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While in the US and several European countries there is a tradition of mixed wind bands, Britain developed bands made up of brass instruments with saxophone and percussion. The repertory of such ensembles tended to be arrangements of dance music, opera overtures and marches. (Twentieth-century British composers have pioneered original music for brass band.) The brass band developed ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

Bugle Best known in its military guise, the bugle is one of the simplest of brass instruments in terms of construction, but it is very difficult to play. The single tube of metal has no valves to help create different notes, so players have to do all the work by changing their embouchure – a combination of the ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music, general editor Paul Du Noyer

Antoine in the 1820s. Antoine, who worked for the Parisian firm Halary, was one of a number of makers experimenting with the new valve technology that was revolutionizing brass instruments at the time. His idea of adding valves to the post horn rapidly caught on, and by 1830 cornet players around Paris were already making names for themselves. ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

The cornett of European Renaissance art music is a longer finger-hole horn made of wood. A precursor to the modern brass horns, it should not be confused with the valved – and much later developed – cornet. Construction and Playing Technique The cornett is a long tube, usually around 60 cm (20 in) in length. It is normally curved ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

the bugle, a signalling horn used in the Middle Ages and made out of bull or ox horn. This developed into a large, semicircular hunting horn made of brass or silver that was used by the military during the Seven Years’ War (1756–63). History Wrapping the horn around itself once, so the bell pointed directly away from the ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

soloist, the name here refers to the orchestral horn. History The early history of the horn is bound intimately to that of the trumpet. Both instruments were made of brass, both were sounded by buzzing lips, both were used to give signals during the hunt. The first clear distinction was made in France in the late-seventeenth century. Jean-Baptiste ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

The post horn is a small, valveless brass instrument once used by guards on mail coaches to announce arrivals and departures. Originally bow shaped, in the seventeenth century post horns were bent in a single loop to play the fundamental pitch bb'. Clearly these were small instruments, perhaps only 7 cm (3 in) across; nevertheless they appear in ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

The early part of the nineteenth century was a rich period for the development of instruments; many designs dating from this period are now established as the standard forms. The brass world was no exception. Adolphe Sax A man with business acumen and a fascination with design, Adolphe Sax was quick to seize on these developments. Having found major success ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

column. Its 213-cm (84-in) length is undulating in appearance, giving it its name. It is normally made out of walnut wood, although it can also be found in brass or silver. The serpent originally had six finger holes, giving the instrument a compass from C to g'. Role in the Orchestra The serpent was used in bands and ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

has rarely been used in orchestral music. There is a short part for it in Elgar’s The Apostles, but this is more usually played by a flugelhorn. Introduction | Brass Instruments Instruments | Post Horn | Brass ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

A trombone is a brass instrument sounded by buzzing the lips into a mouthpiece. It is peculiar amongst brass instruments in using a double ‘U’-shaped slide to alter its pitch. The early history of the trombone is confused, mostly due to a lack of clarity in naming instruments. It is generally accepted that the immediate precursor to the trombone was ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

one of the most ancient instruments still played today. Clear depictions of trumpets survive in Egyptian paintings and two trumpets – one of silver, the other of gold and brass – found in the tomb of Tutankhamun date back to at least 1350 BC. There are many examples of Roman and Greek trumpets which, like the Egyptian instruments, ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

buzzing the lips into a mouthpiece. It is conically bored, like the horn, and consequently has a smooth, velvety sound. History The tuba is a youngster among brass instruments; it is one of a number of instruments developed in the furiously inventive atmosphere of the early-nineteenth century. The invention of the piston valve around 1815 breathed new life ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

Baroque brass music was written for natural horns and trumpets. The classical period saw experiments with introducing keys into trumpets: the concertos for trumpet by Haydn and Hummel were both written with a keyed trumpet in mind. Trumpeters and horn players also experimented with using one hand in the bell to affect pitch. However, in the early Romantic period valves ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

player’s ability to expressively control the sound in real time and manufacturers sought to include additional means of control, such as modulation wheels and touch-sensitive ribbon controllers. Wind and brass players, however, realized that their experience of acoustic instruments gave them the tools and techniques – embouchure and breath control – to be able to shape and control ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins
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