Brass Instruments

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Brass Instruments

• The majestic brasses in all their glory
• All Hail The Brasses

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• If you see a seashell on the beach, and notice
  that the wind makes a sound when it hits the
  shell, you are watching the power of air in a
  confined space. If you watch wind blow over a
  glass bottle and moan, that is a wind instrument
  in action. Early human tribes used shells and
  horns to call each other.
• As a wind instrument is modified on the outside,
  its sound modifies as well. The earliest drawing
  of trumpets were found in two places the tomb of
  King Tut and on the wall of a South American
  tribal spot in Peru. The notations in King Tut's
  tomb were crude but accurate, depicting a long
  instrument with a flared neck. Valves were a long
  time in coming after this introduction, so
  trumpets limited to the notes of the Harmonic
  Series of a particular key. For this reason, they
  were used by the Egyptians simply as indicators,
  or as battle signals.
• Greece, China, Rome, and many other ancient
  peoples had their own idea of what the trumpet
  was to look and sound like. It existed in many
  different ways throughout all of these cultures,
  and many others. Tibetians have a long, sloped
  tube of almost 15 feet long, while certain
  regions of the Andes have funnels of one inch
  that create noise. Clearly, wind instruments have
  many different ways to make sound. At a very
  early point in our history, trumpets also became
  associated with Biblical lore, especially that of
  Christianity. The sound of trumpets is meant to
  represent angels, war, and the end of the World.

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The Buzzor embouchure

• Sound is simply small changes in air pressure
  that usually occur at a fairly constant rate.
  Retaining this rate for a more extended period of
  time at a specific frequency produces what we
  call a tone. Brass instruments produce tones by
  exciting the vibration of a column of air within
  a tube. The use of the lips as a sort of
  diaphragm for vibration at one end of the tube is
  what excites the column of air. Tightening the
  lips produces a higher buzz, which presents a
  higher frequency of sound, or a higher pitched
  note.
• Most tubes that could be "buzzed" into exhibit a
  natural preference for a certain frequency of
  sound waves. The buzzing of the lips will often
  be dragged into one of these fundamental
  frequencies or its "overtones." The natural
  frequency of the tube relies somewhat on what it
  is made of but more so on the length of the tube.
  A longer tube enables the vibrating column of
  air within to be longer causing a slower
  frequency and thus a lower note. The lowest tone
  that can be locked onto and produced cleanly by
  the lips on a certain length of tube is called
  the "fundamental" tone. The fundamental tone
  determines the "key" of the instrument.
• It is this production of tone that distinguishes
  brass instruments, not the construction material.
  Throughout history, these types of instruments
  have been made using various materials. It is
  very likely that the original "horns" of this
  type were made of bone. Probably being actual
  animal horns that were buzzed on the smaller end
  producing a fairly distinct and menacing sound.
  This sound was all that was necessary, as the
  only requirement would have been for it to be
  loud, as it was more often than not used as a war
  horn, a signal device, or to frighten away would
  be predators.

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Ancient Brass Instruments

• The cornett is a hybrid instrument inasmuch as it
  has characteristics associated with both woodwind
  and brass instruments. The use of finger holes
  allies it to the woodwind family whereas the
  cupped mouthpiece relates it to brass
  instruments. The cornett was once a very
  important and much revered instrument. At the
  height of its popularity, cornett players were
  the most highly paid of all instrumentalists.

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The Sackbut

• Sackbuts are mentioned in the Bible but this was
  probably poetic license by the translators rather
  than proof of antique existence. The sackbut was
  widely known throughout Europe in the late
  fourteenth century and by 1495, Henry VII of
  England had amongst his instrumental resources,
  four shakbusshes.
• In 1661, Matthew Locke composed Music for his
  Majesty's Sackbuts and Cornetts, giving an
  indication of one of the musical uses to which
  the sackbut was put. There were four sizes of
  sackbut alto, tenor, bass and great bass with
  the latter two having hinged handles attached to
  allow greater extension of the slide to achieve
  the required depths. The alto, tenor and bass
  were to emerge as the trombone family with the
  tenor being the most widely used. It is difficult
  to say when sackbuts became trombones because the
  transition was gradual and seemed to depend more
  on terminology than constructional difference.

