Thousands of years ago man discovered that by boring a hole in the side of an animal horn and forcing air through the opening, he could produce sounds that were useful in sending messages short distances. The sound was generated by the player’s either buzzing his lips into the small opening or by blowing across the opening as you would blow across the top of a Coke bottle. The horn then amplified the sound and made it loud enough to be heard some distance away. (More…)

dodoBass Guitar, Brass, Classical Music, Music Box, Musical Instruments, Trumpet3 Oct, 20082 Comments

Before Bach, trumpeters were classified as principals and clarino players, the former playing in the lower register with its widely-stepped harmonics, the latter in the high register where the harmonics lie close together. Shanks and crooks were already used as early as 1600 and by the end of the 18th century there were crooks for every key. These altered the timbre of the instrument, and there was some degree of energy loss as the vibrating air column negotiated the loops. Then came the valves, introducing more loops, and someone writing at the time of their application, towards the end of the 19th century, described them as ‘a failure as they obscure the upper harmonics, the main source of characteristic tone’. (More…)

dodoBass Guitar, Brass, Drums, Guitar, Jazz, Musical Instruments, Popular Music, Trumpet14 Aug, 20083 Comments