# Electronically generated contrabass vs instruments

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronically-generated-contrabass-vs-instruments/999944>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Tags:** music\
**Created:** [April 6, 2024, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronically-generated-contrabass-vs-instruments/999944 "2024-04-06T16:10:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2024, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronically-generated-contrabass-vs-instruments/999944/1 "2024-04-06T16:10:01Z")

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Most contrabass instruments whether strings or brass seem to have trouble producing a tone as opposed to merely a series of pulses. But before you say “well duh, those frequencies ARE a series of pulses” I would like to offer the counter-example of electronically generated contrabass. Those seem to be far superior in generating rich, smooth, VERY deep tones. Is this perception true and if so can anyone comment on why this is so?

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2024, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronically-generated-contrabass-vs-instruments/999944/2 "2024-04-06T21:15:35Z")

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Could you link to some recordings of what you’re talking about?

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**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2024, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronically-generated-contrabass-vs-instruments/999944/3 "2024-04-06T21:31:39Z")

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Yeah - as an upright bassist whose daughter plays bassoon, I’m curious exactly what you are asking/talking about.

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**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronically-generated-contrabass-vs-instruments/999944/4 "2024-04-06T22:10:57Z")

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I looked at the waveform of a double-bass sound file, and did not notice anything resembling a series of pulses. Not that it is close to a sine wave.

I also looked at Welsh’s _Synthesizer Cookbook_, for some quick ‘n’ dirty patches, and “Double Bass” starts with a 45% duty-cycle wave mixed with a 50% wave 1 octave higher and 17 db lower, nothing like a narrow pulse train (which would give a crisp, bright, metallic sound with loud harmonics, not “rich, smooth, VERY deep”; of course there is a low-pass filter on everything anyway)

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**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronically-generated-contrabass-vs-instruments/999944/5 "2024-04-07T01:55:12Z")

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WAG: I think you’re more likely to hear overtones and resonant fuzz around the primary tone when things get down low.  
These sometimes align to sound like pulsing.