Here’s a YouTube clip of Marcel W. Helland playing one of the world’s rarest musical instruments (only 25 or so exists): the contrabass saxophone. As you can see, it’s quite large (about 6 foot 4 inches or 1.9 m tall) and heavy (45 lb. or 20 kg).
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – Thanks Christophe!
oezicomix
JT ketterer should get his own show on tv!!
and i so much wanted to hear the guy play the pink panther motiv…
DrJones
That thing is awesome!!! I’d love to see it in action on the marching field 
I think it would sound great in a trio or quartet of other saxes or reeds.
ted
It really needs an orchestra, but that was interesting. People shouldn’t be so critical – it takes a lot of air to blow one of those things.
Enjoyed the geek at the end, too.
Who needs a tuba to make farting noises?
aaron
There is a saxophone group that uses one called the nuclear whales
There is a more resonable version of a contrabass called a tubax made by eppelsheim same octive below the bari
http://www.eppelsheim.com/tubax.php?lang=en
Greg
Man! How much cooler would Kenny G look with one of those around his neck?!?! (Kenny G is cool? Wait….)
Viola
It’s the sexy version of the sax! I’m impressed. I wonder what the range is?
Rosi
It’s an octave below the bari, so I’m guessing the C two octaves below middle C to about E above middle C. Ouch. That’s two octaves lower than an alto sax.
I don’t know about contrabass saxes, but you can buy bass saxes (which are about a fifth higher I think) pretty easily through specialist shops.
Also, I have no idea why he’s holding the sax up. You’re meant to rest it on a spike to play it, similar to a bass clarinet or a cello. It’s just making it more difficult to play if you hold it up.
andrewdoane
Sweet… I totally want one. I played bari in high school. I will have to add this to the list of ridiculous things I will buy if I win the lottery.
Gerry
I play alto and tenor sax and have only tried playing a bari a few times.
Can only imagine that the contrabass is like trying to blow a 6″ pipe. Wayyyy too much for me….
There was an article on bass and contrabass saxes in the March/April 2008 ‘Saxophone Journal’ magazine. Guy from Brazil had a Stainer Low B Contrabass custom built that will go below 65Hz – essentially below human hearing into the subsonic range..
Here’s some more vids:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a09mBkuC8wo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xfS_wmlfjg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieb5IDnXV8o&feature=related
Allen
2 octaves below middle C? I’ve played a recorder pitched at that, the Paetzold sub-greatbass. Requires a lot of air. I’ve heard Dolmetsch is working on a sub-contra in F, two octaves under a normal bass recorder.
Here are some pictures I scanned from Strad magazine several years ago, of a rather large string bass, made by the 19th century French maker Vuillaume:
http://plover.net/~agarvin/bass.jpg
http://plover.net/~agarvin/bass2.jpg
http://plover.net/~agarvin/bass3.jpg
kyboiz
speaking of rare or obsolete even, does anyone remember the E Flat horn?
iTim
There’s a rarer instrument: the octocontrabass clarinet. Two exist, made by Leblanc.
Tyler Rieves
There weren’t only 25 made, Conn (music company) made 25, and there are only 8 or 9 CONNS still “alive”. There are many more than just 25 contras in the world.
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