my name is michael fuller and i'm a member of the philharmonia orchestra double bass section the double bass is the largest and the lowest of all the string instruments it's made of wood and has four strings the base is also unique and it has its origins not only from the violin family but also from the viola de gamba family which was used primarily during the renaissance and baroque era this hybrid history expresses itself in many ways and also makes the double bass fascinating in that it is the least uniform and standardized of all the string family bases have had different shapes sizes bows tunings and numbers of strings throughout the instrument's history this base has four strings and they are e a d and g the base is tuned in intervals of force which is unlike the violin viola and cello which are tuned in fifths this tuning comes from the gamba family and it's also the same as the four bottom strings of the guitar only an octave lower in addition to that this up here is called an extension which allows the base to go down to a low c that's a full octave below the lowest note of a cello some bases instead of an extension have a low fifth string to reach the bottom notes and in centuries past even three string bases were common another unusual thing about the bass is that two different types of bows are used by players around the world this type i have here is known as the french bow and it is held with an overhand grip this is like the rest of the violin family but there are also many players who use what's called the german bow which is held underhand and has its origins again from the gamba family as you might imagine from the names these bellows have certain connections historically with different countries the german bow is the dominant bow grip used by players in germany austria and many places in eastern europe while the french bow has been historically more common in places like france the netherlands and great britain although these days there are many fine french and german bow players in the uk also in america it's mixed with the big french and german bow schools of playing and i'm told that in russia if you study in st petersburg you'll play german bow and in moscow you're likely to play french the double bass in the orchestra is played arco with the bow and pizzicato plucking the strings like this here's a passage from berlio's symphony fantastique where the phrase first appears as arko and then shortly after as pits so pizzicato reminds us that the base is also used in genres such as jazz and bluegrass it's the same instrument only the setup might be a little different depending on the style like for example using different types of strings sometimes people ask me why is it called the double bass in fact this same instrument has many different names it's also known as the contrabass the upright bass the acoustic bass the string bass and my personal favorite the bull fiddle they're all names for the same instrument there are even different theories about how the term double bass came about some scholars say it's because in the baroque era we would literally double the left hand of the keyboard instrument and an octave below the cello when we played together but some say it's called the double bass simply because it's roughly twice the size of a cello another thing people always ask me is don't you get tired of hauling that thing around and the answer is well one of the nice things about having a job in an orchestra like the philharmonia is that we get to put our bases away in hard shell cases they're different colors so we can tell whose is whose and then our excellent transport department takes them wherever we need to go but i have certainly hauled my base around quite a bit especially when i was studying in new york and i would take it on the subway all the time that is one thing i do not miss what is the base's role in the orchestra the base primarily provides a rhythmic and harmonic foundation it's the fundamental tone that the rest of the music is built on top of and a good double bass section can propel the music forward ground it rhythmically and make the whole orchestra sound richer warmer and more resonant how do composers use the double bass well going back to this idea of doubling the cello and octave lower you'll find in classical symphonies by haydn mozart and beethoven that the cello and bass part are often almost identical as we move into the 19th century and beyond composers start to use the bass in a more individually expressive way one of the greatest bass excerpts is from verdi's opera otello in this passage verdi is written for the bass section completely on its own and uses it in a pivotal moment in the opera otello has become convinced that his wife has been unfaithful to him and as we play he resolves to do the unthinkable i believe verdi uses the base here to express the deepest darkest emotions that otello is experiencing and that he felt that the sonority of the double bass was the best way to evoke this um so if you've enjoyed learning about the instruments in the orchestra why not try our ipad app the orchestra featuring essa pekka salinen and the philharmonia orchestra fully interactive video playback lets you view the orchestra from all angles and the revolutionary beat map shows you who is playing when follow along with synchronized scores hear the inside scoop in audio commentaries and get a 360 degree view of all the instruments available for download in the app store on itunes