What are the lowest and highest notes a cello can play?

Musical Instruments: How can you tell a cello and a double bass apart when they play low notes of the same pitch?

• Is there anything to observe in the instrument's timbre? If so, what is the signature sound?

• Answer:

  Cellos and basses may look similar from a distance but they are actually very different.  Firstly, a cello is both sized and tuned substantially different than a double bass. A cello is typically tuned in 5ths: C, G, D, A (from low to high). Basses are tuned in 4ths: E, A, D, G.  The low E is lower than the cello C.  It is possible to tune a cello in fourths and a bass in fifths, but it is almost never done. The tonal result is that the cello has a much wider range. The cello maxes out at about five octaves while the bass is only around four. The strungs on the bass are much longer than on a cello.  Typically cello strings have about 27.5" of vibrating length from the bridge to the nut.  Basses are much longer than that: from 34" up.  The smaller intervals between the strings on the bass help players reach contiguous notes on the bass's longer strings. The size (and shape) of bass bodies is not as standardized as cellos so the string length can vary between instruments. To help support the lower frequencies produced by the thicker and longer strings the body of the bass is much larger.  The larger volume of air enclosed and the larger soundboard help to transduce the lower frequency string vibrations to the air more effectively.  Double basses typically have a lot more variation in their body shape and proportions than cellos.  This is purportedly because the volume of the cello body is well suited for its tonal range. As a result it's shape could be perfected over centuries of time. In contrast, the bass body is actually too small for its range.  Making it large enough to be tribally ideal would result in it being too large to play. As a result more design leeway has been adopted by builders aiming to balance tone with playability. Cellos are played seated on standard chairs while basses are played either standing or on high stools. Bass bows come in two different varieties held with two different grip styles: French and German. Cello bows are typically a smaller version of the French bow style. Cellos carry the melody in an orchestral setting far more often than basses. However, basses are found in almost every form of western music, making them one if the most versatile instruments available. So how can you tell them apart by their sound?  Cellos have a more crisp edge with a larger complement of high frequencies in the tone while basses sound more round with a higher proportion of fundamental frequencies. This is largely due to the string length and thickness as well as the aforementioned disproportionately smaller physical volume contained by the bass body relative to its range.   Also, because the strings are shorter on the cello it is easier to produce a more intense vibrato than on longer thicker bass strings. As a result, the cello typically has a more lyrical quality when played.  Also, the bass' thicker strings respond to the bow slower, producing more of a groan at the start of each low note; a lag between when the bow starts and when the note starts.   Cello strings speak faster and have less of this lag.