Octobass @ the Musical Instrument Museum

[atininay]

Amusant, mais le roulement de la corde est un défaut, qui est habituellement corrigé sur un violoncelle normal : pourquoi ne pas le corriger ici, et se diriger vers un bruit haché, peu musical (un commentaire évoque l'hélicoptère !), qui rend inutile l'accordage du départ ? Ce serait plus intéressant d'entendre les sons graves sans ce défaut.

[eriqlo]

it is like a hitler´s creation

[bandi02bunny]

Where's this museum?

[veprecose]

@bandi02bunny Phoenix, AZ.

[JasonTongRulz]

But if you can't finger it... how do you do harmonics? :O

[MephistosMelancholia]

One doesn't create an obelisk like this for its practicality, rather it is constructed to defy limitation!!!

[Strefanasha]

I have heard of the octobass but never before today heard one.

only on youtube . . . . . . . I did not even know any existed. But i did read that the originals were played by TWO men, one to finger one to bow.

How is this device tuned, the same as a bass but an octave lower still or something else?

[chesterbe76]

@Strefanasha wikipedia

[SteelSkin667]

@Strefanasha It's tuned CGC, the low C being C0, a note that usually only large organs can play.

[Prfctdrk]

Like if you came here from Reddit/TIL looking for an Octobass :)

[Mis4el1973]

"Like a helicopter"! XD

[0GL]

The Dies Irae! Love it!

[dcfreak23]

Why would you ever create an instrument that sounds so hideous?

[RagnorBC]

@dcfreak23 because you can

[duchashes]

@dcfreak23 i like it

[minimushrooom]

@dcfreak23 So you can film someone playing it, post it on YouTube, and people can make amusing jokes relating to it's size.

[DangableQ]

Fit THAT in an Accord!

[plee13821]

Can you say harmonics?

[danguitar91]

FUCK! trying to slap that:P

[26point1]

In school, we use to find the kid with the biggest instrument and chase them... he wouldn't stand a chance of getting his ass kicked. jk

[giax5296]

How do you carry it? Do what mechanism?

[deceptichris]

i wonder what the case looks like.

[RagnorBC]

@deceptichris That would be know as "a truck".

[MetalSlab]

Watch all the metal heads try to tune it to drop C.. or add an extra lower string or something to make it more brutal

[MetalSlab]

Peter Steele would just strap it on like a guitar using a metal chain.

[zaokoyechatma]

Now why would you need a instrument so damn big

[ewfmatthew]

lets see him do some Victor Wooten or Stanley Clark on that lol

[HinduGangsta]

It's so metal.

[arnehepp]

dude I'd love to hear some extended techniques on that thing!

[Rmazer555]

I was in that room today, I'm glad I found this.

[TNTIV]

god damn that huge. Glad VH1's documentary called "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey" told me about this

[fergcurrie]

I want that bow!!!!!!

[christopherfulkerson]

If you are wondering how it's played, watch the video. There is no second player, there are keys on the side. The melody he plays is the Dies irae, a Gregorian chant sequence - "Day of Wrath." He also plays the very lowest note, a 16 hz C, below the range of most human hearing. The tone sounds like it's shuddering because you're not actually hearing the fundamental, you're hearing the overtones and the resultant cannot be formed adequately by the human ear. Elephants' ears can hear the pitch.

[ASDMinistries]

If humans think it's big...

imagine a smurf ....

[LillaKrisu]

@glennrickard323576 as he said, you only hear the overtones. what's the point in 8 hz notes? :D is it so that whales can enjoy music too? :D

[gmumario]

The next model you will need a ladder to play!

O próximo modelo você vai precisar de uma escada para tocar!

[MeanEyedCats]

That bow is about the size of a machete. :D Love it!

[dudeguy927]

Keep pressing "9" for the real fun!

[galanteria0047]

can somebody give me names of pieces witch uses octobass ? I know that Wagner wrote some but i can't find any one ;(

[Patrickthebass]

This thing is so big, you actually cant finger it... Thats what she said!

[MomSaysImCool]

@Patrickthebass Bravo!

[douneedtoknowthis]

@Patrickthebass finger it ha ha

[EvanWang999]

@Patrickthebass @ 1:02 LOL

[mikstr22]

I wonder how many trees they had to cut down to make it...

[aorphia]

Great for making spooky music... Gosh, that bass is so huge!

[David11563]

Taking any instrument and making it 10 times bigger seems like it will always be a win

[XCantXEscapeXFateX]

Dies Irae!

[keepthefunk]

2:50 Cool!

[Cidantis]

that thing is fucking brutal

[thewr0ngchild]

When I die, I want to be buried inside that!

[Ybarchov21]

Berlioz thought that this instrument would become immensely popular.

Lol. He was SO off.

[lordmagicpants]

I bet i could finger it.

I can finger most things.

[FuCkINgPuNk182]

Es un mounstro!!!

[GarretsShadow]

How the hell do you get that thing to a gig?

[davo664]

@GarretsShadow Helicopter.

[TheBlueeyedJew]

I cannot imagine (as a cellist) what it would be like to have harmonics at eye level.

