Hi

i am doing reserch on the bassoon family. so far i have found out.

The Bassoon is a double reed instrument. There is definently a bassoon and a contrabassoon in the bassoon family, some people say that the bassoons are in the oboe family, but most say they are in the bassoon family.

there may be two treble bassoons called the Quint and Quart bassoons, but i have heard little about these bassoons.

the bassoon is good in tenor-baritone range, and can do great solos, the contra bassoon should stay down where it belongs in the contrabass range. The contrabassoon is slow and not a good instrument for quick solos

does anyone know anything else about the bassoon family, and those mysterious treble bassoons.

Well here is the info I got from this page. ---> http://www.bassoon.pe.kr/eng/lesson/lesson1.htm#2

1) contrabassoon or double bassoon- it much larger than bassoon, it sounds one octave lower than written

2) tenoroon- smaller than bassoon and it sounds perfect fifth higher than bassoon and it appeared during the nineteenth century

3) quartfagott and quintfagott- it tuned fourth and fifth lower than bassoon and it used during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

4) Heckelphone- the baritone oboe which one octave lower than oboe that created by bassoon manufacturer Heckel in 1904.

5) Sarrusaphone- the double bass instrument of woodwind section which made of brass and wood and created by French band leader Sarrus and has various six different instruments use in the wind ensemble and concert band.

the bassoon is the only mainstream isntrument besides the piano to use all 10 fingers...

i love telling people that... and then my friend goes: "oh really... i have 5 fingers on a fingerboard and 5 more holding a bow.." haha that doesn`t count...

There is no such thing as a treble bassoon. There are tenoroons:

http://www.lemis.com/grog/Wolf-tenoroon.html

But they don`t go higher than f", putting them in the tenor register, not the treble.
Also there was a whole family of dulcians, from treble to contrabass, that were the ancestors of the bassoons.
Currently there are only bassoons and contrabassoons, and tenoroons are mostly novelty instruments. I suppose you could count Surrosophones... but thats really another issue altogether.
Also, contrabassoons can play fast and relatively high solos. Just listen to Susan Nigro some time.
Really, a violist shouldn`t have to tell bassoonists this
I know lots more on this subject, but I`m not going to do your research for you. I reccomend searching at your local library for a good book on the subject. There are many.
godzilla

PS; basset clarinets and basset horns have thumbkeys. Sorry to take the ten finger diistinction away, but it`s true.

^as i said, they`re not mainstream instruments... *shrug* you rarely see basset horns in orchestras and when they do, it`s only for certain pieces. i mean i could just as well say that the harpsichord uses ten fingers.. although i`ve always wanted a basset horn.

if you look back far enough you`ll find that their are like 20 spinoffs of the bassoon. Technically the bassoon is a member of the oboe family however a better way to put it is just say its in the double reed family because really the two instruments arent very similar.

The bassoon has a lot of solos including the Symphonie Fantastique and The Rite of Spring. My personal favorite is Symphonie Fantastique (5 movements). Thanks for listening.