{"id":85,"date":"2017-09-18T20:50:27","date_gmt":"2017-09-18T20:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/MHS123_Fall2017\/?p=85"},"modified":"2017-09-25T18:40:27","modified_gmt":"2017-09-25T18:40:27","slug":"the-metal-air-tube-through-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/MHS123_Fall2017\/uncategorized\/the-metal-air-tube-through-history\/","title":{"rendered":"The Metal Air Tube Through History"},"content":{"rendered":"

6:30am my alarm goes off and I start my day. I throw on whatever clothes I can find and I grab my case packing 4 incredibly unique instruments. Instruments with a history I can only attempt to comprehend. I play the trumpet, an instrument that dates back as early as 1500BC, with the first metal trumpets being found at King Tut\u2019s tomb in ancient Egypt along with similar instruments scattered through Asia (1). Inspiration for the instrument stemmed from the use of conch shells, the trumpet recreated the original sound of blowing wind through the shell. What we now use for music, was once used as a tool in militaries and religious purposes. Through its evolution, the trumpet was first made of bronze, and through time we now have trumpets made up of brass with coatings of silver and gold.<\/span><\/p>\n

The earliest of valves for the trumpet wouldn\u2019t come around until 1814, with the first form of valve invented by Heinrich Stolzel (2). Until this time, trumpets were as simple as one elongated tube, wrapped around itself until the desired length\/tuning was achieved. The newly made keyed trumpets would make its debut in Haydn and Hummel\u2019s trumpet concerti, and would serve a big role in Hector Berlioz\u2019s <\/span>Symphonie Fantastique <\/span><\/i>with his use of the cornet. The newly developed cornet featured a new piston valve system developed by Francois Perinet in 1839 (3). With the development of the cornet and modern trumpet, the presence of the trumpet dramatically increased. More solo works came to life and music for brass become much more complex and prominent, achieving new pitches and gaining access to quarter tonal musical abilities. Fast forwarding to present time, my horns are made from a yellow brass foundation and are plated with silver and\/or gold. Two of them were built here in the United States, one from Elkhart Indiana, and the other from Anaheim, California. I\u2019ve had some customization with my trumpets, and some of the parts come from Japan.The US has a rich history of modern piston trumpet making, with famous techniques and formulas originating in the 1920s. Below I\u2019ve included a link with a video showing the creation of a modern trumpet. Although most trumpets are factory made, there is still a significant hand-crafted element to every instrument, so every trumpet is different from another, even if they came from the same designs. <\/span><\/p>\n

The other two trumpets in my case originated from Spain, a manufacturer that has a history for creating beautiful \u201csmall horns\u201d. These small horns are higher pitched than the standard trumpets we typically see, and their origins come from the smaller cornets used in early British Brass Bands. These trumpets are typically used for early music, and for recreating sounds of the past. One is gold plated and the other silver. These materials serve to create different timbres in sound, the silver being more brilliant and the gold having a richer quality. These finishes on trumpets weren’t seen until the early 20th century. <\/span><\/p>\n

Aside from the physical trumpet itself, the mouthpiece is an essential partner. There is almost more science to creating a mouthpiece than the trumpet. There are infinite possibilities when pairing a mouthpiece to a trumpet, because there are an infinite number of trumpet players all with different facial structures. John Storck\u2019s \u201cUnderstanding the Mouthpiece\u201d describes the various shapes a mouthpiece can have, and has worked with world class trumpeters to create mouthpieces that can best suite every player (5). I play on a mouthpiece that was influenced by former New York Philharmonic Principal Trumpeter William Vacchiano. <\/span><\/p>\n

Each time I go to practice, I\u2019m playing the result of thousands of years of musical and mechanical evolution, each piece is the culmination of ideas of inventors across history, and it\u2019s incredible that I can enjoy the fruits of their labor and utilize these tools to create beuatiful art.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cA short history on the trumpet\u201d, Tony Guerrero. <\/span>http:\/\/www.wwbw.com\/the-music-room\/a-brief-history-of-the-trumpet<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  2. \u201cThe evelution of Brass Instruments and Orchestral Brass Writing From the Late Classical Period to the End of the Romantic Period\u201d, Ken Jimenez. December 19, 2011. <\/span>http:\/\/www.d.umn.edu\/~rperraul\/MU5204-EnsembleLit\/KJimenez.pdf.pdf<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  3. \u201cThe History of the Cornet, from pre-history to the present\u201d, Greg Monks. <\/span>http:\/\/www.blackdiamondbrass.com\/tpthist\/trpthist.htm<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  4. \u201cBach Trumpet Tour\u201d, Feb 24, 2015. \u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=y9XYQHBBp9I<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  5. \u201cUnderstanding the Mouthpiece\u201d, John Storck, 1989.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    6:30am my alarm goes off and I start my day. I throw on whatever clothes I can find and I grab my case packing 4 incredibly unique instruments. Instruments with a history I can only attempt to comprehend. I play the trumpet, an instrument that dates back as early as 1500BC, with the first metal … <\/p>\n

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