[PRSLRider]

This brings to mind an old song, "The Bass Profundo Sang Low C" that I heard on an LP about 50 years ago. Yes, I heard the low C, and believe me, it Hertz!

[MrDanielBrisk]

@PRSLRider You have disproven my theory that the intellectual don't hang out on YouTube. Thanks for the pun!!!

[tenten5002]

That sound remember(to me) the Bass Clarinet

[tenten5002]

There's a Hurdy Gurdy in this museum?*-*

[tenten5002]

You must have a big house.

[MUSTANGCOUNTRYBOY]

Thumbs up if you could here the low C....

[clarinetgrint98]

That's fascinating, however it is a bit pointlessly low.

[portal1018]

a helicopter..

[MrUkuleleist]

I find it interesting that its played with sort of mega-German bow. I always imagined that it would be played with a bow that more or less resembled a two person crosscut saw.

[Suetekh27]

@Binkeh9 Yes it was! :D

[luclfersangel616]

I like to think of this man as a very small violin player.

[LuizBHMG]

Incrível. Eu nunca vira um Octabaixo antes! Nem sabia que existe esse instrumento...

[nevie98]

What clef does he play in?!

[ericoschmitt]

@nevie98 Eb clef.

ok ok.. probably F clef transposed 2 octaves

[psychotikpaisano]

o my gawd I love subwoofers

[rachmaniralf]

HORRIBLE!!! You can tell this guy isn't a string player (at least not one past the kiddie stages) Beautiful tone though. These would be awsome to have written into string scores. But using a small set a levers limits your playing range and will not allow fast passages. I'm not sure if any of you non-bass players realize this (especially in grade-school orchestras) but they can get pretty intense.

[Huddiethegreat]

Dies Irae! Berlioz would have appreciated this

[omoshiroidayo]

why it only got 3 strings and not four??

[Hyperventilacion]

Is he playing totentanz?

[BRENDAXX991]

my teacher from my double bass lessons, is making also a octobass. and it's insane! its so awesome but also such a creep noise (:

[croquis24]

waugner had one in is orcestra

put 2-3 in one room and ul make the roof shake

[LueyLuvaexthe13th]

How much does this thing cost? I must have one. I play bass, but none this size.

[MaxJNorman]

is anyone else seeing a violin being played by a dwarf?

[MrZygoticmynci]

My god, that's a beast.

[Tobbe999999999999999]

lol it's so big you can't finger it and it's so low you can't hear the lowest note.wow what an instrument.

[BRENDAXX991]

@Tobbe999999999999999

you have to play with some thing on the side of the octobass ( a little above yr haedà), when you push some of the bars down, something and something fix automatic., that there comes something like (automatic) capo like on a guitar.. (: and that supposed to be yr finger i get. And damn why am i telling u this :D sorry about my english:)

[john28kool]

I can do this last not with my voice lol,,

[therapsids]

Is that the theme from Totentanz?

[bckm54]

I wanna hear Paganini's 24th Caprice on that thing. :)

[TheMissingno]

Figures, the two things that I was thinking were the two top comments.

[LDJ96]

That's the sound I make when I ejaculate

[ivanspecs]

yo, slap dat bass nigga!

[Autobot71Ironhide]

2:47

if I had to hear that laugh for the rest of my life, I'd end up in Arkham Asylum.

[elvenkatana]

With this, you could play acoustic dubstep! :D

[spikecellwarrior1]

String snaps, EVERYONE DIES

[XxXapocolypseXxX]

I need some help with this, i realize its REALLY low, but why does it have to be so big? i realize that the lower you go the longer the neck (like from guitar to bass) but does it need to be THAT big? how many octives lower is it from a regular upright bass?

[flyinyourmartini]

Man, look at that string vibrations when he does that low C. Insane!

[Suetekh27]

Isn't this the instrument that, back when it was invented, had to be played by two people? I could be wrong, but I was watching some documentary and thought it said that one person fingered it and the other bowed it. Anyway, as a bass enthusiast, I'd love to get my hands on that baby :D

[veprecose]

@Suetekh27 Yes, I think traditionally that's how it's played. Just because it's kind of awkward to do both.

[ultimatecheesehead]

@Suetekh27 HEHE fingered it



[Suetekh27]

@ultimatecheesehead hehe..... bowed xD

[Icetav]

@Suetekh27 One man would play in first position while standing on something and the other would play the higher registers standing in front of him

[LILFLAMA505]

@Suetekh27 that is a very suggestive comment and frankly i am appalled.

[Maafa1619]

@Suetekh27 "Isn't this the instrument that, back when it was invented, had to be played by two people?"

That's what she said. Hey ohhhhhhhh!

[makelelegd96]

this is amazing



[nicholasryanlutsko]

les claypool has to get a hold of one of these things

[FilmComposeRaHoppe]

Does the octobass origin from the violin family? Unlike the double bass it has fine tuners? And why is the double bass still called the biggest bowed instrument? I mean I love the double bass very much but this is obviously bigger than the double bass. :D

[MrSunchine456]

@FilmComposeRaHoppe i think its because it can actually be played this looks more like a novelty

[FilmComposeRaHoppe]

@MrSunchine456 On wikipedia they said that it was just a very big variation of the double bass but you know wikipedia is not always very reliable. You know :D

[ethoprince]

i wonder how it feels when u touch it when the string is vibrating

[ethoprince]

its probably the only instrument with the Z note O_ O

[NotSoNewJesus]

Oh my.

