I am the very proud owner of an Eppelsbeim contrabass clarinet. Devastating to hear of his passing, and grateful to hear a solid continuity plan was in place.
Contraforte player here. After i changed playing the contrabassoon to contraforte in my bassoon quartett, the whole dynamic range of our ensemble changed. There was no need for a special care for some passages which could be difficult on the contra, nor dynamic adjustments because some range issues or timbres sounding harsh. With the CF you can play almost anything. Nowdays i prepare a so called "favorite songs" CD which includes well known songs from Purcell, Schubert and Schumann. Try to imagine how the contraforte play the Erlkönig (Erlking) with the famous piano accompaniment . Got excited?
It’s indeed rare for the classical music scene to accept an innovation this quickly. When was the last time a completely new instrument was included in the typical symphonic orchestra? Even the saxophone still seems to be frowned upon!
As a composer I certainly prefer this sound in my orchestrations over the traditional contrabassoon. The dynamic range is especially an advantage. With a regular contrabassoon, you might opt to avoid the indelicate rattle of contabassoon in thinner/quieter textures. This opens up more applications on both ends of the dynamic range.
Hmm. Is there a woodwind quintet that uses one? Better yet, a WWQ that uses various family members of each instrument so every one gets to explore the full range of their respective families.
Wow. What a sound! I already love the Tubax. Looking forward to the first commission to write for an orchestra with a contraforte. And by the way, enjoy your video's a lot!
I'll be honest: I don't like the sound of the contrabassoon. But the contraforte has a very rich sound, and I like it. I am able to accept the contraforte as a substitute of the contrabassoon in the orchestra.
I've always loved the contrabassoon but they are extremely expensive. Since I like to know the price of everything (though not the value of nothing), I did a quick search and found a contraforte for about 55,000 €. In contrast, I found an Amati contrabassoon for about 20,000 €. The latter price is about what a good grand piano or concert harp costs. I'm afraid I probably won't get to play a contraforte in this life, but a contrabassoon might still be in the cards. I'm always open for experimentation in the field of instrument making, though ideally I prefer performances of older music on period instruments. However, that's not always practical. Judging by the video, this instrument sounds great.
It reminds me more of a Sarrusophone than anything. The contraforte seems like a well-made... let's call it "reed contrabass". The upper register has an intonation and clarity that the contrabassoon simply doesn't have. But outside of that, this is not a replacement for the contrabassoon. Contra is a very tough instrument to tame, and is indeed littered with design issues, but this just seems to have taken away so much of the soul and color of the instrument. The woman in the video says how "defined and centered" the sound is; those are a couple of the very last words I would use to describe what I just heard. Truly, I don't hate this sound, but it is very bright, somewhat hollow. I think large concert bands and contemporary music have found a wonderful new tool, but this cannot replace this... th-cam.com/video/ErqOvGQokQI/w-d-xo.html
Historical instruments have been replaced by more modern ones all along music history - Baroque music only recently has been played on historicist instruments after its revival in the 19th century. The ophicleide, which was the original bass brass in early 29th century music, quickly was replaced by the tuba. And orchestras today rarely play the ventil-less French horn when it comes to Mozart.
many professional contrabassoonists would beg to differ, it is rapidly gaining traction in the US and has been on stage with the Chicago Symphony many times already this year....
I'm a compoſer. This is really neat, and I definitely would like to learn moꝛe about thoſe guys' other inſtruments thou didſt mention. I am very impꝛeſſed with the range and tone of the inſtrument as well as the dynamic range. I do not think I haue euer heard of this thing befoꝛe. One queſtion I haue is, How are the chꝛomatic notes, and the holes foꝛ them, tuned? Actually foꝛ the whole inſtrument, are they drilled foꝛ 12 tone equal temperament? She mentioneth it hath better intonation, but which intonation is ſhe referring to? Pythagoꝛean? 12 tet? And if it is Pythagoꝛean, are the chꝛomatic notes tuned as ſharps oꝛ flats, oꝛ ſome mean between them? I only compoſe in and foꝛ Pythagoꝛean Iuſt Intonation, oꝛ what I ſimply call True Intonation, ſo it is impoꝛtant to know if theſe inſtruments are ſet vp to be able to play in tune naturally, oꝛ if there is ſome degree of bending in one direction oꝛ the other that the player muſt do to reach the iuſt notes, foꝛ eample to differenetiate between C# and Db.
There seems to be some kind of high-end "slappiness" that presents itself in the extreme lower register of the instrument. I honestly find it very unpleasantly distracting.
The contrafortes I have previously heard recordings of sound more like a subcontrabass oboe than a contrabassoon, as if they were different instruments covering the same compass (actually more for the contraforte, but close enough). This one sounds in between, with contrabassoon sound in the very low register, and then becoming more like an oboe a short way up. I understand that normally it is played with its own reed, but that it is also possible to use a contrabassoon reed on it -- maybe that makes the difference?
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I am the very proud owner of an Eppelsbeim contrabass clarinet. Devastating to hear of his passing, and grateful to hear a solid continuity plan was in place.
