Posted in: Brass by Julz bABY on November 26th, 2009 | 0 Comments
Description of each instrument used for music exams.
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|
Trumpet |
Horn |
Trombone |
Tuba |
|
Shape of mouth piece |
Cup shaped mouthpiece |
Narrow funnel shaped cup |
Cup shaped |
Cup Shaped |
|
Number of valves |
3 valves operated by pistons |
5 piston or rotary valves |
No valves but slide |
4 valves |
|
Transposing instrument or not |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Written range |
|
|
|
|
|
Clef used |
Treble Clef |
Mostly treble clef but sometimes bass clef |
Bass and Tenor clef |
Bass |
|
Tone Quality |
The tone of the trumpet is brilliant in forte and fortissimo, and also cantabile in piano. Trumpets can be used for quick staccatos. |
Anything up to forte, the tone is round and smooth with excellent cantabile. The horn has tremendous power when playing fortissimo. |
Quiet breadth to extreme brilliance. Normally the tone sounds heavy |
The tone is round and fat. Cantabile can be achieved in middle and upper registers. Agility is also good. |
The horn began life as a simple coiled length of tube with a mouthpiece. In the 17th century, crooks were invented to the horn. A crook was an extra length of tube, coiled or bent which was inserted into the basic tube. In 1815, two Germans stozel and Blumel invented the valve system, the crooks were replaced by piston or rotary valves.
The horn is made permanently in the key F. The horn sounds a perfect 5th higher than actual pitch. The horn is often used for quiet harmonies because the sound can be well controlled.
The trumpet began life as a simple tube. The present day trumpet is about 4 feet long, with a cup shape mouthpiece. There are 3 valves operated by piston valves. The trumpet acts as the upper parts of the heavy brass choir.
The trumpet most used is the key in B flat. The part sounds a tone higher than written. 2 other trumpets occasionally used are D and E flat. The D trumpet part is written a tone below actual pitch and the E flat is a minor 3rd below. Analysing
The trombone has a narrow bore, a cup shaped mouthpiece and a medium sized bell. When the trombone slide is up the furthest, the player is able to play the highest harmonic series, whilst moving the slide down a certain distance lowers the pitch by a semitone.
The Trombone is written as in actual pitch, so it is not a transposing instrument. Normally in a orchestra, there will be 3 trombones.
The Tuba is a very large instrument, with a medium size bell and a wide bore. The first three valves function exactly as a trumpet, and the 4th valve allows the tuba to descend. The quality of the sound allows the tuba to become out of place.
