How a Trumpet Is Made. I.

The Natural Trumpet and Horn

Author(s): D. J. Blaikley
Source: The Musical Times, Vol. 51, No. 803 (Jan. 1, 1910), pp. 14-16
Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.
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successively musical critic of the Academy and

the Athenceum, and also contributed many articles
to the Musical Times and to Grove's 'Dictionary of
Music.' Notwithstanding the onerous demands
of this great pedagogical and critical activity,
Ebenezer Prout found time for much composition,
including three choral cantatas: 'Hereward, 'Alfred'
and the 'Red Cross Knight.' His editions of 'The
Messiah' and 'Samson' are other instances of his
activities. His edition of the former work was
the fruit of much laborious investigation. Not
the least of its recommendations is that it corrects
numerous mistakes that crept into former editions.
But perhaps he exercised a wider and more
permanent influence over his generation by his
luminous theoretical works than he did by
his music, sound and scholarly as that is. His
'Harmony, its theory and practice,' and the series of
manuals on Counterpoint, Canon and Fugue, and
Form and Instrumentation, have had great vogue,
and have shaped the musical thought of innumerable students. In I894 he was appointed Professor
of Music in the University of Dublin, and this
post he retained until his decease. He was an
active member of the Incorporated Society of
Musicians. In 1904 his portrait, in his Dublin
Doctor's robes, was painted by Mr. E. Bent Walker,
and was presented to him by numerous friends and
pupils. We are very glad to provide our subscribers
with a reproduction of this picture. It is considered
to be an excellent likeness of the Professor, and
will form a fit companion to the portrait presented
with our April, 1899, issue.
Prout had a phenomenal musical memory. He
was a devout Bach worshipper, and probably knew
this incomparable composer's music as well as any
man in Europe. His attitude to Wagner's music
was on the whole appreciative. To the extreme
moderns he was less sympathetic. The present
writer went with Prout to the first London performance of ' Heldenleben' (Strauss), and is not likely to
forget the accompanying and subsequent expression
of the Professor's opinion. Prout was a keen and
brilliant controversialist, always able, in musical
matters at least, to support his opinion by wise
saws and modern instances.
Punctuality was
one of his virtues, and he planned his work with
marvellous exactitude.
He would tell you in
March all that he meant to accomplish in the next
few months, and on what day in July and by what
train he would depart for his holiday, and it all
came off. He was a rare linguist, a chess player,
a great smoker, a raconteur of exceptional interest,
somewhat of a Bohemian in dress, a genial and
sympathetic friend, and his whole life was an
inspiration to his great circle of friends.
The funeral took place in Abney Park Cemetery
(London, N.E.) on December 9, in the presence of
a large concourse of friends and representatives
of the institutions with which he had been connected. The organ was played by Mr. John E.
West, a relative and former pupil. There was no
singing. The deceased musician's brother, the Rev.
Edward Prout, delivered a simple, touching address
that searched the hearts and comforted the spirits

I, I9IO.

of all present. It was stated that even during the

last week of his painful illness the Professor commenced a new analysis of Bach's '48,' and that he
had completed his account of the first four. On
Sunday, December 5, he was in his study, about to
commence the fifth Fugue, when one of his heart
attacks came on. He felt that the great transition
had to be made, and said, 'Lord, do not let it be
long.' His prayer was mercifully granted.
It need hardly be added that the sympathy of all
who knew Professor Prout or profited by his
labours, will be respectfully tendered to his
sorrowing widow and family.
HOW A TRUMPET IS MADE.
BY D. J. BLAIKLEY.
I.-THE

NATURAL TRUMPET AND HORN.

In popular language the word 'trumpet' is very

commonly used to denote any wind instrument
that is sounded by the action of the lungs and
lips of the player without the introduction of an
artificial reed (the lips must be regarded as a
natural double reed). It must be granted that
flutes are not included in the widely-embracing
term 'trumpet' as generally used, but the lip-action
required for these instruments so totally differs from
that required for any instrument that by the widest
use of the word can be called a trumpet, that no
confusion ever arises between these two classes even
amongst those most ignorant of musical matters.
Before treating of the trumpet in a specific
sense, the word may in the meantime be used
in the popular way to signify any metal wind
instrument blown by the lips, for all that can be
said in this article in regard to the craftsmanship and mechanical processes concerned in the
production of the trumpet, using the word in its
strict and limited sense, is equally applicable to
any brass instrument. The difference between
one instrument and another is in the design
requisite to give a desired result, just as the
design of a naval architect is directed to ensure
the efficiency of, and the differentiation between,
say, a cargo boat, a passenger liner, and a racing
yacht, while the actual methods of construction
are the same in each case.
A natural horn, a conch shell, or an elephant's
tusk must, at a very early period of human history,
have lent itself to the purpose of forming a useful
and powerful instrument for purposes of war or
the chase simply by the fashioning of an orifice-at
its small end for the action of the lips. The
'making' of such an instrument would be a very
simple matter, but it would soon be found that
some were better, that is, more powerful and more
easily sounded, than others. The natural tones on
any such horn of conical bore approximate more
or less closely to the lower notes of the harmonic
series, as I, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c., or c, c', g', cT',e", &c.,
the lower two or three notes only being practicable
on short horns. With a horn of about four feet in
length there is, however, no difficulty in obtaining
the sixth harmonic, or g" in the harmonic scale of
c, c', g', c!, el, glT,and as by natural laws capable

