Victor Mahillon and Kathleen Schlesinger

“ First, the art of trombone playing was in the 15th century in Germany mostly in the hands of the members of the town bands, whose duties included playing on the watch towers, in churches, at pageants, banquets and festivals, and they, being jealous of their privileges, kept the secrets of their art closely, so that writers, such as the above, although acquainted with the appearance, tone and action of the instrument would have but little opportunity of learning much about the method of producing the sound. ”

“ The cup-shaped mouthpiece is larger than that of the trumpet; the shape of the cup in conjunction with the length of the tube and the proportions of the bore determines the timbre of the instrument. The outline of the bottom of the cup, where it communicates with the bore, is of the greatest importance. [17] If, as in the trumpet, it presents angles against which the column of air breaks, it produces a brilliant tone quality. In the cornet mouthpiece there are no angles at the bottom of the cup, which curves into the bore; hence the cornet’s loose, coarse quality of tone. ”

“ Giovanni Maria Artusi [13] of Bologna, writing at the end of the 16th century, devotes much space to the cornet, explaining in detail the three kinds of tonguing used with the instrument. By tonguing is understood a method of articulation into the mouthpiece of flute, cornet à pistons or trumpet, of certain syllables which add brilliance to the tone. Artusi advocates (1) for the guttural effect, ler, ler, ler, der, ler, der, ler; ter, ler, ter ”

“ The trombone is characterized by the slide, consisting of two parallel cylindrical tubes, over which two other cylindrical tubes, communicating at their lower extremities by means of a short semicircular pipe, slip without loss of air. The outer tube, therefore, slides upon the inner, and as it is drawn downwards by the right hand opens a greater length of tube proportional to the depth of pitch required. When the slide is closed the instrument is at its highest pitch. ”

“ Cornet à Pistons, Cornet, Cornopaean (Fr. cornet à pistons; Ger. Cornett; Ital. cornetto) , are the names of a modern brass wind instrument of the same pitch as the trumpet. Being a transformation of the old post-horn, the cornet should have a conical bore of wide diameter in proportion to the length of tube, but in practice usually only a small portion of the tube is conical, i.e. from the mouthpiece to the slide of the first valve and from the slide of the third valve to the bell. The tube of the cornet is doubled round upon itself. ”

“ There are seven positions of the slide on the trombone, each giving a theoretical fundamental tone and its upper partials a semitone lower than the last, and corresponding to the seven shifts on the violin and to the seven positions on valve instruments. These seven positions are found by drawing out the slide a little more for each one, the first position being that in which the slide remains closed. The performer on the trombone is just as dependent on an accurate ear for finding the correct positions as a violinist. ”

“ The sound is produced by stretching the lips across the mouthpiece, and making them act as double reeds, set in vibration by the breath. There are no fixed notes on the cornet as in instruments with lateral holes, or with keys; the musical scale is obtained by means of the power the performer possesses—once he has learned how to use it—of producing the notes of the harmonic series by overblowing, i.e. by varying the tension of the lips and the pressure of breath. ”

“ Notwithstanding the increased facility obtained by the use of pistons, they are very far from having gained the suffrage of all players: many prefer the slide, believing that it gives a facility of emission that they cannot obtain with a piston trombone. The flat tonalities having been preferred for military music since the beginning of the 19th century the pitch of each variety of trombones has been raised a semitone. ”

“ The “echo cornet” was a similar stop, but softer and enclosed in a box. In German and Dutch organs the term cornet is sometimes applied to a pedal reed stop.
(a) Cornet or Cornett (Fr. cornet, cornet à bouquin; Ger. Zinck, Zincken; Ital. cornetto) is the name given to a family of wood wind instruments, now obsolete, having a cup-shaped mouthpiece and a conical bore without a bell, and differing entirely from the modern cornet à pistons. The old cornets were of two kinds, the straight and the curved, characterized by radical differences in construction. ”

“ The cornet used in a rich orchestral harmony is of value for completing the chords of trumpets, or to undertake diatonic and chromatic passages which on account of their rapidity cannot easily be fingered by trombones or horns. ”

“ This transposition has no reference to the number of vibrations that may be officially or tacitly adopted as the standard pitch of any country or locality. A trombone an octave lower than the tenor has recently been reintroduced into the orchestra, principally by Wagner. The different varieties just cited are constructed with pistons or slides, as the case may be.
Further information on the trombone will be found in the monographs by the Rev. F. W. Galpin, “The Sackbut: its Evolution and History,” Proc. Mus. Assoc. (1906-1907) ”

“ The enharmonic valves give all notes theoretically true; there are in addition separate means for adjusting each of the first six lengths, for although these lengths are theoretically correct there are always certain modifying conditions connected with brass instruments which render it essential to provide means for adjustment. ”

“ The band of musicians in the service of Henry VIII. included ten sackbut players, and under Elizabeth, in 1587, there were six English instrumentalists then enjoyed a certain reputation and were sought for by foreign courts ”