I have to hand it to you guys. It’s not too often that I am in utter amazement, but when he said that this was THE contrabassoon that premiered Music for the Royal Fireworks, my jaw hit the floor. That is truly amazing that it’s survived all these centuries and is still being played!
@John Connors then you'd REALLY be surprised how many centuries all artifacts the queen stole from Africa have lasted and still locked up in Buckingham palace as well as British Museums.
One of my ancestors, named Candido Passavanti, was actually the contrabassoonist who played in Beethoven’s orchestra. It never occurred to me to wonder before, but now I’m curious to know if his instrument has survived and is perhaps still being played.
It may have been a Grenser ca 1800, not sure what's out there that survive, but many of us play Grenser copies and I know the owner of an original Grenser
"Say hello to my little friend" "You could bring down a 747 with that" "Of course it'll fit into the overhead locker" "Unparalleled effect, but a devil to get lit" but mostly "PAAAAARRRRRRPPPP!" A magnificent device. How on earth does one's life path lead to blowing into one of those for money?
@@DieFlabbergast Well, yes. There can't be that many pieces scored for such a monster! Incidentally, try Googling "Logical Bassoon" for further bassoonery tomfoolery. Radio 3 even had a "Towards A More Logical Bassoon" programme, once upon a time...
He's right, it really is a pitchy instrument. Must have been extremely tough to play, considering the best of the best in terms of modern players is struggling to keep the higher notes in tune
There’s one baroque contrabassoon in Australia which gets shuttled back and forth between Sydney and Melbourne. The guy who usually plays it impresses me every single time with his intonation and agility. Maybe the difference is that this instrument was made more recently than Handel’s time…
I was wondering what this instrument was after seeing it on the credits of The Seer by Swans. I was not disappointed. This instrument fits that album perfectly.
FABULOUS! I had never heard of this instrument before.. it make such a melodious deep satiny sound.. very enjoyable and to thing that is almost 300 years old and has been playing the same music for all that time.. incredible thank you!
The sound reminds me a bit of a bass saxophone, but less resonance and more sound of the reed. I am really surprised that it is in good enough condition to still be played.
It's a damn shame that bass saxes are not used in orchestras. Check out this gorgeous piece played on a (gasp) contrabass sax. th-cam.com/video/dE7jToqFoqk/w-d-xo.html
I’d love to hear more about how they built such instruments. I have a 46” lathe in my shop, but I’ve never bored out anything deeper than about a foot or so. They must have had to make some interesting special tools for this.
People often look back on the past as inferior or less advanced, but that just isnt the truth. Empires have existed and died that were more advanced than us today.
He’s like the Attenborough of the OAE, really. I got to play the Baroque bassoon one summer at Oberlin BPI (Eichentopf copy) but sadly no contra. Interestingly enough, the reed I used for it was made from a modern contra blank, if memory serves.
That contrabasson must be the travel version. Went to Bates museum in Oxford, a must see , hundreds of old and weird wind instruments saxophones mainly never knew there wete so many types , fascinating .
I see a lot of joke comments, but on a more serious note, I totally get it. This is actually a pretty cool instrument. This beast was probably pushing the technology of the day to its brink, but here it is. It still exists, it still plays, and it sounds quite alright! It's quite apparent that, for better or for worse, it has a lot of "personality" but I understand how that can be an enjoyable part of playing an instrument. All of my least favorite horns are the ones that do all the hard work for me.
I guess this must be one way to guarantee yourself a gig and some kind of orchestra somewhere in the world. I hope the pay is better than most orchestral chairs, because you're gonna need at least two people carry this instrument around!
Wow -- he actually started out by *showing the topic of the video* instead of babbling for ten minutes! Thumbs up. More videos should be set up this way.
@Esteban Outeiral Dias Go find out what the word, 'context' means, and then try and apply your new understanding to the initial comment, and my response.
I copied the original in Dublin museum back around 1998 with Graham Lyndon Jones. One for me and the other for him, if I recall, David Chatterton bought mine to compliment the Tauber Classical era contra I made for him in 1986 housed at the Bate Collection in Oxford where I did my PHD. It is unclear if David is playing the Dublin original or my copy? He was and is master of these instruments over the last four decades.