Contraforte player here. After i changed playing the contrabassoon to contraforte in my bassoon quartett, the whole dynamic range of our ensemble changed. There was no need for a special care for some passages which could be difficult on the contra, nor dynamic adjustments because some range issues or timbres sounding harsh. With the CF you can play almost anything.
Nowdays i prepare a so called "favorite songs" CD which includes well known songs from Purcell, Schubert and Schumann. Try to imagine how the contraforte play the Erlkönig (Erlking) with the famous piano accompaniment . Got excited?
Incredible instrument and quite nice video! Thanks )
Wow! This thing sounds great!
It’s indeed rare for the classical music scene to accept an innovation this quickly. When was the last time a completely new instrument was included in the typical symphonic orchestra? Even the saxophone still seems to be frowned upon!
Thanks for the best profile of this instrument I’ve seen on TH-cam yet!
As a composer I certainly prefer this sound in my orchestrations over the traditional contrabassoon. The dynamic range is especially an advantage. With a regular contrabassoon, you might opt to avoid the indelicate rattle of contabassoon in thinner/quieter textures. This opens up more applications on both ends of the dynamic range.
Damn. I wish I could try these, but money's an issue :(
50k is a lot
Hmm. Is there a woodwind quintet that uses one? Better yet, a WWQ that uses various family members of each instrument so every one gets to explore the full range of their respective families.
Wow. What a sound! I already love the Tubax. Looking forward to the first commission to write for an orchestra with a contraforte. And by the way, enjoy your video's a lot!
Nice
I'll be honest: I don't like the sound of the contrabassoon. But the contraforte has a very rich sound, and I like it. I am able to accept the contraforte as a substitute of the contrabassoon in the orchestra.
I've always loved the contrabassoon but they are extremely expensive. Since I like to know the price of everything (though not the value of nothing), I did a quick search and found a contraforte for about 55,000 €. In contrast, I found an Amati contrabassoon for about 20,000 €. The latter price is about what a good grand piano or concert harp costs. I'm afraid I probably won't get to play a contraforte in this life, but a contrabassoon might still be in the cards.
I'm always open for experimentation in the field of instrument making, though ideally I prefer performances of older music on period instruments. However, that's not always practical. Judging by the video, this instrument sounds great.
I love the timbre of the contra forte but i can see times where it can't fully replace a contrabassoon
It reminds me more of a Sarrusophone than anything. The contraforte seems like a well-made... let's call it "reed contrabass". The upper register has an intonation and clarity that the contrabassoon simply doesn't have. But outside of that, this is not a replacement for the contrabassoon. Contra is a very tough instrument to tame, and is indeed littered with design issues, but this just seems to have taken away so much of the soul and color of the instrument. The woman in the video says how "defined and centered" the sound is; those are a couple of the very last words I would use to describe what I just heard. Truly, I don't hate this sound, but it is very bright, somewhat hollow. I think large concert bands and contemporary music have found a wonderful new tool, but this cannot replace this... th-cam.com/video/ErqOvGQokQI/w-d-xo.html
Historical instruments have been replaced by more modern ones all along music history - Baroque music only recently has been played on historicist instruments after its revival in the 19th century. The ophicleide, which was the original bass brass in early 29th century music, quickly was replaced by the tuba. And orchestras today rarely play the ventil-less French horn when it comes to Mozart.
It only makes sense if it’s half the price of a contrabassoon.
many professional contrabassoonists would beg to differ, it is rapidly gaining traction in the US and has been on stage with the Chicago Symphony many times already this year....
I'm a compoſer. This is really neat, and I definitely would like to learn moꝛe about thoſe guys' other inſtruments thou didſt mention. I am very impꝛeſſed with the range and tone of the inſtrument as well as the dynamic range. I do not think I haue euer heard of this thing befoꝛe.
One queſtion I haue is, How are the chꝛomatic notes, and the holes foꝛ them, tuned? Actually foꝛ the whole inſtrument, are they drilled foꝛ 12 tone equal temperament? She mentioneth it hath better intonation, but which intonation is ſhe referring to? Pythagoꝛean? 12 tet? And if it is Pythagoꝛean, are the chꝛomatic notes tuned as ſharps oꝛ flats, oꝛ ſome mean between them?
I only compoſe in and foꝛ Pythagoꝛean Iuſt Intonation, oꝛ what I ſimply call True Intonation, ſo it is impoꝛtant to know if theſe inſtruments are ſet vp to be able to play in tune naturally, oꝛ if there is ſome degree of bending in one direction oꝛ the other that the player muſt do to reach the iuſt notes, foꝛ eample to differenetiate between C# and Db.
There seems to be some kind of high-end "slappiness" that presents itself in the extreme lower register of the instrument. I honestly find it very unpleasantly distracting.
The contrafortes I have previously heard recordings of sound more like a subcontrabass oboe than a contrabassoon, as if they were different instruments covering the same compass (actually more for the contraforte, but close enough). This one sounds in between, with contrabassoon sound in the very low register, and then becoming more like an oboe a short way up. I understand that normally it is played with its own reed, but that it is also possible to use a contrabassoon reed on it -- maybe that makes the difference?