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Michael Rath R9DST bass trombone | |
Industry | Musical instrument manufacturing |
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Founded | 1996 |
Founder | Michael Rath |
Headquarters | Honley, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom |
Area served | North America, South America, Japan, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan |
Products | tenor, bass, contrabass, alto trombones and accessories |
Number of employees | 12 |
Website | rathtrombones.com |
Michael Rath Trombones is a British manufacturer of retail and custom hand-made trombones. Rath offers artist-quality and student instruments in its line of tenor, bass, contrabass and alto trombones. Rath Trombones was founded in 1996 by instrument technician Michael Rath, and is Britain's only trombone manufacturer. [1] Rath's 12 craftspeople create as many as 500 trombones per year, exporting instruments through 25 distributors in North and South America, Japan, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan.
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. As on all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips (embouchure) cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate. Nearly all trombones have a telescoping slide mechanism that varies the length of the instrument to change the pitch. Many modern trombone models also use a valve attachment to lower the pitch of the instrument. Variants such as the valve trombone and superbone have three valves similar to those on the trumpet.
Company founder Michael Rath (b. 1963 in Slough, Berkshire, England) studied musical instrument technology at Merton Technical College in South London. He finished at Merton in 1981 and for the next nine years served an apprenticeship with Paxman Musical Instruments, a Covent Garden-based manufacturer of (French) horns. Himself a brass player – he began on tuba at age 11 – Rath opened his own brass instrument shop in West Yorkshire, specialising in repairs and customisation. His clientele grew to include professional musicians, particularly trombonists, from throughout Europe.
Slough is a large town in Berkshire, England, 20 miles (32 km) west of central London and 17 miles (27 km) north-east of Reading, in the Thames Valley at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. Slough had a population of 164,000 in 2017.
Paxman Musical Instruments Ltd is a British manufacturer of horns. Paxman is the instrument of choice of a number of leading British players, including Michael Thompson. Paxman was established at the turn of the twentieth century by Harry Paxman, but did not start production of horns until 1945, when no more than twelve instruments a year were made.
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and with the Royal Opera House, which itself may be referred to as "Covent Garden". The district is divided by the main thoroughfare of Long Acre, north of which is given over to independent shops centred on Neal's Yard and Seven Dials, while the south contains the central square with its street performers and most of the historical buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities, including the London Transport Museum and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
In 1995, British jazz trombonist Mark Nightingale asked Rath to create a bespoke instrument. Completed in 1996 after nearly two years of prototyping, this tenor instrument became the first Rath trombone.
Mark Daryl Nightingale is an English jazz trombonist/studio musician/composer/arranger.
With tenor trombones in steady production, Michael Rath, along with technicians Andy Hutchinson and Adrian Davison, began development of a full trombone line. Hutchinson crafted bells, Davison the hands slides, and Rath did the remainder himself. Over the next decade the Rath catalogue grew to include small-bore jazz trombones, large bore symphonic instruments, bass, contrabass and alto models. Rath instruments grew increasingly popular in Europe, while less known in the U.S. Rath Trombones faced setbacks, including cash-flow problems and the increasing demands of production on what began as a three-person shop. Another blow came in 2006, when respected trombone slide specialist Adrian Davison died at the age of 28 in a motorcycle accident.
Today, Rath trombones are popular with solo artists and brass band, symphony and jazz trombone sections around the world. [1] Their reputation has been enhanced with representation at regional and international trade shows and conventions of musicians and music educators, and a growing roster of high-profile endorsing artists. A line of student-level instruments, JP/Rath Trombones, was introduced in 2014 in collaboration with UK instrument distributor John Packer, and is manufactured by Rath-trained technicians.
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands, but may more correctly termed military bands, concert bands, or "brass and reed" bands.
The Rath Trombones shop is located in Honley, Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. In 2015, the shop was selected from hundreds of UK businesses for a visit by Anne, Britain's Princess Royal. [2]
Honley is a large village in West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated near to Holmfirth and Huddersfield, and on the banks of the River Holme in the Holme Valley. According to the 2011 Census it had a population of 6,474, a growth of 577 from the 2001 Census
Huddersfield is a large market and university town in West Yorkshire, England. It is the 11th largest town in the United Kingdom, with a population of 162,949 at the 2011 census. It lies 14 miles (23 km) southwest of Leeds and 24 miles (39 km) northeast of Manchester.
Anne, Princess Royal, is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. At the time of her birth, she was third in the line of succession to the British throne, behind her mother – then Princess Elizabeth – and elder brother, Charles. She rose to second after her mother's accession, but is 14th in line as of August 2019.
Ensembles that have used Rath trombones include:
United Kingdom: Central Band of the Royal Air Force, Royal Military School of Music, Scots Guards, Royal Marines Band Service, Black Dyke Band, Salvation Army International Staff Band, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Welsh National Opera, Grimethorpe Colliery Band
The Central Band of the Royal Air Force is an RAF regular band and is part of Royal Air Force Music Services. The motto of the band is Aere Invicti.