@InfiniteMushroom It's not meant as a solo instrument. As part of an ensemble though, it would be quite effective, as the guy said, to underpin the sound of a bassoon.
interesting to see where innovation went to today with the modern contra and how many instruments tried to replace it through the years. (still prefer the Serpent, im biased as a serpent player....)
Hello! I have a personal request for a future video, could you inform us about the english horn? It remains a mystery for me how Haydn got to know about it and use it so early in his composition. If I am not mistaken, he also introduced it in London (there is an article of the time who wanders why it is called "english"!) Your series is amazing!
When I was a music student, we played for schoolchildren to introduce them to musical instruments. The violinist, clarinetist and flutist finished their performance. The kids were very noisy. But then a phagotist came on stage and the children suddenly fell silent. And one of the schoolchildren shouted "He 's going to shoot now. Lie down!"
10pm: I'm going to get to sleep early tonight
3am: Introducing the Baroque Contrabassoon
Charlie Smyth it’s 3am for me
It is only 2am. But I wen to sleep in 8pm :D
I went to sleep 8pm and it's 2am now.
ok it's 2:47 AM I didn't need this callout
3:17 am
I love how it's so huge you can't get it all in focus.
@Anil Löeb :-D
Proudly Presenting...
*The Bassooka*
People call my normal bassoon a basooka in class
I laughed waaaay too hard at bassooka 🤣
I have to hand it to you guys. It’s not too often that I am in utter amazement, but when he said that this was THE contrabassoon that premiered Music for the Royal Fireworks, my jaw hit the floor. That is truly amazing that it’s survived all these centuries and is still being played!
He misspoke...it was the Royal Fartworks. Centuries worth of bad gas. Its still in mint condition because no one wanted to use it.
@@utecastronoova863 you're a good man
I shudder to think of the insurance payments on it!
ROYAL FARTWORKS??? OMG lol lol lol
@John Connors then you'd REALLY be surprised how many centuries all artifacts the queen stole from Africa have lasted and still locked up in Buckingham palace as well as British Museums.
After their concert performances, the Baroque Contrabassoon was also very useful for jousting.
One of my ancestors, named Candido Passavanti, was actually the contrabassoonist who played in Beethoven’s orchestra. It never occurred to me to wonder before, but now I’m curious to know if his instrument has survived and is perhaps still being played.
It may have been a Grenser ca 1800, not sure what's out there that survive, but many of us play Grenser copies and I know the owner of an original Grenser
Assert dominance
The concert foghorn.
Sounds like me every morning 😂
"Say hello to my little friend"
"You could bring down a 747 with that"
"Of course it'll fit into the overhead locker"
"Unparalleled effect, but a devil to get lit"
but mostly
"PAAAAARRRRRRPPPP!"
A magnificent device. How on earth does one's life path lead to blowing into one of those for money?
@Tweedlebean this!
I think we can take it for granted that he usually plays an ordinary, Earthling-sized bassoon. This is for special occasions.
@@DieFlabbergast Well, yes. There can't be that many pieces scored for such a monster! Incidentally, try Googling "Logical Bassoon" for further bassoonery tomfoolery. Radio 3 even had a "Towards A More Logical Bassoon" programme, once upon a time...
Sick bong, dude.
What caliber round does that thing fire?
88mm
Or 1.5 kg s of tobacco !
The finest caliber of round, or canon, or any other musical form you like :)
@@MrRedeyedJedi . Well, it is German, so that makes sense.
@@MrRedeyedJedi smooth bore or rifled?
Imagine being in a high school music class and having to take that thing home on the bus with you, lol
He's right, it really is a pitchy instrument. Must have been extremely tough to play, considering the best of the best in terms of modern players is struggling to keep the higher notes in tune
Patrick Reilly Not to mention, imagine its response/changes with humidity fluctuations in UK
@@cfrandre8319 let's not even imagine that
There’s one baroque contrabassoon in Australia which gets shuttled back and forth between Sydney and Melbourne. The guy who usually plays it impresses me every single time with his intonation and agility. Maybe the difference is that this instrument was made more recently than Handel’s time…
Do "Smoke on the Water next."
