Something Old, Something New

There is evidence of stringed bass instruments in existence from the late 1400s, and the earliest known illustration date from the year 1516. Believe it or not, these instruments were not what we have come to understand as the 'double bass', but members of a similar family of instruments called the 'Viol'. There were certain similarities to the 'modern' violin family (of which the double bass, and cello are both members) such as the basic 'hourglass' shape, and pegbox, but violins came a bit later.. One of the biggest distinctions of the Viol family is that they were predominantly bowed, and had frets, which were pieces of gut (same material as the strings of the time) tied around the neck at the lowest five, to seven half steps.. The majority of these instruments featured six strings (though there is evidence of some five stringed models as well), though later some even had seven! (Recommended viewing: an excellent French movie made in 1991 called 'Tous Les Matins Du Monde' {or 'All the Mornings of the World'} available through Netflix, or if you're lucky, your local video store).

Just as there's never been a 'standard' set of measurements for the double bass (believe it or not, three stringed double basses were more common before the twentieth century- not an invention of the venerable Tony Levin!), but rather average specifications, the terminology, and tunings for viol family instruments varied wildly: my research has shown that what we can think of as the Bass Viol, can also be referred to as the 'Viola Da Gamba', 'Violone', 'Violone Grosso', or 'Contrabass Da Gamba' (a great source for those interested is the book 'A History of the Double Bass' by Paul Brun).. The instruments, while popular for their time, began to fall from favor as the violin became more popular in orchestras due to their increased volume (Typically, six strings put a considerable amount of pressure on the tops of viols- particularly bass viols, which restricted vibration, and reduced sound projection- violin family instruments had larger bodies, which could move more air mass, and of course, had fewer strings, which reduced pressure on the tops of the instruments). Ergo Instruments don't rely on such physical limitations, as there is no 'top', but rather the instrument relies on actual bridge vibration to generate the electric signal that is then amplified; so modern technology has allowed me to 'resurrect', and somewhat update this ancient instrument for the modern player!

The Ergo Bass Viol has some of the average features of these instruments, with a few updates that I felt would be more appropriate for the modern player.. The Ergo Bass Viol features a 27" scale (the same as the modern cello, and only slightly longer than the average period instrument viol), and the number of frets has expanded to twelve half steps (one full octave). The frets themselves are modern nickel alloy mandolin sized frets that are installed much the same way guitar family instruments have been fretted for years. The use of a standard cello bow is recommended on these instruments. The only real, traditional feature of the instrument that hasn't been changed are the strings themselves. All Ergo Bass Viols will come with standard Super Sensitive Viola Da Gamba strings. These are synthetic core (much more stable, and long lasting that traditional gut strings, but still with the warm tone of gut- really, when plucked, these strings sound not unlike the lower register of a harp!), silver wrapped strings that can be ordered from a number of sources online, and will be tuned from low to high D, G, C, e, a, d,. With seven string instruments featuring the addition of a low A string. There is plenty of room for maneuvering this tuning up a whole step for more familiar note placement (E,A, D, g, c, f),or as I have my personal instrument tuned: A,D,C,F,Bb,a,e, or any number of other variations; the choice is yours!