Being a bass player in music from the 17th and early 18th centuries is an adventure. Rather than identifying primarily as the player of a particular instrument (mainly the double-bass in Malachy’s case), you are a member of a team within the orchestra called the continuo group (Generalbass in german), all playing from the same part.

The continuo group celebrates diversity, comprising instruments that are bowed, plucked, blown, strummed and of course keyboards. In this talk, Malachy discusses the role of the continuo player and demonstrates the varied bowed bass instruments that he plays in this role: double-basses of 3 and 4 strings, and violas-da-gamba of 5 and 6 strings.