The residence and vibration sound like controlled flatulence 😆
I was wondering what this instrument was after seeing it on the credits of The Seer by Swans. I was not disappointed. This instrument fits that album perfectly.
FABULOUS! I had never heard of this instrument before.. it make such a melodious deep satiny sound.. very enjoyable and to thing that is almost 300 years old and has been playing the same music for all that time.. incredible thank you!
How to play the RPG-7
Spectacular! Thanks for preserving this history and sharing it with all of us and not just the Lords and Ladies.
Sounds like the tones from "Close Encounters of a Third Kind".
...........played by Lurch.
And it case the aliens turn on us, we can use it to shoot their ships down...
Is there a 15 hour version of this I can play for my neighbors?
Just convert to mp3, cut the most obnoxious sounding part and loop it😂
That's a big bong
Ha ha .
I think it’s really cool we still give life to these instruments.
The sound reminds me a bit of a bass saxophone, but less resonance and more sound of the reed. I am really surprised that it is in good enough condition to still be played.
It's a damn shame that bass saxes are not used in orchestras. Check out this gorgeous piece played on a (gasp) contrabass sax. th-cam.com/video/dE7jToqFoqk/w-d-xo.html
"More sound of the reed." Translation into standard English: "Sounds like an elephant farting in the fog."
It sounds like a Tubax, only with shaky pitch.
Reminds me of a fat man farting into a traffic cone.
It has some of that same chuffing in the middle range that the bass sax has, as if there are intrinsic acoustic issues with certain notes.
0:00 when your cellphone is muted and you get a message
Girls be lining up!
Wow...speachless. Love to see you bring that to a backporch jam.
Please play Moanin’ by Charles Mingus on this...
Haha! I definitely want to see that alongside serpents, with a shawm solo!
You would tear apart the building.
Bro, did he just got the brown note?
Spooky , deep and dark with a touch of sinister .
I never knew the contrabassoon or this version. Ty for this.
I’d love to hear more about how they built such instruments. I have a 46” lathe in my shop, but I’ve never bored out anything deeper than about a foot or so. They must have had to make some interesting special tools for this.
Good point.
People often look back on the past as inferior or less advanced, but that just isnt the truth. Empires have existed and died that were more advanced than us today.
LOVE the contrabassoon!!
My husband plays this instrument every morning but I don't know where he hides it.
Amazing deep rich tones. Thank you.
Here is a man who doesn't need an aqualung to stay underwater for twenty minutes.
It's incredibly warm!
Registers 7.9 on the Richter scale. Neighbors gotta love when you play "Smoke On The Water" on that bad boy - rockin' !
Baroques and their comedically giant instruments...
Rich and sonorous in its deepness this instrument of its time and in playable condition is really special.
Where has this instrument been all my life? Damn, my parents should have made me play one from the age of 5!
He’s like the Attenborough of the OAE, really. I got to play the Baroque bassoon one summer at Oberlin BPI (Eichentopf copy) but sadly no contra. Interestingly enough, the reed I used for it was made from a modern contra blank, if memory serves.
Hope your fingers are feeling better now.
Thanks for the great video.
Sounds like cowboys eating beans ‘round the campfire!
Announcer: “And now, tones of baroque, bassoon.”
Common folk: “It didn’t sound broke at all, quite nice actually.”
Excellent info, nice French and you’re a ringer for Robert Fripp !
Really useful for when you need to hold a flag, play and fight alongside your regiment.
How to make the "Brown Note" classy.
That contrabasson must be the travel version.
Went to Bates museum in Oxford, a must see , hundreds of old and weird wind instruments saxophones mainly never knew there wete so many types , fascinating .
We need more low register sounds like this in music. Or at least I definitely do. Love this. Excellent video.
I love the angles you shoot these instruments at.
I see a lot of joke comments, but on a more serious note, I totally get it. This is actually a pretty cool instrument. This beast was probably pushing the technology of the day to its brink, but here it is. It still exists, it still plays, and it sounds quite alright! It's quite apparent that, for better or for worse, it has a lot of "personality" but I understand how that can be an enjoyable part of playing an instrument. All of my least favorite horns are the ones that do all the hard work for me.
His brother was head of wind brass and percussion at my school.
One of these in every home!
