Equipment

Some observation prompted by H. Baumann: Which Horn for which Music

Commentary responding to H. Baumann’s article (BB 3), offering critical observations and contributing to the ongoing debate on horn playing.

By Harold Meek

I myself have formed this instrument

“Forming” the instrument? A dangerous illusion. This article debunks the myth: the instrument cannot be shaped — it is the player who must adapt.

By Robert Ischer

Václav F. Cerveny (1819-1896)

Famous instrument maker

A pioneer of brass design: V. F. Červený shaped modern wind instruments—challenging Adolphe Sax and defining the rich sound of the Austrian school.

By Vaclav Hoza

The universal trumpet of Gabriele Cassone

Baroque instruments, Berio and neglected Italian music meet in Cassone’s unusually broad conception of what a modern trumpeter can be.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Part 2

300 Years of the Horn

in the Dresden Court Orchestra

From Dresden’s court musicians to Hampel’s hand-horn technique, virtuoso players and court repertoire shaped a decisive shift in horn playing and orchestral writing.

By Peter Damm

The stamps on Sax instruments

Sax instrument stamps reveal makers, addresses, patents and distinctions, giving collectors concrete clues for dating instruments across three generations.

By M. Haine, I. De Keyser

The Measurement of Mouthpiece Pressure

Objective measurements on trumpet players challenge common beliefs about mouthpiece pressure, showing stable individual patterns across pitch, dynamics and playing level.

By P. Kenny, John Davies

The alto trombone and contemporary concepts of trombone timbre

Alto trombone timbre from Vienna to Brahms, orchestral balance, period practice, and why bright brass sounds gradually disappeared.

By William E. Runyan

Editorial

Behind a musician’s instrument lies a quiet industrial battle, as European, American and Japanese makers compete to shape the future of brass playing.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

On the sensitivity of brass instruments

Metal, pressure nodes and temperature shifts shape response, timbre and tuning, as Emile Ferron links instrument acoustics to the player’s imprint.

By Emile Ferron

The Trumpet

An exhibition at the Trumpeter's Castel in Bad Säckingen

Natural trumpets from Verona, Nürnberg and Vienna framed a 1979 gathering in Säckingen linking Baroque practice, collecting culture and modern playing.

By Kurt Janetzky

The trombone: changing times, changing slide positions

Did trombonists always use seven positions? Heinrich Huber reveals how history, theory and early music reshaped the slide.

By Heinrich Huber

Part 2

The Baroque trumpet, the high trumpet and the so-called Bach trumpet

Continuation of Edward H. Tarr’s study on the Baroque trumpet, examining the high trumpet and further clarifying the concept of the “Bach trumpet.”

By Edward H. Tarr

Science in the service of music

Interview with René Périnelli

Where trumpet teaching once relied on intuition, René Périnelli and Jean-Jacques Greffin brought physiology, medical imaging and science into daily practice.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Editorial

A wealth of Baroque music lies dormant in libraries, caught between historical instrument names, technical demands, and the competing claims of horn and trumpet players.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

The Pitch Finder

A 1980 attempt to make trumpet intonation mechanical shifts familiar pitch corrections from the embouchure to the fingers, with striking consequences for playing.

By Jack Holland

Part 5

Instrument Makers in USA

S. W. Lewis Orchestral Horns

For Steven Lewis, building a horn begins with playing it: craftsmanship, acoustic compromise and observation shape instruments made for musicians rather than theory.

By Stephan Suter

Mouthpiece pressure in Horn Playing

Graduation project in technical method

Long before sensors entered the practice room, one horn student measured embouchure pressure by hand, challenging assumptions that still shape brass pedagogy.

By Edgar Bürger

Part 3

The Haydn Trumpet Concerto

Haydn’s trumpet concerto becomes a study of manuscript detail, performance choices, and the fragile ways listeners receive a familiar work.

By Alfred Willener

The tuba in France

How did the tuba emerge as an orchestral force? Fernand Lelong and Robert Coutet trace its path—from serpent to Sax—and its rapid rise.

By Fernand Lelong, Robert Coutet

Part 3

The Trumpet in the USA

Gadgets I

From Schilke soundposts to piccolo trumpet extensions, American performers turned technical frustrations into specialized tools for modern playing.

By Thomas Stevens

The contrabass sackbut

a modern copy

A reconstructed 17th-century contrabass sackbut revives forgotten low brass practice, from Venetian polychoral music to modern performance challenges.

By Richard Lister

The lead trumpet player

A survey of training, practice and equipment

Article on lead trumpet playing, covering training, practice methods and equipment for achieving accuracy, endurance and style.

By John Harding

Reminiscence of trombonists of the past

Echoes of the past: Werner Beyer traces great trombonists from the 17th century to Wagner’s era—revealing how tradition, players, and instruments shaped the modern orchestra.

By Werner Beyer