I play bassoon in a double reed group at my school and one member of our group has just bought a contra bassoon, and we're all really excited! Just wondered how many other people own a contra or know someone that owns one?

They make a fantastic sound!

Alex

Very tenuous link - but our county orchestra has one! Not sure how much I like the sound though, but it's a beast!!

Thats exactly what he said when it emerged from the case for the first time! ''A beast''
Alex

There was a contra at the Play It Again event I took part in. It was huage! And made interesting farty noises. The player had an apple stuck in the end for no apparent reason.......

Someone at school bought one? How on earth did they afford that!!!! As far as I know they are around 11k+ brand new!

Rich parents perhaps?! I had a freind when I was at school and her dad bought her a Jaguar for winter and a mini cooper for the rest of the year.

Jeez.....what is the world coming to?

Goodness!

i play the principal's at my youth orchestra he's pretty rich although apparently his bassoon isn't particularly good... but he's still a great bassoonist and a dude as well - off to music college next year actually .

contras are brilliant but can be a bit of a pain when you're used to bassoon. for the bottom two octaves the fingerings are very similar (except forked Eb doesn't work, it's 2 fingers + a key instead) - above that things start to get a bit weird although for the piece we're doing at the moment (mahler V) there are top As every now and again that are fine, and i've found up to top D, albeit a bit out of tune.

it's great fun if you can get a blow on it although it's an altogether different experience compared to bassoon in terms of breathing. you need suprisingly little breath to get a note to sound, and, whereas bassoons have a job to go below mp on some notes, contras can play spectacularly quietly. or very loudly of course

He isn't a student, he's a teacher.
Alex

I've never heard the contra play anything but interesting farty noises. They just aren't 'notes' as far as musical sounds are concerned.

I remember trying a bass clarinet once and playing a low C. It sounded like the QEII departing from Southampton

The bass clarinet sounds fab...it's just the contrabassoon which makes interesting noises!

I was lucky enough to play one in an orchestra - hard work and horrible to have to carry around, but a fantastic sound!

I wonder hoe big it is compared to the normal bassoon?

I don't think I can reach the keys of the normal bassoon(I've never tried it), so the contra bassoon must be some streach

contra's not much "bigger" height wise but it is wider. the keys themselves are no further apart, all the holes are replaced by keys and they're laid out in the same way as a bassoon. so, no more of a stretch

!!! frankly, your contra player isn't very good then! in the symphony we're doing i get quite a few lyrical bits and, whilst i can do farty noises when required, i'd say i do a decent job of getting a decent sound. certainly the conductor's had no complaints.

it's just that, because they're so rare, noone really knows what they're doing - plus, it's regarded as difficult to play because it's big. i find contra easier in many ways and, whilst i don't know what a proper contra should sound like, i know it's not the sorts of "farty" noises that are generally perceived as a good thing. it just takes a bit of work. conductors are simply happy to have one, they all seem to think "great, we have a contra! blast that bit out, give it plently of oomph" when in fact it's a pp solo that requires anything but oomph.

...mind you, i don't need an excuse to blast everything as loudly and brashly as possible if they ask for it, who am i to judge their decision...

Actually the guy did play quite a bit that was recognisable notes, albeit at pitches elephants would think flirtatious, I think the really farty stuff was for the benefit of the kiddos present

The lower it got the more farty and less musical it became...

Sorry, but that absolutely cracked me up!

I does go really low bottom Bb below bottom Bb on a normal bassoon.
Alex

Glad it tickled your funnybone, Carol!

For comparrison purposes here's a pic of L with his bassoon and a borrowed contra

Barry,
How many instruments does L. own?

Actually, not that many.

Bassoon, digital piano, fife, descant and treble recorders, three flutes (one very cheap, one intermediate he's trying to sell and a Sankyo), a very cheap piccolo, alto sax, metalophone; I think that's it. But he borrows a lot of school instruments (cor anglais, double bass, decent piccolo, alto and bass flutes).

The contrabassoon in the picture was borrowed from The Rehearsal Orchestra for a performance of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet (as heard in The Apprentice).

Best wishes

barry

Not that many??!

Ditto!!!

I love that piece!!

Wouldn't really work without the bass parts though

Double ditto!

...specially when one of them is a bassoon...

Dear Sarah

What do you mean by that?

Best wishes

barry

I think she was commenting on the fact that not a lot of people actually own a bassoon, maybe she wasn't, Idk XD. Anyways wow, the contra basssoon is one ###### of an instrument.

I have only ever heard contra bassoon once as far as I can recall...it was in a Chamber music setting and if I recall correctly it was an arrangement of "The Teddy Bears Picnic"...rather a light piece I grant you but it was charming...

The contra Bassoon played some wonderful solos and to my mind made the piece...yes the notes were very very low and to be blunt quite lavatorial but it was lovely to hear this huge instrument play and almost dance its way through what was a fairly lively performance...unexpectedly the contra was very light on its feet...

I have also taken a peek at the prices for Contras...WOW...better win the lottery I doubt they sell many in a year...I shall never complain again about the prices of anything Oboe...

Kindest regards...and a wonderful picture by the way

Andrew

just a post thought...who are considered the very best Bassoon makers...Puchner for example? I have no idea if I even spelled that correctly

I've just recently started playing bassoon (i'm very happy i[m playing it though, better than the tuba and maybe one day I could play Contra but I doubt it XD) but I have heard a lot of talk and people say Conn, Fox Renards (sp?) and Heckel are pretty good bassoons.

That bassoons are enormously expensive. Most people, if they owned and played a bassoon, would struggle to also afford so many other instruments.

Dear Sarah

May I refer you to the "Instruments In The House" thread?

Best wishes

barry

Oh that is nothing,
Between my wife and myself we have
Couple of recorders, couple of fifes, flute, 2 clarinets, Alto sax, bassoon, trumpet, french horn, trombone, tuba, keyboard, piano, guitar, piano accordian. Have I forgotten anything - we really need to get our hands on a oboe though!
I think I might have started the biggest contest now!

However the contra is a fab instrument, my wife loves the contra, their are so brilliant solos for the contra if you look out for them!