Brass
Brass instruments include: trumpets, cornets, horns, trombones, tubas, flugelhorns, baritones and euphoniums.
Brass instruments have a long standing reputation for being loud and magnificent. They are used extensively in fanfares – which are ideal for representing triumphant royal occasions – also, they have been used on the battlefield (in years gone by!) to rouse the regiment.
Most brass instruments are made of brass and then silver-coated. Scholars tend to agree that the term ‘brass’ should refer to how an instrument actually makes its sound rather than the material the instrument is made of; for this reason, some ‘brass’ instruments may be made from other types of metal and occasionally made from wood. Therefore, instruments such as the saxophone, which are often made of brass, are not classed as brass instruments since they do not produce sound in the same way as a trumpet or horn.
For an instrument to be regarded as part of the ‘brass’ family its sound must be produced by the vibration of air molecules down a long thin tube shape – this is the fundamental way in which all brass instruments produce sound. For example, when a trumpet player blows down his trumpet (with the correct aperture of his lips, or his “embouchure”) air vibrates as it passes through the tube. This vibrating air causes a sound rich in harmonics. The harmonics combine to produce the full characteristic tone of all other brass instruments.
The modern trumpet, French horn, tuba etc, evolved from earlier, simpler horns which have been found to date as from as early as the 14th century. These primitive instruments were very basic and could only produce a few different notes. By the Baroque period these instruments had developed and several more notes could be achieved, however they often could not play every note within certain keys and as such their role in the orchestra was limited. They lacked the valves, keys and slides which the modern instruments have. Valves, keys and slides allow the player to alter the length of the tube, and thus alter the pitch, and, with a careful embouchure, all the notes of the chromatic scale can be achieved.
The four main brass instruments of the orchestral brass section include (from highest to lowest range) the trumpet, the French horn, the trombone and the tuba. However, there are also brass bands which, as the name suggests, is purely made up of brass instruments and these include bugles, cornets, tenor horns and euphoniums.
Brass instruments include: trumpets, cornets, horns, trombones, tubas, flugelhorns, baritones and euphoniums.
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Brass instruments have a long standing reputation for being loud and magnificent. They are used extensively in fanfares – which are ideal for representing triumphant royal occasions – also, they have been used on the battlefield (in years gone by!) to rouse the regiment.
Most brass instruments are made of brass and then silver-coated. Scholars tend to agree that the term ‘brass’ should refer to how an instrument actually makes its sound rather than the material the instrument is made of; for this reason, some ‘brass’ instruments may be made from other types of metal and occasionally made from wood. Therefore, instruments such as the saxophone, which are often made of brass, are not classed as brass instruments since they do not produce sound in the same way as a trumpet or horn.
For an instrument to be regarded as part of the ‘brass’ family its sound must be produced by the vibration of air molecules down a long thin tube shape – this is the fundamental way in which all brass instruments produce sound. For example, when a trumpet player blows down his trumpet (with the correct aperture of his lips, or his “embouchure”) air vibrates as it passes through the tube. This vibrating air causes a sound rich in harmonics. The harmonics combine to produce the full characteristic tone of all other brass instruments.
The modern trumpet, French horn, tuba etc, evolved from earlier, simpler horns which have been found to date as from as early as the 14th century. These primitive instruments were very basic and could only produce a few different notes. By the Baroque period these instruments had developed and several more notes could be achieved, however they often could not play every note within certain keys and as such their role in the orchestra was limited. They lacked the valves, keys and slides which the modern instruments have. Valves, keys and slides allow the player to alter the length of the tube, and thus alter the pitch, and, with a careful embouchure, all the notes of the chromatic scale can be achieved.
The four main brass instruments of the orchestral brass section include (from highest to lowest range) the trumpet, the French horn, the trombone and the tuba. However, there are also brass bands which, as the name suggests, is purely made up of brass instruments and these include bugles, cornets, tenor horns and euphoniums.
