Why do bigger instruments always have a bigger tone but a bass guitar is smaller and still has a lower sound.?

Question

A bass clarinet is bigger than a clarinet therefore it has a lower sound. A bass guitar is smaller then a normal electric guitar but it still has a lower sound. Why does a bass guitar have a lower sound when it is smaller is what I'm trying to ask.
Thank-you so much for your answers as i am a clarinet player hoping to play guitar soon and was wondering about that question.thank-you again.pas(please answer soon)...

Answer 1

Firstly, a bass guitar is NOT smaller than an electric guitar. MOST electric basses are larger than MOST electric guitars. There are exceptions, but this is the norm.

Also, the length of the electric bass has no bearing on how low it's pitch can be. It's pitch is ultimately decided by the tension that is put on the string. The more the string is loosened, the lower the fundamental (pitch with no harmonics) is.

The longer the bass is, the more tension it takes to make a string the same pitch. So, the longer the bass, the lower the note can be without it "buzzing out" on the fretboard. This is primarily why basses are longer. The string gets a "tighter" sound because it is, well, tighter. It plays better because of less buzzing, and the strings have better sustain because of the increased string mass.

The clarinet is basically a tube that resinates a fundamental wave. That is why, the more "holes" you open, the higher it goes. You are actually "shortening" the instrument as you lift your fingers. The octave key simply "activates" a harmonic that raises the clarinet's tone an octave and a fifth. That's why a C is a C without the octave key, but with the octave key it becomes a G.

Also, consider pressing the string against a fret. You are effectively "shortening" the vibrating portion of a string causing it's fundamental to rise (just like the air column in a clarinet)

Hope that helps,
Jon

Answer 2

It's not so much the bigger or smaller instrument but the function. In music, all harmonies, chords, melodies, have an underlying tone that exists in nature. Such a note is known as the fundamental which is the lowest audible note that can define the chord or key that you're in and is explained in more detail if you ever read up on the Harmonic Series or Overtone Series. Anyway, function of the bass is to play the fundamental, regardless of whether it's an upright, acoustic, electric. bass guitar, etc. Without the fundamental, or the bass note, music would sound like a tin can and empty since it is the bass that gives music it's fullness and thickness. Only basses play the fundamental because of the thickness of the strings and the hollow chamber through which they vibrate with the exception of the tuba, whose purpose is also to play the fundamental when there's no string bass available. There are also other weird bass instruments in other cultures.

Answer 3

So you think a bass guitar is smaller than a regular guitar? Look at the necks of both. Are you just looking at the body? Look at the fret placement on the neck. Compare a Fender Precision Bass to a Stratocaster. Playing guitar is the way to go, because once you learn how, you'll find out you already know how to play bass because the strings are the same notes and they are played in the same places on the neck as they are on a guitar. But if you ask me, I say CLARINET rocks!!

Answer 4

Air moving through a woodwind instrument has to form a perfect sine wave through the body of the instrument - with the mouthpiece and the end of the horn acting as the zero points at either end of the wave.
By moving the mouthpiece and the horn further apart, you're making the sine wave longer, which makes it vibrate slower, thus lowering the pitch. It works the other way too - shortening the distance between mouthpiece and horn makes a higher pitch (like an alto saxophone).
This is the principal on which ALL instruments work, including stringed instruments - think of a violin versus a cello, versus a double bass.
A bass guitar has a longer fretscale (the distance between the bridge and the nut, which act as the end 'zero' points) than a normal guitar, hence the lower pitch.

Answer 5

An electric guitar and an electric bass guitar are not acoustic instruments as the others you have in mind - including your clarinet. As the people above mentioned, the size of the string is what counts (that includes girth and length). On the other hand, the size of the "body" is irrelevant. This is surprising, because in the case of acoustic guitars and bass (or violins, cellos etc.) the size and shape of the body has so much importance.

A parallel is the piano. The size and shape of an acoustic piano matters but not of an electric one.

Answer 6

With the Bass Guitar it is the size and tuning of the strings. They bigger round than those on a Regular Guitar.

Answer 7

Sound is determined by the size and length of the strings, or in the case of brass and woodwind instruments, the tubing. The longer the tubing, the lower the sound. The longer (and thicker) the strings, the lower the sound. The size of the instrument, in the case of an electric bass, is irrelevant.

Answer 8

The bass guitar has a longer neck and bigger strings, thus accounting for the lower pitch

Answer 9

I always thought bass guitars were bigger ... at least mine was

but yeah the difference is in the strings

Answer 10

It's not smaller. It's actually much bigger. You want the best bass sound ever? Put some PIANO strings on that sucker! You will shake everyone's foundations.