7.3 Families
367
different kinds of brass instrument are not clear-cut, establishing brasswind families
can be more a matter of tradition rather than science. Some things cannot be scaled,
including the arms, fingers, lips, and vocal tract of the player and the highest
and lowest perceptible frequencies, and the dominant region for pitch perception
(approximately 500–2000 Hz) of the listener. There is little evidence that formants
contribute significantly to brasswind character. Factors which can be scaled in
instrument families include the size and proportions of pitch-determining elements
and the size and proportions of timbre-determining elements. The principal scaling
variables in brasswind families are the air column length (determining pitch),
absolute bore size (affecting timbre and dynamic response), and the bore profile
geometry (affecting timbre), and where applicable, tonehole size and placement
(affecting pitch and timbre). Also important are mouthpiece cup volume (mainly
affecting timbre), and mouthpiece cup shape (mainly affecting transients) discussed
in Sect. 6.4. The elements that we expect a brasswind family to have in common are
the mechanics of pitch control (whether by finger-holes, keys, slide, or valves) and
some aspects of the geometry of the bore profile which determine timbre.
Some brasswind families have resulted from a process of evolution, including
cornetts, sackbuts, slide trombones, valve trombones and tubas. Other families have
been created more or less simultaneously, including saxhorns, saxotrombas, and
cornophones; this was a nineteenth-century phenomenon, exploiting the freedom
given by the valve to create novel bore profiles.
The best-known and longest-lasting family has been the saxhorns. As devised by
Adolphe Sax, these were actually two families: from the 9-ft B baritone upwards
(narrower bore), and from the 9-ft B bass downwards (wider bore) (Fig. 7.49). The
need for two distinct families derives from different musical functions: the narrower
bore instruments (tenor horns and baritones) typically fill out the harmonies, with
the wider bore instruments (essentially euphoniums and tubas) providing a firm bass
and needing to be effective in delivering low-frequency sound. This distinction is
also present in band instrument designs not influenced by Sax: German and eastern
European instrument makers have produced both a ‘Tenorhorn’ and a ‘Bariton’ in 9ft B . Within families a longer air column length is accompanied by slightly wider
absolute bore size, while retaining a similar bore profile geometry and brassiness
potential. This is true for created families as well as for evolved families such as
slide trombones (where the mechanics of the slide dictate the similar bore profile
geometry and brassiness potential).
The ophicleide, illustrated in Figs. 7.28b and 7.57, was originally conceived
as a member of a family, the smallest members of which were the keyed bugles
(Figs. 7.8 and 7.15). An intermediate size, the quinticlave or alto ophicleide, never
achieved the popularity of the keyed bugle or the ordinary (bass) ophicleide. A
few contrabass ophicleides were made, scaled up from the ordinary C and B , the
largest (at least of surviving examples) being pitched in 13-ft E (lowest note D1).
The unique contrabass instrument shown in Fig. 7.50 is a taxonomic challenge. It
was made circa 1840, nicknamed in modern times ‘The Anaconda’, and is now in
the possession of one of the present authors. Although at first glance a double-size
serpent, it has the essential acoustical features of an ophicleide: eleven toneholes
367
different kinds of brass instrument are not clear-cut, establishing brasswind families
can be more a matter of tradition rather than science. Some things cannot be scaled,
including the arms, fingers, lips, and vocal tract of the player and the highest
and lowest perceptible frequencies, and the dominant region for pitch perception
(approximately 500–2000 Hz) of the listener. There is little evidence that formants
contribute significantly to brasswind character. Factors which can be scaled in
instrument families include the size and proportions of pitch-determining elements
and the size and proportions of timbre-determining elements. The principal scaling
variables in brasswind families are the air column length (determining pitch),
absolute bore size (affecting timbre and dynamic response), and the bore profile
geometry (affecting timbre), and where applicable, tonehole size and placement
(affecting pitch and timbre). Also important are mouthpiece cup volume (mainly
affecting timbre), and mouthpiece cup shape (mainly affecting transients) discussed
in Sect. 6.4. The elements that we expect a brasswind family to have in common are
the mechanics of pitch control (whether by finger-holes, keys, slide, or valves) and
some aspects of the geometry of the bore profile which determine timbre.
Some brasswind families have resulted from a process of evolution, including
cornetts, sackbuts, slide trombones, valve trombones and tubas. Other families have
been created more or less simultaneously, including saxhorns, saxotrombas, and
cornophones; this was a nineteenth-century phenomenon, exploiting the freedom
given by the valve to create novel bore profiles.
The best-known and longest-lasting family has been the saxhorns. As devised by
Adolphe Sax, these were actually two families: from the 9-ft B baritone upwards
(narrower bore), and from the 9-ft B bass downwards (wider bore) (Fig. 7.49). The
need for two distinct families derives from different musical functions: the narrower
bore instruments (tenor horns and baritones) typically fill out the harmonies, with
the wider bore instruments (essentially euphoniums and tubas) providing a firm bass
and needing to be effective in delivering low-frequency sound. This distinction is
also present in band instrument designs not influenced by Sax: German and eastern
European instrument makers have produced both a ‘Tenorhorn’ and a ‘Bariton’ in 9ft B . Within families a longer air column length is accompanied by slightly wider
absolute bore size, while retaining a similar bore profile geometry and brassiness
potential. This is true for created families as well as for evolved families such as
slide trombones (where the mechanics of the slide dictate the similar bore profile
geometry and brassiness potential).
The ophicleide, illustrated in Figs. 7.28b and 7.57, was originally conceived
as a member of a family, the smallest members of which were the keyed bugles
(Figs. 7.8 and 7.15). An intermediate size, the quinticlave or alto ophicleide, never
achieved the popularity of the keyed bugle or the ordinary (bass) ophicleide. A
few contrabass ophicleides were made, scaled up from the ordinary C and B , the
largest (at least of surviving examples) being pitched in 13-ft E (lowest note D1).
The unique contrabass instrument shown in Fig. 7.50 is a taxonomic challenge. It
was made circa 1840, nicknamed in modern times ‘The Anaconda’, and is now in
the possession of one of the present authors. Although at first glance a double-size
serpent, it has the essential acoustical features of an ophicleide: eleven toneholes