Equipment

Part 3

Instrument Makers in USA

C. G. Conn Ltd. Abilene, Texas

In Abilene, automated production and workshop skills meet under a familiar name, as an American brass maker seeks to regain ground lost over the previous decade.

By Stephan Suter

Thoughts on the Bass Trombone

Long before modern standards took hold, bass trombones existed in many forms, raising questions that still shape orchestral writing and performance today.

By Jean Gotthold

On the Cornett and Serpent

From Pierre Trichet’s Traité des Instruments de Musique (c. 1640)

Written around 1640, Pierre Trichet’s Traité des Instruments de Musique preserves a firsthand account of the cornett and serpent in musical life and construction.

By Pierre Trichet

On Trumpets

From Pierre Trichet’s Traité des Instruments de Musique (c. 1640)

Trumpets served war, ceremony and even medicine before Trichet turned to the mute, a simple device whose purpose extended far beyond changing the sound.

By Pierre Trichet

Part 1

300 Years of the Horn

1680-1980, an attempted survey

From Versailles to Bohemia, hunting horns enter orchestral life through makers, players, early works and the Austro-Bohemian tradition.

By Peter Damm

My new developed descant double horn

Why does the ideal horn not exist? Theo Westhof designs a new descant double horn to solve tuning and tone issues—without compromise.

By Theo Westhof

Japanese painting from the 18th century

An 18th-century Okinawan scroll preserves a ceremonial procession where Chinese-derived instruments, including the rapa trumpet, marked diplomatic exchange with Japan.

By Fujio Nakayama

Part 2

The contrabass trombone

Picture and sketches, taking particularly into account the construction principles (1973)

Inside the workshop of innovation: Heinrich Thein reveals how rethinking every detail—from valves to bell—transforms the contrabass trombone into a modern orchestral instrument

By Heinrich Thein

Tower-watchmen and night-watchmen in Bohemia

From Hussite suspicion of musicians to tower signals over Bohemian towns, horns and trumpets shaped civic life, danger warnings and ritual memory.

By Vaclav Hoza

Some thoughts on the euphonium and euphonium technique

The euphonium revealed: Barrie Perrins explores its history, technique, and expressive power—making a compelling case for its place as one of brass’s most versatile solo voices.

By Barrie Perrins

Tuba and Euphonium today

A new era for low brass: Willy Kurath explores how modern tuba and euphonium design—driven by innovation and collaboration—redefines sound, technique, and solo potential.

By Willi Kurath

Part 3

Music in an American Frontier Communal Society

Aurora Colony

Aurora’s bands, chamber groups and restored instruments show how communal faith, German heritage and American public life met in sound, from parlors to parades.

By Deborah M. Olsen

Brass instrument research at Surrey University

Acoustics, materials, bore design, and player perception meet in Surrey research linking laboratory measurements with the realities of brass performance.

By John Goodwin

How to regulate the trumpet, applicable to all valve instruments

A hidden key to performance: Perinelli and Mouton reveal how precise valve regulation transforms response, intonation, and sound—down to a tenth of a millimetre.

By René Périnelli, J.-L. Mouton

Interview with Hans Pizka

From Vienna horn traditions and natural-horn training to orchestral style and pedagogy, Hans Pizka reflects on the foundations of horn playing and musical identity.

By Jeffrey Agrell

The French Hunting horn, its history, its technique and its music

Centuries-old hunting signals still shape performance today, where technique, ritual and oral tradition preserved a musical language unlike any other brass practice.

By Daniel Bourgue

Early Brass Instruments and Restoration

Restoring historic brass instruments means deciding what to preserve, what to undo and how modern methods can serve objects shaped by another musical age.

By Ursula Menzel

Bad Säckingen, Trumpet museum

A romantic legend, a remarkable private collection and Edward H. Tarr’s scholarship converged in Bad Säckingen to give the trumpet a museum of its own.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Jean-Baptiste Prin (1669-1742)

A tromba marine virtuoso

A forgotten string instrument leads to an unexpected treasury of Baroque trumpet music, challenging long-held assumptions about repertoire and performance.

By Albert Hiller

Part 2

The Trumpet in the USA

The Piston C Trumpet in American Orchestras

American orchestral trumpeters reveal how Bach C trumpets, hall acoustics and extensive modifications shaped playing traditions in major ensembles.

By Thomas Stevens

On the sensitivity of brass instruments

Cold-hammered hunting horns retain a tactile memory of sound and playing, leading Jacques Poncet to question how brass instruments evolve in use.

By Jacques Poncet

Part 3

On the early history of valves and valve instruments in Germany (1814-1833)

Herbert Heyde traces early German valve instruments from Stoelzel’s horns to basses, makers, patents, and shifting brass-band sound.

By Herbert Heyde

Part 2

Instrument Makers in USA

Schilke Music Products, Inc. Chicago

In a Chicago workshop, traditional handwork meets new bell-making methods, while Renold Schilke’s uncompromising standards shape an unusual company culture.

By Stephan Suter

Harmonics or partials?

Behind every brass note lies a compromise between acoustical theory and instrument design, as E. Ferron questions what players call a harmonic.

By Emile Ferron