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  #1  
Old 08-28-2018, 04:27 PM
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Erithon Erithon is offline
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Default What bass instrument is this?

I stopped for 20 or 30 minutes this afternoon to listen to a street ensemble near the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The musicians exclusively performed baroque repertoire and did so quite well. I heard two of The Four Seasons as well as some Handel and Pachelbel. But my favorite was their arrangement of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.
The ensemble consisted of 2 violins, 3 accordions, 1 euphonium, and 1 mystery bass instrument. It had 3 strings, an endpin, and was played with a very heavy plectrum. And then there's the unusual shape. I have no idea what this is called. Do you?

It didn't have the rich acoustic sound of a double bass, but it was punchy enough to cut through the mix. It had decent sustain, too.
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Old 08-28-2018, 05:00 PM
JonWint JonWint is offline
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balalaika

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balalaika

search engines work
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Old 08-28-2018, 05:18 PM
Kerbie Kerbie is offline
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I've got a Russian balalaika, but not that big contrabass... wow!
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Old 08-28-2018, 05:57 PM
sakar12 sakar12 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JonWint View Post
balalaika

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balalaika

search engines work
Search engines do work, but I'm glad he asked about this because now I know about a cool new-to-me instrument.
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Old 08-29-2018, 02:09 PM
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Erithon Erithon is offline
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Thanks! I knew some here would know
I'm familiar with the Russian 7-string guitar, but not the balalaika. I'll read more on it.
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Old 08-29-2018, 02:39 PM
jim1960 jim1960 is offline
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Old 08-29-2018, 03:01 PM
Brent Hahn Brent Hahn is offline
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Those guys look cold. And I bet that thing would burn for a good, long while.
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