Great bass recorder

The great bass recorder is a member of the recorder family. With the revival of the recorder by Arnold Dolmetsch, who chose Baroque music and the corresponding recorder types as a fixed point, consideration was given to the design of recorder types larger than the bass recorder. The great bass recorder has up to seven keys, which serve to facilitate access to the finger holes. For modern large bass recorders woods like maple or African Bubinga are used. The term usually applies to an instrument with range is c–d2 (g2), but has also been used to describe an instrument descending to B♭ or else to the low bass recorder in F, alternatively known as a contrabass. When "great bass" is used for the instrument in low F, the instruments in C and B♭ are referred to as "quart-bass" and "quint-bass", respectively, because they are a fourth and fifth below the ordinary small bass, or "basset" (Baines 1967, 243, 248). The prefixes "great" and "contra" refer to the registers from C to B and from ͵C to ͵B, respectively, in Helmholtz pitch notation.

In the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg are two famous great bass recorders. Both are of the Renaissance type, despite the fact that the instrument of Hieronymus F. Kynseker () (1636–1686) is provided on the head piece with high baroque ornaments. This recorder is part of an ensemble set that is made of plum wood. For larger recorders pear wood is usually used, for reasons of cost.

The great bass recorder requires a key for the bottom note, which was protected by a so-called fontanelle. An S-shaped bocal or crook is used to make it somewhat more comfortable to play the instrument.

Because the finger holes are not covered with keys, some of the tone holes are placed in acoustically unfavorable locations to accommodate the hand. The relatively large finger-span distance reduces fluency of playing.

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