 Firebird trumpet | |
| Brass instrument | |
|---|---|
| Classification | |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 423.2 (Sliding and Valved aerophone sounded by lip movement) |
| Related instruments | |
| Musicians | |
| Part of a series on |
| Musical instruments |
|---|
The Firebird is a type of trumpet with the standard three valves and the addition of a trombone-style slide. It was invented by Maynard Ferguson and Larry Ramirez and remains an exceptionally rare, specialist instrument. They were occasionally produced by Holton. [1]
Hybrid or "duplex" brass instruments equipped with both a slide and valves were built as early as the 1860s, by instrument makers Besson and Conn. [2]
Jazz trumpet player Maynard Ferguson worked with Holton (now a division of C.G. Conn) to develop the model ST302 trumpet. It was designed by Larry Ramirez, who spoke to Ferguson about a valve/slide trombone that he had designed some 12 years earlier. This led to Ramirez designing a new valve/slide trombone for Ferguson, called the Superbone, in October 1974. [3]
After touring with the Superbone, Ferguson spoke to Ramirez about making a trumpet with the same valve/slide capability. In order to preserve the length of tubing required to make a B♭ trumpet, the slide could only be made with four positions instead of the standard seven on a trombone. The bell was bent up approximately 20 degrees so that the slide could clear it when extended. This instrument was dubbed the “Firebird”, and went into production on or around May 28, 1983 [3] as Model ST303. [1]
By 2000, Ramirez came up with a design for a full seven-position Firebird trumpet. The slide was a telescoping slide-within-a-slide assembly that could be extended to twice its length. Only two of these were made—the first was a prototype and the second was made years later when the first was damaged. [3]
The Firebird may be played strictly as a valve trumpet, or using the valves and slide in conjunction. With only the first four slide positions available, some lower notes (low F♯, G, A♭, C♯, D, E♭, and the second A♭) require the use of valves. Higher A♭s can be achieved using normally out-of-tune harmonics, since the slide allows for microtuning adjustments.
The horn may be gripped with either the left hand or the right hand, and the valves may also be operated by either hand, which is facilitated by the presence of two pinky rings on the top of the horn. Similarly, the slide may be operated by either hand, giving the player the option to finger the valves with the right hand and operate the slide with the left, or vice versa.
Other than the slide, the Firebird's playing technique is no different from standard trumpet technique.
Popular artists who have used the Firebird on recordings and live performances include:
A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones or labrophones, from Latin and Greek elements meaning 'lip' and 'sound'.
The French horn is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B♭ is the horn most often used by players in professional orchestras and bands, although the descant and triple horn have become increasingly popular. A musician who plays a horn is known as a horn player or hornist.
The pitch of a brass instrument corresponds to the lowest playable resonance frequency of the open instrument. The combined resonances resemble a harmonic series. The fundamental frequency of the harmonic series can be varied by adjusting the length of the tubing using the instrument's valve, slide, key or crook system, while the player's embouchure, lip tension and air flow serve to select a specific harmonic from the available series for playing. The fundamental is essentially missing from the resonances and is impractical to play on most brass instruments, but the overtones account for most pitches.
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate. Nearly all trombones use a telescoping slide mechanism to alter the pitch instead of the valves used by other brass instruments. The valve trombone is an exception, using three valves similar to those on a trumpet, and the superbone has valves and a slide.
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B♭ or C trumpet.
A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which music notation is not written at concert pitch. For example, playing a written middle C on a transposing instrument produces a pitch other than middle C; that sounding pitch identifies the interval of transposition when describing the instrument. Playing a written C on clarinet or soprano saxophone produces a concert B♭, so these are referred to as B♭ instruments. Providing transposed music for these instruments is a convention of musical notation. The instruments do not transpose the music; rather, their music is written at a transposed pitch. Where chords are indicated for improvisation they are also written in the appropriate transposed form.
The baritone horn, sometimes called baritone, is a low-pitched brass instrument in the saxhorn family. It is a piston-valve brass instrument with a bore that is mostly conical, like the higher pitched flugelhorn and alto (tenor) horn, but it has a narrower bore compared to the similarly pitched euphonium. It uses a wide-rimmed cup mouthpiece like that of its peers, the trombone and euphonium. Like the trombone and the euphonium, the baritone horn can be considered either a transposing or non-transposing instrument.
