The trombone is an instrument that is full of misconceptions from those who don’t play it. It is most commonly associated with silly noises, the parents talking sounds from the Charlie Brown series, and sheer loudness, among others. However, just because the trombone is capable of making silly, sound effect-esque glissandi if called upon, the trombone is also more than capable of creating beautiful, rich sounds in a wide variety of contexts.
The modern trombone originates from an instrument called the sacbut, or sackbut. The true date of origin of the sacbut is not known, but “ by 1500 it is illustrated and mentioned regularly.” https://www.music.iastate.edu/antiqua/sacbut.htm
The sacbut had four main sizes, being alto, tenor, bass and great or contrabass. The tenor sacbut eventually evolved into what is known as the modern tenor trombone. This instrument is however very different from trombones as they are known today. Sacbuts are generally smaller, but particularly so in the bell. Thus, the sound quality of the sacbut is less full, due to the actual lack of overtones being produced. The sacbut also does not have much of the tubing present on modern trombones, as the intonation was primarily fixed from the main slide, unlike the extra tuning slides that modern trombonists are able to work with. An example of the sacbut’s sonority: https://www.music.iastate.edu/antiqua/mp3/Musica_Antiqua_hymn_to_st_john.mp3
These instruments were primarily used in church settings to accompany the choir, as the timbre of the sacbut and trombone are both very similar to that of the human voice, especially a tenor. “For outdoor music the top part of a sackbut ensemble was usually taken by a shawm, and for church music, by a cornett. The sackbut player should imitate the sound of the cornett, not the trumpet. Thus today’s marching band trombone blasts have no place in the performance of early music.”https://www.music.iastate.edu/antiqua/sacbut.htm
This statement is a very accurate depiction of the sound concept of a sacbut versus the modern trombone. While “marching band trombone blasts” are of course not the only sound that trombonists are capable of creating, although some do unfortunately favor it, the sacbut was an instrument intended to blend into the sound of the lead voice of a shawm or cornet.
Many players very much enjoy abusing the trombone’s capabilities in terms of volume, rather than exploring the trombone’s capabilities in terms of beautiful sound quality. While the sacbut was intended to blend into the top voice of its ensemble, so too is the trombone meant to blend into the sound of the lead trumpet (or other instrument) in its many contexts today, such as the orchestra, wind band or various jazz settings. http://www.blackdiamondbrass.com/trbhist/tbonehist.htm The trombone was used by the great, extravagant composers of Richard Strauss and Wagner in moments of triumph and great energy, in order to ‘properly’ utilize the trombone’s unique capability for great volume.
See this thoughtful article on the development of trombone playing in terms of equipment and mindset: http://www.dansr.com/wick/resources/me-myself-and-i-are-orchestral-brass-players-losing-the-concept-of-being-team-players
This article touches on the fact that trombone equipment has been continually getting larger, typically to help players produce bigger sounds within the orchestra. Famous trombone pedagogue Doug Yeo touches on the fact that in modern orchestral settings, you will notice plexiglass shields protecting the string players positioned in front of the brass players. The fact alone that players need plexiglass shields and/or earplugs to protect their hearing speaks a lot about the sheer volume being produced from brass players today. This illuminates the great deal of change that has accompanied the development of the sacbut into the modern trombone in terms of instrumental design and adding of tubes as well as increasing size of almost every aspect of the instrument, specifically the tenor and bass ranges. For example, here is a trombone ensemble playing music from Game of Thrones, extremely loudly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTDEVUlCClk
Modern trombonists would surely benefit from thinking more about the blend of an ensemble and fitting into the top voice being played. While outputting great amounts of volume and energy is very exciting and fun as a player, sometimes it can simply be overpowering, or just overbearing and not enjoyable to listen to. As quoted in Doug Yeo’s article speaking of the great Chicago Symphony brass, “The performance was electric because I (Ed Kleinhammer, former bass trombonist of the CSO) was part of a great unified orchestra doing their thing.”
While the tone of this article was generally disapproving of modern trombonists’ habits, this article does not intend to encompass the intentions of every modern trombonist. There is a large community of sensitive and actively listening players that are promoting these good habits into the orchestral and jazz settings of trombonists everywhere, like my good friend Jack Courtright. Here is an example of beautiful trombone playing that blends beautifully with an ensemble, while also playing solo lines that soar over and project with a beautiful tone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79-EDLi8KRw
The future of brass playing could surely benefit from increased sensitivity, and forgetting about the ego that comes from being the loudest player in the orchestra. The increase in musical technology from the beginning of the sacbut to the modern trombone certainly had its flaws, primarily due to players trying to abuse the trombone’s capabilities. However, if played right, the trombone can be the most beautiful sound you’ll ever hear.