Cimbasso is fun for everyone!

Open air cimbasso

I play a haag cimbasso built by Franz Monschau, a truly great instrument! I’ve found most other cimbassi that I have played to be nasal in sound and sorely lacking in intonation, the Lätzsch F-cimbasso being an exception.

The cimbasso in its present form is basically a valve contrabass trombone in F. I’m not going to go into the history of the instrument, suffice it to say that today it’s used mainly in italian opera music like verdi and puccini etc. There is quite the debate concerning the nomenclature of the time and as to what instrument is pertinent to play when. For more info regarding that I suggest you contact someone like Ed Solomonsen who really knows his shit when it comes to these things. It’s of no concern to me as I play it in the big band and jazz setting and hence there is no precedence to speak of. I can basically make the call  together with the conductor/arranger, without concern as far as history goes. Nice!

Most people that see a cimbasso usually think that it’s monstrously loud and low.
That’s not really the case, however. The range is not much lower than the regular bass trombone and to me the sound is broad, fat and sonorous rather than brash, loud and edgy. To me, in the big band setting, it’s more of  a link to the low woodwinds than a blaring low brass whopper. I love how it blends with bass clarinet or bass flute or how it can give a different timbre doubling a bassline. Mike Abene often writes for three euphoniums and cimbasso, also a nice, new blend. I’m still exploring the possibilities of this great instrument, finding new uses for it’s lovely sound.

I’ve had the great opportunity to play a number of cimbasso features with the WDR Big Band by now (most of which can be found on YouTube) and hope to do this even more in the future.

Stay tuned!

salve

//Mattis