The 5-String Double Bass

[David Powell]

Bach's Brandenburgs and really all of the Beethoven Symphonies have long been among my favorites. If I can find a good way to convert my Dad's old Deutschte-Grammophon recordings to digital, I'll be able to enjoy them more often.

But about the Brandenburgs and the low notes;-

Do you think Bach's original composition referenced notes this low or is this something that is more likely a modern interpretation? There have been some different ideas about whether there were Baroque era instruments that actually could play those low notes. G violones certainly existed (similar to the Pollmann). Some researchers feel that there was an instrument that went even lower, to the D that we now have only with instruments with the C extension or BB string and there are a few drawings of really large instruments but almost nothing that still exists qualifies as a genuine Baroque instrument that might have this range.

I was just wondering. I'm a real low note freak myself so I like everything with the lower range.