Instrument making

Leloir, Edmond

The trombone with 6 independent valves

Technical analysis of the trombone with six independent valves, examining its mechanics, extended range and potential for new repertoire.

Lelong, Fernand · Coutet, Robert

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.

Westhof, Theo

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.

Mende, Emilie

The tuba, Benjamin of the brass family

Where does the tuba come from? From serpent to ophicleide to saxhorns, this article traces a lesser-known path to the modern instrument.

Thein, Heinrich

The contrabass trombone

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

From Praetorius to Wagner: Heinrich Thein traces the evolution of the contrabass trombone—revealing how history, acoustics, and design shaped this powerful orchestral voice.

Kurath, Willi

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.

Thein, Heinrich

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

Heyde, Herbert

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

At the origin of modern brass: Herbert Heyde uncovers the true story of valve invention—revealing rivalries, experiments, and the breakthrough that transformed musical history.

Heyde, Herbert

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

From invention to rivalry: the early history of rotary and piston valves reveals a battle of ideas, patents, and craftsmanship that transformed brass instruments forever.

Mathez, Jean-Pierre

Frankfurt Special 1979

Music Fair

Jean-Pierre Mathez surveys the Frankfurt Music Fair, tracing makers, markets and competition, and outlining a brass landscape shaped by adjustment rather than innovation.

Mathez, Jean-Pierre

Renold Schilke at Frankfurt

Interview

Jean-Pierre Mathez reports on Renold Schilke’s views at Frankfurt, addressing fair organisation, maker–musician collaboration, and shifting market dynamics shaped by demand and quality criteria.

Bloch, Colin

The bell-tuning trumpet

Colin Bloch examines bell- and slide-tuned trumpets, comparing intonation patterns through controlled tests and outlining structural causes behind observed deviations.

Heyde, Herbert

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.

Heyde, Herbert

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

Poverty, patents and workshop rivalries shaped the first German valve instruments, from Blühmel and Stoelzel to the Vienna and Mainz systems.

Poncet, Jacques

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.

Stevens, Thomas

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.

Stevens, Thomas

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.

Schmidt, Werner Christoph

Five generations of mouthpiece specialists

From Höchstädt to Markneukirchen and beyond, five generations of Schmidts shaped brass mouthpiece design through craft, anatomy and evolving orchestral demands.

Limmer, Rudolf

Brass instruments from the musical town of Graslitz

From 18th-century Graslitz to postwar Bavaria, brass makers rebuilt a vanished musical industry around Miraphone, preserving craft through exile and industrial change.

Manzora, Boris G.

The double-slide trombone

museum-piece with a future?

As virtuosity reshaped 20th-century brass playing, Boris G. Manzora argued that the forgotten double-slide trombone could redefine technique and range.

Haine, M. · De Keyser, I.

The stamps on Sax instruments

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

Ferron, Emile

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.

Damm, Peter

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.

Lister, Richard

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.

Ferron, Emile

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.

Ferron, Emile

Instrument Making and the Ear

From hearing physiology to workshop testing, E. Ferron links instrument design, acoustics and perception, where no two ears judge sound in quite the same way.

Reifsnyder, Robert

The Euphonium in America

A Short History

Euphonium terminology, bore sizes, and band instrumentation shifted across Europe and America, from Sax and Conn to Gilmore, Sousa, and Fennell.

Goodwin, John

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.

Weiner, Howard

The trombone: changing times, changing slide positions

From Virgiliano to Praetorius and Eisel, early sources reshape long-held assumptions about trombone tuning, slide positions and historical playing practice.

Jeurissen, Herman

The Midwinter Horn

De Midwinterhoorn

A Christmas horn tradition from eastern Netherlands preserves ancient construction, ritual and performance, linking rural practice with Leopold Mozart's Sinfonia pastorella.

Bowsher, J. M. · Watkinson, P. S.

Manufacturers' Opinions about Brass Instruments

Between workshop lore and acoustic certainty, brass makers’ claims expose a restless debate over metal, finish, resonance, and playing quality.

Mathez, Jean-Pierre

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.

Menzel, Ursula

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.

Mathez, Jean-Pierre

Yamaha, an ambitious giant

Behind the rise of a future industrial giant lies an unexpected lesson in craftsmanship, cultural exchange and the discipline that reshaped wind instrument making.

Hirsbrunner, Peter

The history of the big York-Hirsbrunner Tuba

The instrument maker's point of view

A legendary orchestral tuba became the starting point for rethinking how craftsmanship, industrial methods and musical results rarely follow the same path.

Weston, Stephen J.

The untimely demise of the ophicleide

Once central to French orchestras, the ophicleide lost its place to the tuba—a disappearance shaped as much by institutions and repertoire as by sound.