helmets and breast-plates. In the middle of the hall, a viol stood conspicuously among all the others. It reached to the wooden ceiling and could be played by means of a ladder with several steps. It was indeed the grandest bass ever built... The Duke made me admire it greatly and was pleased by the applause I gave him. He also entertained me with a few pieces which he played on a bass he called his Favourite and which was but an in quarto in comparison to the other... At the lodgings, I came upon one of the Duke's gentlemen..., and I brought up the subject of his Master's bass viols; whereupon he told me, without requiring much pressing: "You know that every man has a taste of his own, Princes and commoners alike; one is fond of magnificence, the other of troops, a third one has mistresses. As for my august Master, he only likes bass viols, and whoever wishes to seek employment or benefit from a favour, cannot do any better than to enrich his 'arsenal' with one of these instruments. The large machine that you saw in the hall, where all the viols are displayed, was given to him by a man who wanted to be Private-Counsellor. He obtained this title, and could have obtained anything he asked."
Ah, a duke after my own heart!! I would have loved to have seen his collection!!
An 1872 article from Die Gartenlaube magazine contained an account of a 1615 concert in Dresden which featured a double bass so large that it had to be transported via a cart pulled by eight mules. The bass measured over 13 feet high. The bassist was a virtuoso named Rapodsky who was obliged to climb deftly up and down a ladder to play the beast. But even this bass could not go low enough and so a second bass team had strung a four-inch thick cable tautly between two arms of a windmill whereupon two men drew across its length very quickly a two-man carpenter's saw with the teeth filed down to nubs that made the cable vibrate producing a deep, sonorous tone. The two teams of bassists worked in skillful unison much to the great delight of the audience.
In the Victoria & Albert Museum in London sits a 9-foot tall 17th century bass that had once belonged to the great 19th century virtuoso bassist Domenico Dragonetti (1763-1846). It was called "The Giant."
Dragonetti's Giant. Like many basses of that time, it had three strings (but was originally built for four). The E string back then had tendency to twist while being bowed on making it inaudible. Since the lowest string was rarely used for soloing, many bassists and bass makers began omit the string. This reduced tension on the belly plate of the instrument allowing it to vibrate more freely and therefore with greater volume. Until wound string technology improved in the 1920s, most basses were three-stringed.
Dragonetti, left, photographed in the Italian Opera orchestra of London. Although Italian, Dragonetti spent little time in Italy due to Napoleon's occupation and spent most of his life in England starting in the 1790s. He also played a lot in continental Europe and was great friends with composers as Liszt and Beethoven who were astonished at the speed and dexterity that Dragonetti possessed that enabled him to play the huge, unwieldy basses with far more proficiencyand complexity than any other bassist. Beethoven was encouraged by Dragonetti's talent to write more complex bass sections for his pieces but would have to hire Dragonetti to play them as no one else could (he had huge, meaty, powerful hands and long fingers with broad, flattened tips). In the days before conductors, the principal bassist was responsible for keeping the orchestra in time and Dragonetti was considered with virtual unanimity to be the best time-keeper ever. Dragonetti played in the Italian Opera for over 50 years and died in London.
Dragonetti left the Giant to his close friend and student, Charles William, the fourth Duke of Leinster. The duke lent it out for the 19th century Mammoth Concerts which were quite popular at that time but donated it to the museum in 1872.
Bartolomeo Cristofori, inventor of the piano hammer mechanism, built a bass in the city of Florence in 1715 that stood 7 feet high. It was built for four strings but a fifth was added in 1904 by Valentino De-Zorzi. Today, the bass is housed at the Florence Conservatoire.
In 1787, King George III commissioned William Forster II to build a double bass so large that it could not be outdone. Forster completed the task two years later. Apparently, Forster built several such basses for George. This one was used for almost 50 years before it was acquired by a dealer named William Davis in 1838. It was sold by Sotheby's at a public auction in the U.S. in 1972.
A 5-string bass commissioned by George and built by Forster circa 1795. It has roughly the same dimensions as the 1789 bass. I can find no information on how tall the bass is but its scale in only about 42 inches which is not any different on modern basses. Both my basses have a 41-inch scale length.
Scroll of the Forster bass.
There is an account of a huge double bass made in England in the late 1780s by a man named Martin who owned a tavern of sorts called The Blackamoor Lady. This instrument was so large that a hole had to be cut in the ceiling to stand it upright and the tuning pegs were only accessible by climbing to the upper floor. A bassist named William Boyce, quite famous in his day, was chosen to play the beast. A writer named William Gardiner was invited by Martin to witness the event. When Boyce began to bow, the sound was so loud and powerful that the walls shook and people ran outside in fear. Martin yelled to Boyce his apprehension that the establishment was ready to collapse if Boyce continued any longer. Lost in ecstasy, Boyce yelled back, "Let it!"
Boyce later had a somewhat smaller version of Martin's bass made for the Westminster Abbey Festival held in May of 1791. It was said to be larger than the Forster bass of 1789. Gardiner attended the festival and wrote:
The orchestra was so very steep that it was dangerous to come down, and some accidents took place; one of a ludicrous nature. A person falling upon a double bass, as it lay on its side, immediately disappeared; nothing was seen of him but his legs protruding out of then [sic] instrument. For some time, no one could assist him for laughing.
During the French Revolution there existed a bass in France so tall that the player required a ladder to stop the strings, according to Adrien de la Fage. It was played publicly during national holidays. When the king was restored to power--presumably during the Bourbon Restoration of 1814--the bass served as an unhappy reminder of the Revolution and so was stored away in a warehouse that was part of the king's conservatory. There it sat for some years before disappearing apparently for good.
In the second decade of the 19th century, an odd but very intriguing 7-stringed double bass machine played with a mechanized bow was installed at Vienna's Kaernthnerthor theatre. The bass was so large that even the largest orchestral basses were in scale about the size of a cello to a double bass. An account of this singular instrument is found in the Revue musicale. But whatever became of this monster is not known.
