Dulcian

The dulcian was the bassoon before the bassoon—a double-reed instrument with a folded conical bore that provided bass voices for Renaissance wind ensembles. Carved from a single block of wood with two parallel bores connected at the bottom, it established the basic principle that the bassoon would refine into a more practical form.

The instrument emerged in the early 16th century, filling the gap for a bass double-reed that could match the soprano shawm and alto curtal in consort playing. Its single-piece construction was both strength and weakness: the dense hardwood body produced a resonant tone, but manufacturing was labor-intensive and repair difficult.

Dulcian makers produced instruments in multiple sizes, from soprano to great bass, creating complete families for consort music. Court ensembles, church musicians, and town bands all employed dulcians. The instrument appears in paintings, inventories, and musical treatises throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.

The transition to the bassoon occurred gradually. French makers in the mid-17th century began constructing the instrument in four separate joints, making manufacture easier and pitch adjustment possible. The joint system also allowed for more complex bore shapes that improved intonation. By 1700, the jointed bassoon had displaced the one-piece dulcian in most contexts.

Modern performers rediscovering Renaissance music have revived dulcian playing. Instrument makers build reproductions from surviving examples and period descriptions. The dulcian's distinctive sound—darker and more blending than the modern bassoon—suits the music written for it better than later instruments can.

The dulcian demonstrates how construction methods constrain instrument evolution. The same acoustic principles would eventually produce the bassoon, but only after manufacturing techniques caught up to musical requirements.