Dictionary of Music - Birding America

asse danse 33voice with a strong upper register in the baritonerange but resonance in the bass range. 2 The lowest(and therefore largest) instrument of most families,such as the bass drum, bass clarinet, and bassrecorder. (A few instrument families have instrumentspitched an octave lower than the bass size; these areknown as contrabass or double-bass instruments.) 3In musical compositions, the lowest part, the upperpart being called treble. In Western (European andAmerican) music of the seventeenth to nineteenthcenturies, the bass is the line on which the harmony isbuilt. It was particularly important in the baroque era(1600–1750), when the entire harmony was built on abasso continuo. 4 A name for DOUBLE BASS. 5 InGerman, abbreviation for KONTRABASS. 6 electricbass See under ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENTS.padded with wool or felt (although occasionally allwoodbeaters are employed). For ordinary drumbeatsthe head is struck midway between its center andedge; it is struck in the center only for short quickstrokes (staccato) and special effects. Although thedeep sound of the bass drum is a familiar one in everyconcert band and symphony orchestra, the instrumentwas introduced to Europe only in the late eighteenthcentury, along with other percussion instruments usedin Turkish military bands (see JANISSARY MUSIC), andwas used exclusively to imitate military sounds untilthe middle of the nineteenth century.fig. 24 p/u from p. 36bassa (bäs′sə) Italian: “low.” The phrase ottavabassa (or 8va bassa) is a direction to play the notesindicated an octave lower than written.bassadanza (bäs′′sä dän′tsä).for BASSE DANSE.The Italian namebassa musicaSee ALTA MUSICA.bass bar A strip of wood, tapering at both ends,that is glued to the underside of the belly (top, orsoundboard) of instruments of the viol and violinfamilies. The bass bar is placed under the left foot ofthe bridge. It serves to spread the vibrations of thestrings over the whole belly and to support the bellyagainst the downward pressure of the strings. (Seeillustration at VIOLIN.)bass clarinetbass clefSee under CLARINET.See under CLEF.bass drum The largest of the orchestral drums,consisting of a wooden shell, almost three feet indiameter, which is covered with skin. The bass drumis nearly always held vertically when it is played, andalthough it may have one or two heads, usually onlyone head is actually struck. The bass drum is playedwith a single stick, called a bass-drum beater or tampon.Either end of the beater is used, the ends beingbasse (bAs).The French word for BASS.basse danse (bAs′ däNs′) French. A slow, statelydance of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Itsname, meaning “low dance,” probably comes fromthe fact that the dance was performed with glidingsteps (feet close to the floor) rather than with jumpingor leaping ones. The basse danse was often followedby a quick, lively dance, such as the saltarelloin Italy or the pas de Brabant in France. The bassedanse melodies that survive consist of a series offairly long-held equal notes that correspond to thedance steps. They appear to have served as a cantusfirmus (fixed melody) over which players improvisedone or more counterpoints. By the sixteenthcentury the basse danse consisted of a number ofwell-defined tunes in several short sections withconsiderable repetition. The basse danse is thought