The reed contrabass in C, otherwise known as the contrabass(e) à anche, is a type of woodwind instrument. It is reminiscent of an ophicleide in appearance but, unlike the ophicleide, employs a double reed (akin to that of an oboe) for the purpose of sound production. It was developed by the Belgian maker Mahillion in the 1860s based on a slightly earlier design by the Czech maker Chervany. A woodwind instrument is a wind instrument in which sound is produced by blowing through a mouthpiece against an edge or by a vibrating reed, and in which the pitch is varied by opening or closing holes in the body of the instrument. ... The ophicleide (pronounced ) is a brass bass instrument related to the bugle. ... A double reed is a type of reed by means of which the sound is originated in various wind instruments. ... Modern Oboe The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. ...
The instrument is typically of metal construction, with a conical and unusually wide bore. This width allows each note to be produced by opening only one tone hole, whereas, in other woodwind instruments, several tone holes must be opened to produce most notes (for this reason, all keys but that for the lowest note remain normally closed). This property greatly simplifies the fingering of the instrument, in that no alternative fingerings for individual notes or trill keys are needed, nor exist. The lowest note that the reed contrabass may typically achieve is D1 (DD) - the lowest D on a standard grand piano. The bore of a wind instrument is the interior chamber in which air is set into vibration to produce musical sounds. ... A grand piano, with the lid up. ...
Although obscure, the instrument may still be procured, on request, from the Italian instrument manufacturer Orsi. The reed contrabass is sometimes confused with the contrabass sarrusophone, to which it bears some superficial resemblance. This is a small-pipe EEb Contrabass Sarrusophone. ...
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