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of scientific explanation the horns of best tonequality and most easily blown are also those which
give this scale most accurately, the ears of man
must have been to some extent trained to appreciate
the intervals of the octave and the common
the
of
chord ages before
investigations
Pythagoras in the 6th century B.C. concerning
the relationship between the various lengths of a
string and the intervals of the octave, fifth,
fourth, third, &c.
If instead of a long natural horn a short horn is
taken and extended in length by the addition of
small cylindrical tubing, a new tone-quality is
obtained, of greater brilliancy than that given by
the long conical horn; and on such an instrument
of the assumed four-feet length the upper notes to
c.", or the eighth harmonic, are easily obtained,
but at some sacrifice of the intonation and ease of
production of the first and second tones of the
series. At whatever time, and in whatever way,
may have arisen the distinction between the conical
horn and the cylindrical tube with a comparatively
short conical expansion or bell-mouth, this
distinction has been known through all historic
time and is the basis of all modern work in the
further differentiation of tone-quality between the
various families of brass instruments. In these
instruments we have then two main types, viz.:
Trumpets.-With
tubing cylindrical for about
two-thirds of the total length, and terminating

with a conical or bell-mouth expansion. With

trumpets must be included trombones, the
trumpets being the treble and the trombones
the tenor and bass members of the family.
Horns.-Instruments more or less conical throughout, all being less brilliant and piercing than
the trumpet, but varying from the delicate
quality of the orchestral or French horn to
the fulness and breadth of tone of the
modern saxhorns and tubas.
Thus the general object in view, in the design
of any instrument included in the 'brass wind,' or
trumpet and horn classes, is the production of a
tube which can be blown by the lips in such
manner as to give a wide range or compass of
notes in agreement with the natural harmonic
series. It is generally known to all students of
acoustics that a cylindrical tube open at both ends
has this series for its proper tones, and it is equally
well known that a tube of half the length closed at
one end will give only the unevenly numbered
notes of the series; also that these will be of the
same pitch as the corresponding notes on the open
tube of double the length. As an example, the
notes proper to an open tube of about eight and
a-half feet in length are here given, and also the
uneven notes of the harmonic series which are
proper to a tube of half the length. The customary
scientific pitch of 256 vibrations for middle C has
been assumed:

7
bo

?f

I5

"

r-J

Note in
s
HrNmotes ies}

Notes from
Notes from

Vibrations-64

}Vibrations--64

Io

II

12

I28

I92

256

320

384

448

512

576

640

704

768

I92

The series naturally extends indefinitely upwards,

but notes relatively higher than those shown are
quite exceptional, the actual pitch depending upon
the fundamental note or prime tone of the instrument. A tube in the form of a cone complete to
its apex has the peculiar and not easily explained
property of giving resonance to all the notes of the
harmonic series, and of giving them of the same
pitch as those from an open tube of the same
length. Such a tube, however, cannot be sounded
by the lips, therefore some modification of the
conical form is necessary in the production of a
wind instrument, and the required modifications
have been gradually evolved through experience
and rule of thumb, supplemented in modern times,
since the researches of Helmholtz and other
investigators, by definite design in accordance
with scientific observations. By modification of
form must be understood the various differences
of calibration, and not the bending of the
instrument into parallel members as in the
trumpet and trombone, or the circular form of
the French horn. These general outward forms

320

448

576

704

are mainly a matter of custom and of convenience

in handling, and have little or nothing to do with
pitch or tone-quality. Given a certain pitch, the
total or axial length of the instrument will always
be the same, whether it is straight, or bent
into any particular form. By 'form,' therefore,
the general proportions of the tube, wide or
narrow, with greater or less conical expansion and
bell flanging are implied as essential conditions,
and not the general outward appearance or model.
The general dimensions of the tubing suitable
for yielding a certain tone-quality, compass, and
volume being determined, a further accentuation
of distinctiveness in tone-quality is obtained by
slight variations in form of the two ends of the
instrument, that is, of the mouthpiece and the
bell-flange. The extreme types of mouthpieces
are those of the trumpet and the French horn.
The 'cup' of the trumpet mouthpiece is almost
hemispherical, that of the French horn is of a deep
conical or funnel shape, and between these two
extremes are to be found the mouthpieces of
trombones and bugles, and of the modern cornets,

