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How low can you go?

23K views 64 replies 21 participants last post by  teto  
#1 ·
I have been meaning to ask the SOTW community for a while to reflect on the why in the last few years there has been an incredible proliferation of very low sounding instruments some of which have surpassed the threshold of the audible frequencies.

This phenomenon is hardly limited to the world of saxophones and yes, we had contrabass saxophones and clarinets for a very long time but hyperbass flutes? Octobass stringed instruments?

Why is this? Yes, the saxophone family has also gone the other way and Benedikt Eppelsheim (who is responsible for a few low instruments too: two tubaxes, a contrabass, a bass and both a contrabass clarinet and a contra-bassoon ) added a piccolo saxophone or soprillo to the range of the saxophones.

But there are many other examples of incredibly low instruments...........feel free to add to the collection :)

 
#62 ·
Ok - I might as well throw my hat in the ring. Subcontrabass Tubax (Bb). Think 8vb below a Bass Saxophone.. This one is the 9th out of 9 made by Eppelsheim for Paul Cohen who graciously let me use it a couple years ago.

 
#65 ·
Glad to see Richard Bobo's subcontrabassoon being represented. I've followed his project since he started nearly 10 years ago, and the results so far are exciting.

From what I can find, Jared de Leon's octrocontrabass clarinet is taking a backseat for his other projects, many of which are just as intriguing.

Speaking of which, the saxophone family is again out of depth in the subcontrabass register. A low A subcontra only gets you down to concert G0, while both of the above attempts will eclipse it by at least a minor sixth. I would have been content with that G0, but apparently one of the Brazilian low saxophone manufacturers didn't think so and actually made an octocontrabass, one octave below the contrabass. Kudos to @Robert Glogowski for bringing this to attention in another thread.




I couldn't believe the title at first, but there are multiple concert F0's in the first clip fingered as a low D. It exists.