What does Octobass mean?

Definitions for Octobass
oc·to·bass

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word Octobass.


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Wiktionary

  1. octobassnoun

    A very large double bass requiring two musicians, one to finger and one to bow

Wikipedia

  1. Octobass

    The octobass is an extremely large and rare bowed string instrument that was first built around 1850 in Paris by the French luthier Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (1798–1875). It has three strings and is essentially a larger version of the double bass – the specimen in the collection of the Musée de la Musique in Paris measures 3.48 metres (11 ft 5 in) in length, whereas a full-size double bass is generally approximately 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in length.

Wikidata

  1. Octobass

    The octobass is an extremely large bowed string instrument constructed about 1850 in Paris by the French luthier Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume. It has three strings and is essentially a larger version of the double bass. Because of the impractically large size of its fingerboard and thickness of its strings, the strings were stopped by the use of an intricate system of hand- and foot-activated levers and pedals. The instrument was, in fact, so large that it took two musicians to play: one to bow and the other to control the "fingering", and was consequently never produced on a large scale or used much by composers. In addition to the Paris instrument, another octobass is in the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. Berlioz writes in his Orchestration Treatise that its lowest string is tuned to C1, one octave below the lowest C of the cello. This note is the same as the lowest note of a modern double bass with a low C extension. The middle string is tuned to G1, a fifth above the lowest string. The uppermost string is tuned to C2, an octave above the instrument's lowest string. Berlioz quotes G2, a fifth above the top string, as the highest note playable on the instrument, giving it a compass of an octave and a fifth. However, Berlioz may have been mistaken because modern and surviving instruments are tuned C, G, C, with the low C string being 16.25 Hz. The modern technique of octobass playing includes the technique of fingering up to A, plus higher notes possible by extended technique. Octobass has been scored for in autographs of many composers including Hector Berlioz, Richard Strauss, Mahler, Brahms, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, and others. Recent pieces include Genesis and Four Poems by the American composer Adam Gilberti.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of Octobass in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of Octobass in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4


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"Octobass." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/Octobass>.

Discuss these Octobass definitions with the community:

1 Comment
  • robfordlewis
    What does the "Octo-" in "octobass" stand for? 8 what?
    LikeReply1 year ago

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