Vuillaume's octobasse was not the
first outsized double bass; accounts
of gigantic double basses date back as
far as the early seventeenth century.
Vuillaume's design, however, is unique
in that the instrument is played
using a system of levers, activating a
mechanism that pulls the strings against
the frets. Of the three he made, two
of these instruments survive today.

The octobasse was intended not to double
orchestral basses, but to play long
sustained tones under them. The composer
Hector Berlioz wrote that “any festival
orchestra with over 150 players ought to
have at least three of them.” MIM's
octobasse is the only playable example
in the Western Hemisphere.
Engraving of musician playing the octobasse, 19th c.
Lebrecht Music & Arts