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Serpents

• The serpent was an addition to the cornett
  family. This relationship can be justified by the
  fact that both instruments combine woodwind
  finger holes with brass mouthpieces. To achieve
  the bass notes required, the serpent needed to be
  2.5 meters long (eight feet) so it would have
  been impossible to use in terms of bulk and
  finger hole placement. To overcome these
  difficulties, designers turned the long tube back
  upon itself. In the case of the serpent it was
  not to be the same solution devised by bassoon
  makers. They shaped the tube into curves that
  both shortened it and accommodated two sets of
  finger holes that were accessible to both hands
  of the player.

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Mouthpieces

• While the length of tubing enables higher and
  lower tones, the mouthpiece changes the size of
  the vibrating diaphragm. A shallower mouthpiece
  allows less surface area of the lips to vibrate.
  This produces a higher frequency capability. A
  deep cup in the mouthpiece allows the lips to
  vibrate at a lower frequency because of the
  bigger size and larger surface area.

• Both changes in mouthpiece and air column length
  are used to produce maximum efficiency. The
  depth of the mouthpiece operates in terms of
  octaves and partials, which are large leaps. The
  length of the air column deals with semitones.

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Valves

• In the early 1800s, the increasing demand for
  the horn to play chromatically caused J.B. Dupont
  to invent crooks for all the various tunings of
  the horn. This large mass of different lengths of
  tubing was manipulated by the use of a slide that
  brought each new length into effect as it was
  aligned. This idea gained no real acceptance
  however because it was too heavy and very hard to
  use.
• Blümel of Silesia and Stötzel of Berlin
  developed a valve mechanism in the early 1800s.
  The principle of the valve is basically that of
  the tuning slides inserted into the horn to
  change key. They enable the player to insert
  short pieces of tubing into the main line with a
  single touch. Valves require much less tubing
  than Duponts slide idea. This is due to the
  fact that the lengths of tubing are used in
  combination to produce even greater lengths.
  There are two practical types of valve, rotary
  and piston. Rotary valves are cylinders that
  turn to divert the air through the extra tubing
  this can in turn be diverted through another tube
  by means of a second valve effectively
  lengthening the entire instrument with the push
  of a button. The piston valve uses a plunger
  system to divert the air through the extra
  tubing. Pushing the piston down aligns two
  cavities within the plunger to align with two
  sections of the extra tubing. When released,
  only one part of the tubing is aligned whereby
  the extra tubing is not in use. The valveless
  horn still held the lead until after the 1830s
  due to some imperfections in the valve style and
  the warmer natural sound produced without extra
  tubing. Military bands did employ the valve horn
  where beauty and accuracy in tone were not as
  important.

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The 4 main brass instruments
Tuba

• Trumpet

French Horn
Trombone
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The Trumpet

• The first trumpets reputedly came from Egypt and
  were primarily used for military purposes
  (Joshua's shofar, blown at the battle of Jericho,
  would come from this tradition) like the bugle as
  we still know it, with different tunes
  corresponding to different instructions.
• In medieval times, trumpet playing was a guarded
  craft, its instruction occurring only within
  highly selective guilds. The trumpet players were
  often among the most heavily guarded members of a
  troop, as they were relied upon to relay
  instructions to other sections of the army.
• Eventually the trumpet's value for musical
  production was seen, particularly after the
  addition of valves (after about 1800), and its
  use and instruction became much more widespread.

