Double …

Double … (Engl., Fr.) (Ger.: doppel), 1. as a prefix to names of organ stops, double denotes a stop that is an oct. lower than named, e.g., double principal 16'; see also: dupla; 2. as prefix to names of Renaissance and baroque instrs., double denotes one with a compass descending below Γ ut (gamma ut). Playford, in the introduction to his Skill of Music, informs us that notes below “gam-ut” are called double notes, and as late as 1740 Grassineau writes of the harpsichord that “the notes ……