Sub-great bass recorder

Musical instruments
Woodwinds Piccolo Flute Oboe Cor anglais Clarinet Saxophone Bassoon Contrabassoon Bagpipes Recorder Garklein in C6 (c''') Sopranino in F5 (f'') Soprano in C5 (c'') Alto in F4 (f') Voice flute in D4 (d') Tenor in C4 (c') Bass in F3 (f) Great bass in C3 (c) Contrabass in F2 (F) Sub-great bass in C2 (C) Sub-contrabass in F1 (FF)
Brass
Percussion
String instruments
Keyboards

The sub-great bass recorder, also known as contra great bass and contrabass (Lasocki 2001), is a recorder with the range C–d1 (g1). It is manufactured in both bent ("knick") and square designs. The design with a square or rectangular cross-sections was first patented in 1975 by Joachim and Herbert Paetzold. They are made from plywood and have a doubled-back bore like a bassoon, which reduces the exterior length of the instrument. They also have wooden keys (Lasocki 2001). Through this special and proprietary design, the instrument can be played with a very short bocal.

The English recorder player Michael Barker has combined a Paetzold contrabass recorder with two computer-controlled synthesizers to create what he calls a "midified blockflute" (Lasocki 2001).

The sub-great bass recorder was developed by Herbert Paetzold in Ebenhofen. Today, this recorder size is produced and distributed by the workshop Kunath under the brand name "Paetzold by Kunath".

References

• Lasocki, David. 2001. "Recorder". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.