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The French Horn

• The horn consists of tubing wrapped into a coiled
  form. Many people call this instrument the French
  horn, although this usage is uncommon among
  players of the instrument. In other languages,
  the instrument is named Horn, Corno (plural
  corni), and Cor.
• Compared to the other brass instruments, the
  typical range of the French horn is set an octave
  higher in its harmonic series.
• The conical bore (helped by its small, deep
  mouthpiece), provides the characteristic "mellow"
  tone.
• The double horn combines two instruments into one
  frame the original horn in F, and a second,
  higher horn keyed in B-flat. By using a fourth
  valve operated by the thumb, the horn player can
  quickly switch from the deep, warm tones of the F
  horn to the higher, brighter tones of the B-flat
  horn.

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The trombone

• The word trombone derives from the Italian word
   tromba - meaning trumpet - and one - a suffix
  for "large." Thus, literally, a trombone is a
  "big trumpet." The trombone is referred to by its
  name in other languages, posaune, sackbut or
  sacbut, basun, tromba spezzata
• The trombone consists of a cylindrical tube bent
  into an elongated "S" shape (it is interesting to
  note that in French, trombone also means paper
  clip "). Most trombones are slide trombones. The
  section immediately following the mouthpiece is a
  short straight length of tube called the lead
  pipe. Below that is the slide, which allows the
  player to extend the length of the instrument,
  lowering the pitch. Some trombones have valves.

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The Tuba

• The tuba is the largest of the brasses  and is
  one of the most recent additions to the modern
  symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid
  19th century.
• Tubas are found in various pitches, most commonly
  in F, E?, C, or B?. The most common tuba is the
  contrabass tuba, pitched in C or B? (referred to
  as CC and BB? tubas respectively). The contrabass
  tuba is sometimes confused with the contrabass
  bugle (tuned in the key of G) commonly used by
  drum and bugle corps. The next smaller tuba is
  the bass tuba, pitched in F or E? (a fourth above
  the contrabass tuba). The euphonium  is sometimes
  referred to as a tenor tuba, and is pitched one
  octave higher (in B?) than the BB? contrabass
  tuba. The "French tuba" corresponds to the tenor
  tuba, but is pitched in C.
• The tuba can have up to six rotary or piston
  valves, although four or five are by far the most
  common. Three-valve tubas are generally used only
  by beginners. Some early models of the contrabass
  bugle (a type of tuba which sits on the player's
  shoulder and is used in some marching ensembles)
  have only two valves, presumably to reduce the
  weight of the instrument. Some piston valve tubas
  have a compensating system to allow accurate
  tuning when using several valves in combination
  to play low notes.

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other brass instruments
mellophone
Baritone
Bugle
Euphonium
Alphorn
Sousaphone

• Flugelhorn

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The Shofar

• The oldest horn in continual use is the Shofar.
  It is an ancient musical horn made from the
  curved horn of a ram, used in ancient times by
  the Israelites to sound a warning or a summons.
  This instrument dates back about 6,000 years and
  is still used in Jewish religious services today.

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THE DIDGERIDOO

• Is possibly the world's oldest musical
  instrument. It is a wind instrument originally
  found in Northern Australia.
• The didjiri-du.. is a long hollow tube, often a
  tree root about 5 feet long, slightly curved at
  the lower end. The musician squats on the ground,
  resting his instrument on the earth. He fits his
  mouth into the straight or upper end and blows
  down it in a curious fashion. He produces an
  intermittent drone.

Didgeridoo are made of eucalyptus trees, the
stringybark and the woollybutt. The Aboriginal
craftsmen would simply tap the tree or brands to
see if it is hollow. The termite residual in each
stick can be cleaned out by soaking the length
for a few days in water then prying it out with a
stick or coals. To test for any holes or cracks
in the timber, a stick was sealed by hands at
both ends and held under water for two or three
minutes. If bubbles appeared, if holes would be
filled with bees wax.
To get a sound, you need to vibrate your lips.
You must relax the muscles that are in your face,
i.e. your jawbones, your cheeks, and have your
lips vibrate loosely and then blow the wind
through your lips.