What unusual bass instruments are you using?

[StingRayBoy42]

Does Sousaphone count as an unusual Bass instrument?


 

[itu]

@Owen: The fretboard of the Tribass has "switches". The three "string" thing is doable, although fourth would make fingerings even easier. What, no E, A, and D? As you would need extra "frets" to get sounds from the free strings, they are hidden to your right hand. 

 

Right hand can do a couple of things with the touch screen. There are E, A, and D, as well as few different ways of playing those three strings. I suppose that the screen is the most energy consuming component of the unit: lights usually take their part. 

 

Pros: very light weight, a handy tool, MIDI out, no latency, rechargeable. I'd say the unit is made well, the feel is very good. 

Cons: only three strings, E, A, and D on the right hand side, it takes some time to get used to the UI, and of course the availability of the unit. 

[Owen]

Thanks. The 4 string version is available now and until the garage phoned to tell me my turbo was dead I was seriously interested. They sound like they function as I would expect. In a good way. Ho hum. 

[Rosie C]

On 17/09/2021 at 15:38, Nail Soup said:

Is anyone out there actively using anything else to lay down the bass in actual performances or recordings instead of one of the above?

Hoping for some unusual ones.

 

Bass recorder and piano accordion. The acoustic accordion has the very cool 'Stradella' button board which lays out the bass and chords in 4ths/5ths but of course just makes accordion sounds. But I also have a digital piano accordion which can generate bassoon, double bass etc., or drive a MIDI synth. 

 

The bass recorder isn't that low in pitch, there are great bass and contra bass which actually get low down. In the picture below is the great bass recorder I used to own...

 

Edited Thursday at 11:30 by Rosie C

[Shaggy]

A few pics of my archlute (Austrian, 1973); sometimes referred to as a theorbo, but a theorbo is more usually a shorter baritone instrument, whereas this is the full bass daddy, an inch under 6 ft long.  

 

I do play Renaissance 8-course tenor lute (included in last 2 pics) for scale) but I've had the archlute lying around for years without getting to grips with it.   Actually not an insurmountable step, as it's essentially a standard fretted tenor lute with a set of unfretted bass drone strings on the bass side, like a harp.   It was mainly used for continuo playing to accompany voice and/or other instruments, but there was solo music written for it mainly in late Renaissance / early baroque Italy by composers such as Kapsberger .

 

A few regrets with this as I traded my favourite mandolin for it (a 1975 Mike Vanden F5), but if / when I finally  hang up the bass guitar I'll hopefully have the time and motivation  be able to tackle learning it.  Also the 5-string banjo sitting idle in its case.....

 

 

 

 

[itu]

On 14/08/2025 at 00:26, Owen said:

The 4 string version is available now... 

Thanks for the tip. Michael sent a note that I'm on the wait list. 

[Owen]

There is a wait list early adopters sale thing now. $499.

[Rosie C]

On 14/08/2025 at 11:59, Shaggy said:

I do play Renaissance 8-course tenor lute (included in last 2 pics) for scale) but I've had the archlute lying around for years without getting to grips with it. 

 

Very nice. I tried to learn lute but without a teacher I didn't make much progress and ended up playing mandolin instead. One day I will build a lute though, and learn to play it!   

[Shaggy]

1 hour ago, Rosie C said:

 

Very nice. I tried to learn lute but without a teacher I didn't make much progress and ended up playing mandolin instead. One day I will build a lute though, and learn to play it!   

 

 

Not as hard as you might think, certainly no harder than classical guitar.  It was always an ambition of mine as I love both the instrument and that era of music.   When I happened to see an old 7-course tenor lute at a local instrument dealers stall at Pontardawe Festival one summer I had to have it (turned out to be a nice one; a 1966 Harwood & Isaacs), and I just worked through Diana Poulton's "Tutor for the Renaissance lute" which is excellent, and there must be so much more teaching available on the internet these days.   Good thing is most lute music is written in tablature form, and many of the loveliest pieces are very simple ones; Renaissance music was in many ways just an evolution of folk dances and songs.

You should try again!     The Early Music Shop does self-build lute kits.     Mandolin is lovely too, mind - I have far too many of those as well.......