10pm: I'm going to get to sleep early tonight 3am: Introducing the Baroque Contrabassoon

I love how it's so huge you can't get it all in focus.

Proudly Presenting... *The Bassooka*

The concert foghorn.

I have to hand it to you guys. It’s not too often that I am in utter amazement, but when he said that this was THE contrabassoon that premiered Music for the Royal Fireworks, my jaw hit the floor. That is truly amazing that it’s survived all these centuries and is still being played!

One of my ancestors, named Candido Passavanti, was actually the contrabassoonist who played in Beethoven’s orchestra. It never occurred to me to wonder before, but now I’m curious to know if his instrument has survived and is perhaps still being played.

Assert dominance

After their concert performances, the Baroque Contrabassoon was also very useful for jousting.

Imagine being in a high school music class and having to take that thing home on the bus with you, lol

Sick bong, dude.

"Say hello to my little friend" "You could bring down a 747 with that" "Of course it'll fit into the overhead locker" "Unparalleled effect, but a devil to get lit" but mostly "PAAAAARRRRRRPPPP!" A magnificent device. How on earth does one's life path lead to blowing into one of those for money?

He's right, it really is a pitchy instrument. Must have been extremely tough to play, considering the best of the best in terms of modern players is struggling to keep the higher notes in tune

0:00 when your cellphone is muted and you get a message

The residence and vibration sound like controlled flatulence 😆

I was wondering what this instrument was after seeing it on the credits of The Seer by Swans. I was not disappointed. This instrument fits that album perfectly.

That's a big bong

What caliber round does that thing fire?

How to play the RPG-7

The sound reminds me a bit of a bass saxophone, but less resonance and more sound of the reed. I am really surprised that it is in good enough condition to still be played.

I think it’s really cool we still give life to these instruments.

Girls be lining up!

Do "Smoke on the Water next."

FABULOUS! I had never heard of this instrument before.. it make such a melodious deep satiny sound.. very enjoyable and to thing that is almost 300 years old and has been playing the same music for all that time.. incredible thank you!

Here is a man who doesn't need an aqualung to stay underwater for twenty minutes.

Sounds like the tones from "Close Encounters of a Third Kind".

Spectacular! Thanks for preserving this history and sharing it with all of us and not just the Lords and Ladies.

Spooky , deep and dark with a touch of sinister .

Is there a 15 hour version of this I can play for my neighbors?

Bro, did he just got the brown note?

Baroques and their comedically giant instruments...

Sounds like cowboys eating beans ‘round the campfire!

Really useful for when you need to hold a flag, play and fight alongside your regiment.

Please play Moanin’ by Charles Mingus on this...

Announcer: “And now, tones of baroque, bassoon.” Common folk: “It didn’t sound broke at all, quite nice actually.”

We need more low register sounds like this in music. Or at least I definitely do. Love this. Excellent video.

Wow...speachless. Love to see you bring that to a backporch jam.

Registers 7.9 on the Richter scale. Neighbors gotta love when you play "Smoke On The Water" on that bad boy - rockin' !

My husband plays this instrument every morning but I don't know where he hides it.

In Russia..........We play orchestra @ 6 to 8 PM.....fire mortars from 9 PM to midnite......very versatile instrument......

Rich and sonorous in its deepness this instrument of its time and in playable condition is really special.

It's incredibly warm!

Where has this instrument been all my life? Damn, my parents should have made me play one from the age of 5!

One of these in every home!

How to make the "Brown Note" classy.

The IBM 3270 of the bassoon family.

His brother was head of wind brass and percussion at my school.

I never knew the contrabassoon or this version. Ty for this.

That strange feeling you get when you don't know whether to be impressed or to laugh out loud...

I’d love to hear more about how they built such instruments. I have a 46” lathe in my shop, but I’ve never bored out anything deeper than about a foot or so. They must have had to make some interesting special tools for this.

He’s like the Attenborough of the OAE, really. I got to play the Baroque bassoon one summer at Oberlin BPI (Eichentopf copy) but sadly no contra. Interestingly enough, the reed I used for it was made from a modern contra blank, if memory serves.

I guess this must be one way to guarantee yourself a gig and some kind of orchestra somewhere in the world. I hope the pay is better than most orchestral chairs, because you're gonna need at least two people carry this instrument around!

I first thought it was a rocket launcher

Excellent info, nice French and you’re a ringer for Robert Fripp !

Amazing deep rich tones. Thank you.