I guess this must be one way to guarantee yourself a gig and some kind of orchestra somewhere in the world. I hope the pay is better than most orchestral chairs, because you're gonna need at least two people carry this instrument around!
What is also impressive is how for the foot joint, 2 very long holes would have had to be drilled side by side. Not easy!
Ive never seen one of those. Richard Bobo needs to see this video!
That strange feeling you get when you don't know whether to be impressed or to laugh out loud...
Fine instrument... Low sound is really great.👍
In Russia..........We play orchestra @ 6 to 8 PM.....fire mortars from 9 PM to midnite......very versatile instrument......
Now with pole axe attachment in case your orchestra is assaulted by mounted assailants during a performance.
The IBM 3270 of the bassoon family.
AWESOME BASS LINES!!And they say size doesn't matter…
Quite practical to carry around😃
Ok I'll see your bassoon, and raise you a contrabassoon!
Wow -- he actually started out by *showing the topic of the video* instead of babbling for ten minutes! Thumbs up. More videos should be set up this way.
"the sounds are like nothing else" -- thank God!
It's not supposed to be a solo instrument...
@Esteban Outeiral Dias Go find out what the word, 'context' means, and then try and apply your new understanding to the initial comment, and my response.
I first thought it was a rocket launcher
That dragon's head gave me a jump scare! 😆
I love that baroque contrabassoon made in England.
I copied the original in Dublin museum back around 1998 with Graham Lyndon Jones. One for me and the other for him, if I recall, David Chatterton bought mine to compliment the Tauber Classical era contra I made for him in 1986 housed at the Bate Collection in Oxford where I did my PHD. It is unclear if David is playing the Dublin original or my copy? He was and is master of these instruments over the last four decades.
@chestraEnlighten
@UCrHICovzXa3ePnfRqUV5wkQ
It sounds kinda like a tuba or a sousaphone.
i think i can count hertz,....crazy...love it...
Sounds like my hard drive
Trying to smuggle this on to a flight to avoid fees: "That's all me baby!"
Yeah!
Personally, I think it's cool that this instrument existed that far back.
I like it!
Thank you ! This leads me straight to Händel
That's a kickass bong!
It's the personal favorite of villains everywhere.
You ever look at an instrument and wonder...why
@InfiniteMushroom a pub? No I doubt that...
@InfiniteMushroom It's not meant as a solo instrument. As part of an ensemble though, it would be quite effective, as the guy said, to underpin the sound of a bassoon.
Surely the more important question would be, 'why not?'.
Or why am I watching this?
yo sick Baroque Contrabassoon dude
During WWII, the German Wehrmacht repurposed many of these fine instruments as shoulder fired 88mm antitank weapons.
After watching this even Bassists feel versatile.. :P
Probably something you don't whip out, on the first date 😂😂😂!
I'm sure I've seen one of these being used to take down light military aircraft.
This instrument is the greatest lead for the brown note
Sounds so grumpy alone but in an ensemble it is great.
interesting to see where innovation went to today with the modern contra and how many instruments tried to replace it through the years. (still prefer the Serpent, im biased as a serpent player....)
Tubajock2 I’m with you! Serpent vastly under-appreciated...
Hello! I have a personal request for a future video, could you inform us about the english horn?
It remains a mystery for me how Haydn got to know about it and use it so early in his composition. If I am not mistaken, he also introduced it in London (there is an article of the time who wanders why it is called "english"!)
Your series is amazing!
Fabulous video! Possibly improved by hippos dancing in tutu's?
Amazing instrument in any case!
Okay now you're just making instruments up
Magnificent instrument!
The stand for it looks modern. What would Handel's double bassoonist have used?
When I was a music student, we played for schoolchildren to introduce them to musical instruments. The violinist, clarinetist and flutist finished their performance. The kids were very noisy. But then a phagotist came on stage and the children suddenly fell silent. And one of the schoolchildren shouted "He 's going to shoot now. Lie down!"
Nice sound. Looks like it's pretty heavy.
First time I heard this piece was in the men’s room at Carnegie Hall. This guy nailed it.
I feel like the Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do with this instrument was used in A je to.
imagine lugging this around, and my middle school trombonists complain
Man that would make a great bong
look at that crazy bocal!