Can you imagine the sound of lots of brass instruments all playing together? Think of a band of musicians turning the corner and marching down your street! They are playing trombones, trumpets and horns, not to mention cornets and tubas, as well as drums and crashing cymbals. You would probably see the trombone players first. They often lead a parade, so that there is plenty of space for their long slides to move in and out.

Special instruments

Brass bands have several of their own special brass instruments, which you wouldn’t normally see in an orchestral brass section. One of these is the cornet.

As you can see from the picture on the left, a cornet looks like a small trumpet. But cornets make a much softer and sweeter sound. That’s why they are used in brass bands instead of the more piercing trumpet.

The horns, too, are different from the horns in the orchestra. In 1845, a Belgian instrument maker named Adolphe Sax made a family of instruments called saxhorns, especially for use in brass bands. They are not called saxhorns now — their names are flugelhorn, tenor horn, baritone horn and the largest one is the euphonium.

Playing together

Since the middle of the 1800s, brass bands have become an especially popular form of entertainment in many countries. In the United States, town parades always feature a brass band, usually with marching majorettes.

In the northern parts of England, many towns and villages have their own bands, and many more are found in workplaces like factories and coal mines. Contests are held to find out which band is the best.

Since ancient times, armies have used brass instruments to carry out special tasks. They could be used for sending signals, such as ‘march forward’ or ‘retreat’. Their music would also keep up the soldiers’ spirits and help them to march in time together into battle. Of course, army bands don’t do this now, but they still play for special occasions and in parades. Over a hundred years ago, in England, a man named William Booth started a different kind of army. His was not a military army, but a religious one. He called his religious group the Salvation Army. William Booth loved brass bands and so he started his own to attract crowds to his open-air religious meetings. By the time he died in 1912, Salvation Army bands were playing all over the world.

Musical Reeds

Have you ever made a shrill sound by blowing over a blade of grass held between your thumbs? As the blade of grass vibrates, it makes the air vibrate in sound waves. We hear the waves as a sharp buzzing sound.

Some instruments use a device that works in a similar way to the blade of grass to make a musical sound. We call them reed instruments. Reed instruments have a mouthpiece which contains one or two strips of cane, plastic or fibreglass. These strips are called reeds.

You can see different kinds of reeds. If an instrument has one reed in its mouthpiece, it is called a single-reed instrument. The two reeds are both single reeds. If it has two, it is called a double-reed instrument. Both the reeds e are double reeds. When you blow into the instrument, the reed vibrates, making the air in the pipe of the instrument vibrate, too.

Double reeds

The two reeds of a double-reed instrument make an extra sound because they vibrate against each other. You can see how this works using a straw. Cut two slits in one end, then cut across the slits to make a wedge shape. Put the cut end of the drinking straw just behind your teeth, then close your lips around the straw. Squeeze the cut ends together with your teeth and tongue. Blow hard. You should get a vibrating sound. Now cut a short length off the other end of the straw and blow again. What do you notice about the pitch of the note? It should sound higher.

In a double-reed instrument, two pieces of thin reed are carefully cut, shaped and tied together. The reeds are then fixed to the instrument. When you blow through the reeds, they flutter rapidly together. This makes the air in the instrument vibrate.

The shawm

Shawms like the one being played in the picture below are loud, double-reed instruments whose raucous, penetrating sound is ideal for events like military parades and other ceremonies. Shawm players often puff out their cheeks for continuous breathing, just like the Aboriginal didgeridoo musicians. Shawm music is popular throughout the Islamic world. Shawms are also found in Africa, Europe and south east Asia.

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dodoBrass, Drums, Trumpet5 Nov, 2008