Engineering:Contrabass trumpet
 Contrabass natural trumpet in E♭ built c. 1920 by Evette & Schaeffer. St Cecilia's Hall, Edinburgh | |
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| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 423.233 (Valved aerophone sounded by lip vibration) |
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The contrabass trumpet is the lowest-pitched member of the trumpet family, sounding below the bass trumpet. Only a few exist. The instrument appeared in the mid-20th century and has no orchestral or jazz repertoire.[1] Usually built in 12' F a perfect fourth below the B♭ bass trumpet, it has the same length as the F contrabass trombone, cimbasso, or tuba. Some (sometimes called the subcontrabass trumpet) are built larger in 18' B♭— an octave below the bass trumpet and two octaves below the standard B♭ trumpet.
History
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A "contrabass trumpet: in 18' B♭ played by tuba player Don Butterfield appeared in 1962 on the TV show I've Got a Secret.[3] The instrument was loaned to the show from a Claremont College University musical instrument collection, which is now at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.[4][2]
In 1967, Roger Bobo, tuba player with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, commissioned a contrabass trumpet from instrument maker George Strucel. Unhappy with the sound of the contrabass trombone in recording the Canzoni e Sonate by Gabrieli, they built an instrument in 12' F in the shape of a large bass trumpet, out of spare tubing and a bass trombone bell from the Bach factory.[5]
Tuba player Carl Kleinsteuber made four similarly configured contrabass trumpets in F in the 1990s. He made them cheaply out of spare brass instrument parts as "fun" instruments, acknowledging the absence of any known repertoire.[6]
In the early 2000s, Latvian trombonist Vairis Nartišs built four instruments in 18' B♭ which he called "subcontrabass trumpets", two of which are now in museums.[7][8]
Performance
Contrabass trumpets have not gained wide appeal, and very few instrument makers offer a contrabass trumpet today; Lars Gerdt in Sweden offers a model in F based on the Strucel/Bobo instrument.[9] Their unwieldy shape and weight can make contrabass trumpets difficult or impractical to play. The timbre from their cylindrical-bore construction, use of valves and similar range allow them to be readily substituted with a cimbasso.[5]
References
- ↑ Leeman, Dan (27 July 2020). "What In The World Is A Contrabass Trumpet?". Notestem. https://www.notestem.com/blog/contrabass-trumpet/.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 KontrabassTubaMann (25 September 2021). "r/Tuba: The Contrabass trumpet at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, AZ. Hilariously impractical and awesome.". Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Tuba/comments/puzkoo/the_contrabass_trumpet_at_the_musical_instrument/.
- ↑ Butterfield, Don (contrabass trumpet); Moore, Gary (presenter) (2016) [Recorded 21 May 1962]. I've Got a Secret - Arlene Francis hands out Emmys! (Television episode). New York: CBS Television. Segment begins at 5 min, 43 sec. Retrieved 3 August 2022 – via YouTube, cited in Leeman (2020).
- ↑ Gordon, Larry (21 April 2008). "A departure sadly noted". Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-apr-21-me-fiske21-story.html.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Bobo, Roger (16 November 2012). "Strucel Contrabass Trumpet in F". http://wwwtemp.rogerbobo.com/instruments/f_trumpet.shtml.
- ↑ Kleinsteuber, Carl (13 January 1997). "Re: Contrabass trumpet". Contrabass-L list archive. http://www.contrabass.com/contra-archive/contra75.html.
- ↑ Nartiss Latvia (2021). "Subcontrabass Trumpet Nartiss NATU711-1". Reverb. https://reverb.com/item/37199158-subcontrabass-trumpet-nartiss-natu711-1.
- ↑ Nartišs, Vairis. "Lowest Trumpet in the world: Subcontrabasstrumpet Nartišs Latvia" (in en). Showbrass.lv. http://showbrass.lv/?page=98.
- ↑ "Contra Bass Trumpet". Lars Gerdt AB. http://www.gerdt.se/EN/instruments-Contra_Bass_Trumpets.aspx.
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