The contrabass recorder is a wind instrument in F2 that is part of the recorder family.

The contrabass recorder plays an octave lower than the ordinary bass (or "basset") recorder. Until recently, it was the largest instrument in the recorder family, but since 1975, it has been surpassed in size by the sub-great bass recorder (also called "contra-great bass" or "contrabass" recorder) in C2 and the sub-contrabass recorder in F1.

Because of its length, the lowest note, F, requires a key. Modern instruments may also have keys for low F♯, G, and G♯, and sometimes for C and C♯ as well.

Occasionally, this instrument may have "diapason" keys, which allow it to play notes an additional perfect fourth lower, reaching as low as C2.

In the early 17th century, Michael Praetorius used the term "basset" (meaning "small bass") to describe the recorder that was the lowest member of the "four-foot" group, where instruments sound an octave higher than the corresponding human voices. Praetorius called the next-lower instrument (with the lowest note B♭2) a "bass," and the instrument an octave lower than the basset (with the lowest note F2) a "Großbaß," meaning "great" or "large bass."

Today, the term "great bass" is often used for a smaller instrument in C3, so the low-F bass is frequently called "contrabass" by modern writers and instrument makers to avoid confusion. However, the name "contrabass" is sometimes used for the larger instrument in C2 instead. The modern notation for this instrument is usually written in the bass clef at sounding pitch, unlike most other recorder sizes, which are written an octave lower than they sound.