[markdavidwallace]

he needs a bent end pin, rabbath style!

[yobmas722]

i wonder how many people are needed for that thing?

[virginiaorganbuilder]

I like that he starts out by playing the "Dies Irae" from the Requiem Mass...

[SgtPenguin117]

Is he playing Berlioz?

[mortalfrog0815]

@SgtPenguin117 i wonder if there's a part for that instrument in the symph. fantastique... he sure liked to use unconventional instruments!

[SgtPenguin117]

@mortalfrog0815 How about that! According to Wikipedia, "Octobass has been scored for in autographs of many composers including Hector Berlioz, Richard Strauss, Mahler, Brahms, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, and others." I didn't see anything about him using any in Symphonie Fantastique, though.

[mortalfrog0815]

@SgtPenguin117 haha! ;-) nevertheless, i (kind of) knew it...

[Huddiethegreat]

@mortalfrog0815 I remember reading he thought it was a shame this instrument didn't catch on...too bad

[PureZOOKS]

I would love to hear "Fight of the Bumblebee" on this.

[SwirlyBrokenHearts]

whats the scale length like over a metre of string to play on ? xD sounds so cool

[PureZOOKS]

@SwirlyBrokenHearts 2,150 mm

[MaggZzzZyy]

Why would anyone make this instrument? What is its purpose?

[firestarsquest]

@MaggZzzZyy i know, its so deep you can barely hear it

[plainobase]

why would it need fine tuners? perhaps noone can tune it on top!

[dexter12322222222222]

that thing wakes up the death.. o_O!!!

[Strav9]

Jeez!

There's only one guy that can play htis decently: Chuck Norris

[arrisfilms]

@Strav9 Chuck Norris is tone deaf.

[mahmoud1995]

Thats massive!! i play the violin.. i feel small

[skorpionrazor]

1:35 creapy

[Styroksipaprika]

Why the heck someone would build this big guitar? Especially when it's a bass. The sound is pretty scary, too.

[Peglegkickboxer]

@Styroksipaprika lol it's basically meant for playing one note per 4-6 seconds and It's probably more useful for wowing an audience. That's why this is one of the rarest instruments ever.

[blaisems]

that must be like sawing through petrified wood to play

[KISIMOV]

what was the purpose of that instrument?

it sounds horrible......

[develko]

I'm really a musical instruments expert, but I have never seen a guitar this big!!! :-)

[msorensen54]

@develko You're a musical instruments expert and you call that a guitar?

[develko]

@msorensen54 Not only that, I can also understand jokes! ;-)

[ThatRandomGuy325]

"no we dont need more bass. I just want the seats of my audience to shake violently when i play!"

[trainguy111]

Wow!!!! Sooo low!!!

[NeonFoxLetsPlays]

it's like a doublebass on steroids!!

[menace391]

the low c sounds kind of like a motorcycle... kind of.

[Ktownsend1992]

"This thing is so big... You can't finger it." Amazing just amazing.

[goron29]

@Ktownsend1992 thats what she said

[Thewasteofwords]

@Ktownsend1992 thats what she said

[crwv]

How long before someone tries to play bottesini on it?

[tomorocko]

@crwv

Elegy in D Major? Lol

[mhirst16]

Nice video, but man....keep the camera steady

[veprecose]

@mhirst16 Nice comment, but man...keep the jackassery to a minimum. :p

No, but honestly, I hadn't eaten anything that morning, I was shaking. Oh, well.

[fabz13c]

@veprecose well...you gots some "tude"

[MotokoStarwind]

@mhirst16 Let's see you keep the camera steady. This isn't a movie shoot where they have counterweight balances on the bottom of the camera.

[mhirst16]

@MotokoStarwind Absolutely I can keep a camera steady. I was a broadcasting major in college, there are tricks you can use to keep it steady when you don't have a tripod available. You don't need a counterweight most of the time.

[Uchihaclan28]

Its the only Instrument known to man that can play the Brown note.

[thesomeonetwo]

@Uchihaclan28 Brown note ?

[dr34d1sh]

@thesomeonetwo frequency that can make humans loose control of their bowels :)

[daniel3927]

@dr34d1sh bowels?

[abbeediaz]

@Uchihaclan28 whats the brown note??

[TasteForDisaster]

@Uchihaclan28 what's the brown note?

[kamanu47]

My guess is that I would have difficulty getting this into my VW Bug :)

[Terrortronic]

The Shining!

[topomannaro]

nice....the Dies Irae!!!! & well played indeed

[BAJJMiller]

@topomannaro I thought so!

[OscarGT25]

i wonder what Luthier was thinking when he was making this huge intrument!

[Emceetem]

@OscarGT25

"Let's see cliff burton playing this" that?

:P

[OscarGT25]

@Emceetem That would be sweet, we just need to bring him back to life...... R.I.P.

[radajan]

Seems like a cool job