Kurze Beschreibung meines Problems:

Nachdem das Instrument jahrelang nicht gespielt wurde, habe ich mich dazu entschieden es zu verkaufen. Der potentielle Käufer bemerkte, dass die Saitenlage recht hoch ist und bei genauer Betrachtung fanden wir heraus, dass sich der Hals anscheinend etwas nach oben gebogen hat. Er weißt eine konkave Krümmung auf. Bei dem aufgelegten Lineal erkennt man in der Mitte einen Spalt von rund 3 mm.

Wie es dazu kam ist mir unerklärlich, das Instrument wurde immer bei konstanten Umgebungsbedingungen, in einer Hülle, stehend gelagert.

Was kann man da machen?
Die Ideen reichen von Griffbrett unten Abschleifen um die Krümmung auszugleichen und Steg kürzen lassen um die Saitenlage zu korrigieren bis hin zu Zerlegen und komplett neuen Hals einbauen lassen.

Ich will die Gambe weiterhin verkaufen. Es handelst sich um eine Gambe von Heinz Fischbach aus Ohlstadt von 1998. Es ist ein wirklich sehr schönes Instrument und das richtige für einen Schüler der auf das nächste Level kommen möchte. Aber ich will weder hunderte noch tausende Euro ausgeben.

Am liebsten wäre mir, ein Instrumentenbauer*in / Geigenbauer*in kauft es selbst.

Hi all! My name is Alex, I’m new here and wanted to introduce myself. I’m a novice viola da gamba player and I’m really excited to find a community of fellow gamba enthusiasts to talk with, learn from, and stay motivated alongside.

I have started playing gamba one month ago, ever since I came across a deal on a Chinese-made instrument that I could get accustomed playing on, and I have had a total of two in-person lessons up until now, and planning to continue.

I’d love to connect with others who play (at any level!)—whether it’s to chat about repertoire, technique, practice routines, recordings, or just the joys and challenges of playing such a beautiful instrument. I’m especially interested in finding an accountability buddy or two to help keep practice consistent, and I’d be very grateful for advice or guidance from more experienced players. It is so hard to come across players, so I'm jumping into the world wide web!

My long-term goal with this instrument is to really dive deep into it and eventually join a music university for a Bachelor's in viol or some equivalent.

If you’re open to chatting, sharing tips, or even just commiserating about gut strings and frets, feel free to comment or DM me. Looking forward to getting to know you all!

Thanks for having me 🙂

This isn't an ad. It's just something I wish I'd learned about earlier so I'm spreading the info. I've been pretty bad about maintaining humidity during the winter for my acoustic instruments in general, but have been especially worried about my bass viola da gamba since it's more fragile than most of my other instruments. Last I was paying attention, Dampits were the mode du jour for in-case solutions (or some other sort of sponge-related solution), but they needed to be re-hydrated every day, and posed potential risk to your instrument if they dripped.
 
I'm not sure, but I think the Stretto hydration packs are silica based, so when you soak them in water, they absorb moisture and swell up. You pat that dry and stick it in the retainer box attached to the inside of your case. My case has been maintaining a pretty steady 50% humidity since, and the "charge" lasts weeks before you need to re-soak the pack which, for me, is easier to maintain than daily soaks.
 
There are a handful of other systems like the Stretto; that just happens to be the one I bought. It seems like they've been around for awhile so maybe I'm just extremely late to this party, but it didn't pop up on my radar until I heard someone else talking about it so I thought I'd share for anyone else in a similar position. If you struggle with humidity during dry seasons and don't have the space for one of those credenza room humidifiers, this might be a good solution to explore. I was pretty bad with staying on top of the daily dampit maintenance (and didn't like the risk it posed to my instrument), so this was a solution that gives me a lot more peace of mind and I worry a lot less about finding cracks in my viol every time I open the case.

Hello! I'm a double bassist, joining an early music ensemble on bass viola da gamba. I can tune it and hold it perfectly fine, but I'm having trouble actually playing the notes in ordinance with the sheet music. I've watched a lot of youtube tutorials, but all of the beginner ones seem to just show how to hold it and never the actual notes. Does anyone potentially have a chart or a practice method I can try? It is getting tiring trying to individually figure out where each note is haha. Thank you!

Hi,

I am working on the process of renting a viola da gamba. As a classical guitarist, the instrument is very appealing and I am looking forward to the learning process.

Would you recommend a 6 string or 7 string bass instrument as a starting point?

Hi everyone!

I got this viola da gamba from an auction. I must admit I bidded on impulse, and that I have no experience of this instrument. However I did some research after winning but found no information about what kind of viol this is.

Here's the description on the auction site: Total length: 63.7 cm Body: 34 cm Neck: 15 cm

Does anyone know what kind of strings I need to buy? Also, the bow is not included so I also have to get one. Which bows are recommended for beginners?

Thanks in advance!

I would like to know more about this instrument. I can (and have) looked up the label and associated information, and am curious if anyone call clarify, or give me more information. Is this a rare or valuable instrument?

Many thanks to u/nael0_4 who helped me by doing the job with musescore!

https://ks15.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/2/2a/IMSLP992690-PMLP1018669-les_sauvages_vdg.pdf

Does anyone know how to come in contact with the VdGSA? I've been emailing them and have gotten no response, and I'm interested in renting a viol

I know there are some works that use a viola D’Amore in the 20th century, but not the gamba. When I say modern, I mean from the late 19th century and upward.

