8.5 Assembly
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surface. This is thought by some to have an effect on the sound of the instrument; if
it does it is very small.
Since the beginning of the nineteenth century, most brass instruments have been
equipped with a tuning-slide: slide trombones were the last to receive this feature. In
addition to the main tuning-slide, each valve loop has its own tuning-slide; in many
cases, the outer slides are soldered directly to the knuckles.
Several manuals (Nödl 1970; Bahnert et al. 1986; Dullat 1989) provide detailed
descriptions of brass instrument construction methods appropriate for medium-sized
workshops. Barclay (1992) describes in detail the traditional hand craft materials,
tools and techniques, while Münkwitz et al. (2014) outline practical procedures
for employing traditional techniques today. The manufacturing techniques used in
several present-day factories were described in a number of articles in the periodical
Brass Bulletin.