The Subcontrabassoon Project

I remember going to a flute event in Chicago back around 2000 and in the exhibit hall, there was a bass flute¹ that a few people picked up and couldn’t get a sound out of—later, I was on the other side of the room and someone (who likely had previous experience with the bass flute) picked it up and played a lyrical line on it and it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard.²

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1. While called a bass flute, strictly speaking a bass flute should be called a tenor flute as it sounds a fifth below the alto flute which sounds a fourth below the concert flute. The piccolo plays an octave above the concert flute and there are intermediate flutes pitched a fifth above the concert flute and also a whole tone above it.

2. At the time, a bass flute seemed an improbably expensive instrument that I could never afford to buy. It occurs to me that now that I’m older and more financially secure, I could conceivably afford to buy one and learn to play it.

Not too many people would confuse a flute with a bassoon.

[0] Damn. Scrub to 1:00 if you want the real tea. In the first part he’s playing very high, in standard bass flute territory. At the minute mark it sounds like a string bass. The amount of air you need to push through an instrument that size has to push some kind of anatomical limit.

…or the subcontrabass recorder, e.g. https://www.kunath.com/en/Generalueberholung-Subkontrabass-P... or https://www.dolmetsch.com/millennium.htm .

Most extreme of all:

-Broadwalk Hall Auditorium Organ 64-foot diaphone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAj0mMWHzxc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM3QaSqraPY - He has a nice little edited demo uploaded as well. I hope he's able to get the keywork going soon.

It's already sounded it's first notes a while ago. Sorry to spoil the fun.

The original plan was to use Bowden cables for some of the low register notes, but I've since redesigned those to use more robust and stable traditional linkages.

Bowden cable linkages work well on some woodwinds, specifically those made by Wolf or Eppelsheim. However, on those instruments they're used for harmonic vents; tiny keys that are normally held shut by spring action, where the cable linkage only needs to open the key slightly, and which often need to be placed in positions where traditional keywork would be impossible (like on the bocal). For low register notes, the holes are large and on the main bore, most keys are open by default and must be closed a precise amount for proper sealing, and even those that are closed by default need to be opened a precise amount for proper intonation. So in the end I believe Bowden connections are unnecessary for the current design (unless I decide to add an altissimo vent to the bocal).

The thought of a note having a frequency of just a few Hertz reminded me of an old video I watched, which explained that all tones can be thought of as rhythms (and chords can be thought of as polyrhythms):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gCJHNBEdoc

Good news is that since I'm been experimenting with the incomplete prototype, I've been able to play up to at least Eb3, and will likely get F3 on the redesigned 2nd prototype. That gives it roughly the same range as the bassoon (just two octaves lower), all without the need for a dedicated altissimo vent.