[Dixielandjazz] Re: Double Bass

[TBW504 at aol.com]

The term double bass (the terms double bass, bass violin, and contrabass are 
interchangeable) usually refers to the string bass, as opposed to the brass 
bass or tuba (note that a sousaphone is really a tuba adapted for marching) 
Whereas the string bass, the lowest pitched instrument of the violin family,  is 
normally of a standard size the tuba is found as a number of varying sizes 
ranging from the baritone horn or saxhorn, and including the bombardon - a tuba in 
Eflat, to the usually encountered Bflat tuba, and the huge double Bflat tuba. 
It is a technically complicated subject with endless instrumental variations, 
the orchestral tuba developed for Richard Wagner for instance. Personally, I 
use the term bass to denote the stringed instrument; brass bass for anything 
made of metal; and electric bass for the bass guitar in modern usage. Pedantry 
corner: Allan Jaffe played a helicon with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band as 
well as a more conventional tuba. By the way, I looked up helicon in a 
dictionary of music and it said that it was a bass trumpet. Now there's an opportunity 
to amaze your friends. Wait for a lull in the conversation before announcing, 
"Of course Alan Jaffe's walking bass on bass trumpet whilst technically 
anachronistic nevertheless underpins the temporal progress of any duple meter."
Brian Wood.