"the sounds are like nothing else" -- thank God!

Sounds like my hard drive

What is also impressive is how for the foot joint, 2 very long holes would have had to be drilled side by side. Not easy!

That contrabasson must be the travel version. Went to Bates museum in Oxford, a must see , hundreds of old and weird wind instruments saxophones mainly never knew there wete so many types , fascinating .

Trying to smuggle this on to a flight to avoid fees: "That's all me baby!"

Hope your fingers are feeling better now. Thanks for the great video.

I copied the original in Dublin museum back around 1998 with Graham Lyndon Jones. One for me and the other for him, if I recall, David Chatterton bought mine to compliment the Tauber Classical era contra I made for him in 1986 housed at the Bate Collection in Oxford where I did my PHD. It is unclear if David is playing the Dublin original or my copy? He was and is master of these instruments over the last four decades.

Fine instrument... Low sound is really great.👍

You ever look at an instrument and wonder...why

Person from the past: "I wonder if I can make a cannon into an instrument..."

i think i can count hertz,....crazy...love it...

I see a lot of joke comments, but on a more serious note, I totally get it. This is actually a pretty cool instrument. This beast was probably pushing the technology of the day to its brink, but here it is. It still exists, it still plays, and it sounds quite alright! It's quite apparent that, for better or for worse, it has a lot of "personality" but I understand how that can be an enjoyable part of playing an instrument. All of my least favorite horns are the ones that do all the hard work for me.

After watching this even Bassists feel versatile.. :P

Ive never seen one of those. Richard Bobo needs to see this video!

I like it!

AWESOME BASS LINES!!And they say size doesn't matter…

imagine lugging this around, and my middle school trombonists complain

This instrument is the greatest lead for the brown note

Johann Sebastian Bach, to his contrabassoonist: "Fritz, the next time you fell one of those coming on, open a window." Fritz: "Actually, Herr Kapelmeister, that was the instrument, not me."

Okay now you're just making instruments up

Quite practical to carry around😃

That's a kickass bong!

Ok I'll see your bassoon, and raise you a contrabassoon!

I'm sure I've seen one of these being used to take down light military aircraft.

When I hear the word contrabassoon it sounds like I'm being called a dirty word in a language I don't speak. "Watch what you say; you contrabassoon!"

I am disappointing you didn't rob the museum to show us the dragon head.

Probably something you don't whip out, on the first date 😂😂😂!

During WWII, the German Wehrmacht repurposed many of these fine instruments as shoulder fired 88mm antitank weapons.

"the sounds are like nothing else" First time Mexican food eaters beg to differ.

I love that baroque contrabassoon made in England.

It's the personal favorite of villains everywhere.

ALL MBOUT DAT BASS

The ship is about to leave. Come on board

I love the angles you shoot these instruments at.

Now with pole axe attachment in case your orchestra is assaulted by mounted assailants during a performance.

yo sick Baroque Contrabassoon dude

First time I heard this piece was in the men’s room at Carnegie Hall. This guy nailed it.

That would be fun in any marching band.

Wow -- he actually started out by *showing the topic of the video* instead of babbling for ten minutes! Thumbs up. More videos should be set up this way.

I thought he's calling the hippos

When I was a music student, we played for schoolchildren to introduce them to musical instruments. The violinist, clarinetist and flutist finished their performance. The kids were very noisy. But then a phagotist came on stage and the children suddenly fell silent. And one of the schoolchildren shouted "He 's going to shoot now. Lie down!"

I now suffer bassoon envy.

The sounds a creepy wooden house makes

4:44 Open that E-hole! (everyone leaves the room)

I was trained as a bassoonist and studied with Roberto Sensale, contrabassoonist of NY Phil (who also played under Toscanini). So I know a bit about bassoons, if you'll pardon my presumption in saying so. This instrument is interesting...but it is not musical and there's no mystery in my mind as to why only one example of it has survived. The bassoon has a bad enough reputation as it is--the 'clown' of the orchestra, etc. We don't need to add to that by taking experimental instruments such as this one too seriously. A modern contrabassoon produces an exquisite, beautiful sound, right down to its bottom note. This early attempt to create a wind instrument playing an octave below everthing else should not be ignored...but it should stay in a museum, and not be heard in a concert hall. Sorry, but Simon Rattle was right. It really IS the Loch Ness Monster.

Baroque Contrabassoon is Terjerkistanian for "Fart Cannon".