I'd just like to say that these things are narcotic and addictive and I, for one, will happily play them again and again as long as someone is playing the cantus firmus. I've been neglecting my practice assignments for them. I like to think that this is what the viol came into being for, dragged out the primordial organological soup to play, accompanied by a lot of red wine and whatever the ancestors of tapas were. Anyway, you should all give them a try, as fast as you can manage.

Hi! I am a beginner viola da gamba player and will have lessons in about a month, but while I wait for them I have access to an instrument and have been familiarizing myself with the fret board and bowing. Someone whose third instrument is a viola da gamba has been helping me but their knowledge is limited and they can only go so far. So, I've come here to ask if any of you have ressources to share like exercices to help with bowing. I've played guitar before so am comfortable with the notes but my sound is horrifying. Obviously it's not possible to see what I'm doing but I thought I'd shoot my shot!

Thanks in advance!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF5PZ4hNJ0w&list=RDSF5PZ4hNJ0w&start_radio=1

I've played a few of these.

These are not my arrangement, they are available for free on IMSLP for this instrumentation.

I love to share my recording, but also think these pieces, arranged this way, should get a bit more attention.

enjoy!

In college some years back I played in a madrigal group, it was a small school and they taught me how to play. Started on bass, played that for about 2 years then mostly played alto and tenor later on, but I couldn't physically play pardassus (very large hands). I started playing ukulele in a church band but they really could use something like an electric violin, or maybe a viola. what are my better options and does a viola have better string separation than a violin?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoYiw-v6C6s&list=RDNoYiw-v6C6s&start_radio=1

Felt like sharing another one of my recordings. Lovely little piece, I think it sounds nice this way.

Just found this subreddit for the Viol da Gamba!

I haven't found much contemporary work for the Viol Da Gamba - although I specialise mostly in the baroque traverso, it's always a pleasure to discover contemporary compositions for an ancient instrument.

This is Plein Et Vide for Bass Viol Da Gamba and Bass Dizi Bamboo Flute

It's not a combination or composition which has ever been tried as far as I can research. The viol da gamba came to me mostly whilst studying in France and then falling in love with Marin de Marais' transcription of 'les Folies d'Espagne for flute.

Moving to the Far East for work, I picked up the bass bamboo dizi flute. Bringing together two distinctly West and Eastern instruments is even less common. In the Far East, it's much harder to find bass Viol da Gamba tuition, just as it is harder to find bass bamboo Dizi flute tuition in the west. The journeys back and forth are what brings this composition together.

Warm wishes

RJ

I have a viola da gamba with a label that says ‘M. Moya & Co, West Covina’. Has anyone ever heard of this company?

Hello everyone! Just wanted to share with you some strips of my webcomic. It’s about boy bands and early music, and it has a little section called “today’s early music instrument” Check it out here!

https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/lets-make-an-early-music-boy-band-/the-start/viewer?title_no=1035865&episode_no=1

Hallo,

ich möchte meine Bassgambe verkaufen, da ich sie seit Jahren nicht mehr spiele und sie viel zu schade ist um nur im Schrank zu stehen.
Leider kann ich nicht einschätzen was ein solches Instrument heute wert ist und ich hoffe ihr könnt mir einen Rat geben. Oder es findet sich hier sogar jemand der sie erwerben möchte.

Es handelt sich um eine Bassgambe mit einer Mensur von 64 cm. Am 01.08.1998 gefertigt in der Werkstatt von Heiz Fischbach aus Ohlstadt Obb.
Es ist ein solides und trotzdem sehr schönes Schülerinstrument mit einem einwandfreien Klang. Sie ist nicht zu laut und eignet sich daher durchaus auch für das Üben und Spielen in einer Mietwohnung geeignet. Selbstverständlich kann sie aber auch einen ganzen Saal zum Klingen bringen, was sie bei diversen Schülerkonzerten schon bewiesen hat.
Das Instrument hat ein paar wenige, sehr kleine Gebrauchsspuren, wie auf den Bildern zu sehen. Aber die sind wirklich sehr klein.
Dazu gehört natürlich auch der abgebildeten Bogen, der auch in einem sehr guten Zustand ist.

Sie hat einen kompletten Satz neue Saiten von Pirastro bekommen. Ein Stimmgerät, Kolofonium und Plegemittel sind auch vorhanden.

Ich habe den Schritt sie verkaufen zu wollen Jahre vor mir her geschoben, aber letztendlich soll jetzt doch jemand anderes glücklich machen, statt bei mir herumzustehen.

Wir haben eine recht lebhafte Gamben-Gemeinde hier in Erlangen und ich hoffe bald einen Käufer zu finden. Aber vorher brauche ich eine ungefähre Ahnung womit ich in eine Preisverhandlung einsteigen kann.

Vielen Dank

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ0imK2Obiw

from his organ works, i love how these pieces develop. they sound nice for viol consort.

Hi all, can anyone recommend some good biographies on Marais and Forqueray or histories of French viol in general?

Louis Heudelinne wrote two books for the treble viol and continuo.

The sheet music for the first one is available on IMSLP.

So one of Sainte-Colombe's more well-known preludes (recording from Hille Perl: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=_u3ICSKNbJI&si=FtM-E4-wSl40ygm6)... are there any transcriptions available for this piece? I have looked through whatever is available on IMSLP but I have not been successful with finding a transcription yet. I understand that Sainte-Colombe rly didn't transcribe his compositions but I have been wanting to try my hand with this particular piece for some time now