Walter Maynard Ferguson CM was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served as stepping stones for up-and-coming talent, his versatility on several instruments, and his ability to play in a high register.
The mellophone is a brass instrument used in marching bands and drum and bugle corps in place of French horns. It is a middle-voiced instrument, typically pitched in the key of F, though models in E♭, D, C, and G have also historically existed. It has a conical bore, like that of the euphonium and flugelhorn. It can also be used to play French horn parts in concert bands and orchestras.
The valve trombone is a brass instrument in the trombone family that has a set of valves to vary the pitch instead of a slide. Although it has been built in sizes from alto to contrabass, it is the tenor valve trombone pitched in B♭ an octave lower than the trumpet which has seen the most widespread use. The most common models have three piston valves. They are found in jazz and popular music, as well as marching bands in Europe, where they are often built with rotary valves and were widely used in orchestras in the 19th century.
The superbone is a hybrid tenor trombone in B♭ that has both a slide like a regular trombone and a set of valves like a valve trombone.
The bass trombone is the bass instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. Modern instruments are pitched in the same B♭ as the tenor trombone but with a larger bore, bell and mouthpiece to facilitate low register playing, and usually two valves to fill in the missing range immediately above the pedal tones.
Holton is a brand owned by the Conn-Selmer division of Steinway Musical Instruments. The original business was a used instrument shop began in 1898 by American trombone player Frank Holton in Chicago, Illinois. The firm built brass instruments for ten years in Chicago, then in Elkhorn, Wisconsin from 1918 until 2008, when production of Holton-branded instruments moved to Eastlake, Ohio. The business remained independent until it was acquired by Leblanc in 1964. Leblanc was acquired by Conn-Selmer in 2004 and its properties became subsidiaries of Conn-Selmer.
The alto trombone is the alto member of the trombone family of brass instruments, smaller than the tenor trombone. It is almost always pitched in E♭ a fourth higher than the tenor, although examples pitched in F are occasionally found. The alto trombone was commonly used from the 16th to the 18th centuries in church music to strengthen the alto voice, particularly in the Mass. Alto trombone parts are usually notated in alto clef.
Marching brass instruments are brass instruments specially designed to be played while moving. Most instruments do not have a marching version - only the following have marching versions:
The contrabass trombone is the lowest-pitched instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. While modern instruments are pitched in 12 ft F with a single slide, the first practical contrabass trombones appeared in the mid-19th century built in 18′ B♭ an octave below the tenor trombone with a double slide. German opera composer Richard Wagner notably called for this instrument in his Der Ring des Nibelungen opera cycle in the 1870s, and contrabass trombone has since appeared occasionally in large orchestral works without becoming a permanent member of the modern orchestra.
The valide trombone is a hybrid valve trombone invented in the 1940s by jazz musician Brad Gowans. It features both a set of three piston valves and a slide to vary the pitch. The slide on the valide is positioned within the valve section and is shorter than a regular trombone slide, only covering four slide positions instead of the usual seven. The slide does not lock, requiring the player to hold the slide at all times, and encouraging the player to use both the valves and the slide together.
The German horn is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell, and in bands and orchestras is the most widely used of three types of horn, the other two being the French horn and the Vienna horn. Its use among professional players has become so universal that it is only in France and Vienna that any other kind of horn is used today. A musician who plays the German horn is called a horn player. The word "German" is used only to distinguish this instrument from the now-rare French and Viennese instruments. Although the expression "French horn" is still used colloquially in English for any orchestral horn, since the 1930s professional musicians and scholars have generally avoided this term in favour of just "horn". Vienna horns today are played only in Vienna, and are made only by Austrian firms. German horns, by contrast, are not all made by German manufacturers, nor are all French-style instruments made in France.
Carnival is the 11th album by Canadian jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson on Columbia Records. This is yet another attempt to replicate the success of Conquistador. Another big theme song, a couple of originals, a blast from the past, and a cover of "Birdland", which was well received.
Balanced action refers to new models of saxophones and trumpets introduced by Henri Selmer & Cie during the 1930s, and has different meanings depending on whether one is referring to the trumpet or saxophone model.