 Violone ("big viola") was a large-sized member of viol (viola da gamba) family or the violin (viola da braccio) family.The term "violone" today usually refers to the lowest-pitched instrument of the viols, a family of stringed instruments that went out of fashion around the end of the 17th century in most countries except England and, especially, France, where they survived another half-century before the louder violin family came into greater favour in that country as well.In modern symphony orchestras, it is the second largest stringed instrument (the double bass is the largest).