Will they hate me?

If you were a double bassist and I write a piece in which the double-basses' E string is detuned to the point that they nearly fall off, what reaction could I expect to get from the section?

HAHAHAHA.

Well, being in 2 orchestras and hearing how much Double bassists complain about not getting a big enough part in the orchestra, they might actually like it. (Assuming ofcourse you do something special with the section because of this). I hope you do know tha you will get like 0 sound from the instrument's E string by doing this. Evenly when correctly tuned the Double bass doesn't produce as much sound simply because of the low tones it emits. Having its lowest tuned string..flattened almost to the point it's going to fall of won't do much to help this problem, lolz.

What do you plan on doing with the section anyway by doing this?

Why not just take the string off altogether and USE IT AS A WHIP!?!?$?!?$=)GEUWA)TYUAW·$UY·UT)U

Ignore that.

Yeah what are you going to do with the detuned string anyhoo?

Whomp on it with one hand while the other hand "glissandos" up and down the frettin' place. Glissando isn't a good word though, sounds too elegant.

yes they will

Some Basses can go to a C...

yes, they'll hate you... even if they love the piece and the effect you want, they'll have to re-tune the damned thing afterwards.

Isn't there a better way to get what you want? Have the percussionists rig up something! They live for that crap.

When you detune one string that much on any stringed instrument, it affects the whole balance...the other strings become difficult to keep tune, the tremendous pressure is no longer evenly distributed across the bridge, etc. It's a senseless thing to do to a fine instrument and to a player just for an effect. Some players spend a fortune on their instruments...myself included. If someone asked me to do that to my viola, I'd tell them where to stick it, quite frankly.

I never have seen the point of using any instrument in any manner but that for which it was designed. There are plenty of other ways to make noise.

I think you can come up with a better way of explaining to us the purpose of this than "whomp on it".

Hate? No, probably think you're a complete moron for wasting their time asking them to do it though.