the bassoon!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A fantastic instrument, though it's an endangered species (not many people play it
will make my work easier though i suppose) Not many people know about it if they're not musicians, but it's found in orchestras and bands. I have a lot of friends who know it as a farting bedpost, and know the people that play the bassoon as log suckers... but this is because the bassoon sounds terrible if you can't play it. However, if you can play it, well, then it sounds absolutely gorgeous, and has this wonderful earthy tone to it. They're really expensive too, my brand new beginner instrument was £2000. i think professional instruments cost about £10,000. (i picked an expensive one) Some really (really really) famous bassoon pieces are the sorcerer's apprentice (the mickey mouse bit in the film fantasia) and Hall of the Mountain King (Alton Towers theme tune, i think) and teddy bears picnic (you've gotta know that one)
There's a pic on:
http://www.geocities.com/manawatuconcertba...rge/bassoon.jpg
There's also the contra-bassoon (or, annoyingly, also known as the double bassoon *throws name on the floor and stamps on it* i hate that name, everyone should call them contra bassoons.....) which is also a bassoon (surprise surprise) but it's about twice the size, and folds over itself a bit more. The bell faces down towards the floor instead of towards the ceiling like normal bassoons. Here's a pic:
http://www.nantasyfantasy.com/webpics12_03/contrabasson.jpg
They're fantastic instruments, though the fingerings are slightly different to the bassoon. They can make the floor shake
Then there's mini bassoons!!! These are basically normal bassoons, but half the size. So they're just an octave higher, but you can't go as high. They were mainly made for little kids to start learning (hands wouldn't be big enough for the normal bassoon) but there wasn't enough demand so they stopped making them :'( i really want one of those aswel...
anyway, as you can tell, i could go on for aaaaaaaages about bassoons. If you wanna know anymore, let me know
also, if no one else replies for ages, i can tell you about the flute too, and the picc, cus i play them too
Hehe.