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saxhorns and tubas. The shallow or hemispherical

cup accentuates the brilliancy already obtained by
the general dimensions of the trumpet, and the
more or less conical cup tends to mellowness of
quality: this is heard in the fullest degree in the
plaintive tones of the horn.
The extension of the bell-flange has much the
same effect as the increase of conical depth in
the mouthpiece, that is, the mellowness is thereby
enhanced. The crispness of the army field-bugle
is largely due to the very slight flanging of its bell,
and on the other hand the mellowness of the
orchestral or French horn is dependent to some
extent on the wide, convolvulus-like expansion of
its bell. If this were greatly cut down, the tone of
the horn would approximate to that of the trumpet.
It may be said, 'Surely the material of which
an instrument is made is of at least as much
importance as exact proportions?' To this the
answer is that the possible influence of the
material is commonly very greatly exaggerated.
The material must have a smooth surface and also
be fairly rigid, so that the force of the vibrations is
not absorbed; but granting these conditions are
obtained, everything else is merely a matter of
convenience of manufacture, cost and durability.
For those who can afford silver, silver is a very
good material, because it is durable and easily kept
clean; but those who can only afford brass or
copper may rest assured that a trumpet made of
one of these humbler metals is, as a musical
instrument, absolutely as good as if it were made
of one of the precious metals. I have myself
listened attentively to a player (unseen) giving
similar passages or calls alternately on a straight
bugle made of copper and on another made of
brown paper, and found myself quite unable to
discriminate between the two instruments. Any
slight difference that there may be is more easily
felt than described by the player, and is practically
inappreciable by the listener. It should be added
that in the experiment the interior of the brownpaper bugle was varnished so as to produce a
smooth and non-absorbent surface.
For so long a time as short horns of indefinite
tone-quality sufficed for the purposes required, the
natural horns of animals and the tusks of elephants
afforded sufficient and suitable material. But these
must in very early days have been supplemented
by instruments of metal, as evidenced by ancient
frescoes and bas-reliefs. Probably the oldest
written record concerning metal instruments is to
be found in the words 'Make thee two trumpets of
silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them,'
referring to the trumpets for the tabernacle worship,
as recorded in the book of Numbers, chap. x., v. 2.
Passing by the various possible ways in which
metal may have been treated in the formation of
instruments in ancient and mediaeval times, we
may now describe the way in which a trumpet is
made at the present day. The 'making' of
anything necessarily begins with its design. This
being completed, in the case of the trumpet
according to the principles already set forth, the
mechanical production is chiefly a matter of

I, 19I0.

sheet-metal work. The bell and so much of the

instrument as is conical is cut from the sheet and
hammered into a tubular form; the edges being
thus brought together are brazed, and the exact
required form is then given by burnishing down
to a steel mandrel or shape and by turning in a
lathe. In the best modern practice the cylindrical
portions are made from solid-drawn or seamless
tubes, and all the necessary bendings or curvatures
are obtained by filling the tubes with lead, so that
they may be bent without serious distortion or
crippling; after the bending is completed the lead
is melted out. The accuracy of the intonation of
the finished instrument depends largely upon the
skill shown by the workman in bending the various
tubes without distorting their calibration. The
different parts being thus formed, and smoothed
and hardened by hammer-work, they are assembled
together by means of ferrules and stays secured by
soft or tin-solder, so that the stiffness obtained
by the hammering shall not be nullified by the
red heat which would be necessary if the final
assembling of the parts were the result of brazing
or the use of any solder requiring a red heat. The
mouthpiece is always a separate part, and is usually
made from a casting turned in the lathe to the
exact form required. To guard against the possible
risk of dirty brass coming into contact with a sore
lip, the mouthpiece is generally silver-plated.
Thus far it has been possible to consider only
the general lines of the actual development and
construction of the trumpet. Its gradual acceptance as an orchestral instrument must be left for
a future article.

b
(
be
(To
continued.)

WHEN
By

HOMER

FREDERICK

NODS.

CORDER.

'Even Homer sometimes nods,' says the Greek

proverb; but it is an admission that not everybody
can be induced to make. The worthy souls-past
write books on the Great
and present-who
Composers entertain the firm conviction that there
are about a dozen musicians, all of a bygone age,
entitled to that appellation. These are creatures
of a different species altogether from the rest of
mankind, and can do no possible wrong-their
most blatant 'pot-boiler' is a masterpiece. Per
contra the rest of the composing fraternity are
hardly worth consideration, especially if they are
alive: the length of time they have been dead is,
indeed, the measure of their merit. Now, do I
exaggerate? Is not this the current view put
forth in histories of music and works of musical
biography? I never could endure this attitude of
blind worship of the few and gross neglect of the
many, which is the habit of so many narrow and
ignorant minds. It does not lower my opinion of
Beethoven one iota that his 'Battle symphony' is
quite unworthy of him, and my reverence for
Wagner is not diminished when I declare that his
'Philadelphia Fest-Marsch' is an atrocious piece
of work. We are all human beings, and when I
try to write 'pot-boilers' they come out absolutely
worthless: so did those of Mozart. But in