Black Dyke Band, formerly John Foster & Son Black Dyke Mills Band, is one of the oldest and best-known brass bands in the world. The band has won many prizes and competitions over the years. In 2014, the band won the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain for a record 23rd time, and the British Open Championship for another record 30th time. They have also won the European Championships a record thirteen times, most recently in 2015.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British Orchestra and a one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony Orchestra and BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Europe: Staatskapelle Berlin
Asia: China Philharmonic Orchestra
United States: Count Basie Orchestra
Rath's international roster of endorsing trombone artists includes Bert Boeren, Jimmy Bosch, Isrea Butler, Simon Chappell (Royal Liverpool Philharmonic), Bruce Collings, Michael Dease, Wes Funderburk, Marc Godfroid, Kelsley Grant, André Hayward, Frederik Heirman, Conrad Herwig, John Higginbotham, Carol Jarvis, René Laanen, Xiaonan Li (China Philharmonic Orchestra), Shuchang Liu (China Philharmonic Orchestra), Don Lucas, Lyndon Meredith (London Philharmonic Orchestra), Lode Mertens, Kevin Morgan (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra), Mark Nightingale, Catherine Noblet, John Rojak, Dennis Rollins, Ramón Luis Serra (Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra), Rick Simerly, Alan Swain (Welsh National Opera), Robb Tooley (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra), Papo Vazquez, Csaba Wagner (Staatskapelle Berlin) and Annie Whitehead.
The bass trumpet is a type of low trumpet which was first developed during the 1820s in Germany. It is usually pitched in 8' C or 9' B♭ today, but is sometimes built in E♭ and is treated as a transposing instrument sounding either an octave, a sixth or a ninth lower than written, depending on the pitch of the instrument. Having valves and the same tubing length, the bass trumpet is quite similar to the valve trombone, although the bass trumpet has a harder, more metallic tone. Certain modern manufacturers offering 'valve trombones' and 'bass trumpets' use the same tubing, valves, and bell, in different configurations - in these cases the bass trumpet is virtually identical to the valve trombone.
James Louis Johnson was an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger.
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences.
Joseph Norman Alessi is an American classical trombonist who is currently Principal Trombone of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and a soloist, teacher/clinician and recording artist.
Antonius Philippus René Laanen is a Dutch bass trombonist. He is an artist/clinician for Michael Rath Trombones. His personal instrument is a Rath R9 with Rotax valves.
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B♭ (while the alto is pitched in the key of E♭), and written as a transposing instrument in the treble clef, sounding an octave and a major second lower than the written pitch. Modern tenor saxophones which have a high F♯ key have a range from A♭2 to E5 (concert) and are therefore pitched one octave below the soprano saxophone. People who play the tenor saxophone are known as "tenor saxophonists", "tenor sax players", or "saxophonists".
Bert Boeren is a Dutch jazz trombonist and educator.
Denis Wick is a British influential orchestral trombonist. He is also an internationally respected brass teacher and designer of brass mutes and mouthpieces. On retirement in 1989 he was awarded the International Trombone Association's annual award; he served as their president 2004-2006.
Ian Bousfield is an English musician who has held positions as Principal Trombone with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Hallé Orchestra. Also a pedagogue, Bousfield is an instructor in the music division at the Hochschule der Künste in Bern, Switzerland.
Douglas Yeo is an American bass trombonist who played in the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 2012, where he held the John Moors Cabot Bass Trombone Chair. He was also on the faculty of the New England Conservatory. In 2012 he retired from the BSO and accepted a position as professor of trombone at the Arizona State University School of Music.
John Marcellus is a trombone musician and teacher. He was Professor of Trombone at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, and past Chair of the Woodwind, Brass, and Percussion Department. In addition to his trombone teaching responsibilities at Eastman, Dr. Marcellus was the conductor of the Eastman Trombone Choir, Eastman Bionic Bones, and the trombonist with the Eastman Brass. Dr. Marcellus joined the faculty of the prestigious Eastman School in 1978, and was named the Kilbourn Professor from 1982-83. He succeeded the famous trombonist and teacher, Emory Remington, who served as Professor of Trombone at Eastman for over 50 years. Professor Marcellus retired in 2014 after 37 years at Eastman.
Bernard Rands is a British-American composer of contemporary classical music.
Emory Brace Remington (1892–1971) was a trombonist and music teacher. His unique method made him one of the most well-known and influential trombone educators in history. He was a member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1923 to 1949, and on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY from 1922 until his death in 1971.
Sebastian Fuchsberger is an Austrian musician. He is a trombonist, tenor and yodeller, and a founding member of the Austrian jazz-folk band Global Kryner.
Roger Argente is Principal Bass Trombone for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and teaches at Trinity College of Music, London.
James Edward Pugh is a trombonist, composer, and educator. He is noted as the lead trombonist with Woody Herman's Thundering Herd (1972–1976) and Chick Corea's Return to Forever Band (1977–1978). For 25 years, he worked as a freelance trombonist in New York City. In recent years, he toured and recorded with the rock group Steely Dan, is a founding member of the Graham Ashton Brass Ensemble, and is on faculty as Distinguished Professor of Jazz Trombone at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
There are many different types of trombone. The most frequently encountered trombones today are the tenor and bass, though as with other Renaissance instruments such as the recorder, the trombone has been built in every size from piccolo to contrabass.
The Georgia Brass Band was conceived by co-founders Joe Johnson and Christopher Priest in the spring of 1999. It is a traditional British brass band. The band performed its first concert in September of that year and has maintained a very busy schedule ever since. Band members are selected by audition or invitation and include some of the finest musicians in the Atlanta area.