What Is a Brass Instrument?
What is a brass instrument?
Before getting into the history of how brass instruments originated and developed it is necessary to be clear on what a brass instrument actually is. A brass instrument is defined as an “aerophone,” which means it is an instrument where the musician must blow air into the instrument. The musician produces the tone by buzzing the lips into what is generally a cup-shaped mouthpiece. It doesn’t mean that the instrument is necessarily made of brass, since instruments that are made of other metals, wood, horn, or even animal bone are included in the family of brass instruments. Likewise, other instruments that are made of brass or metals, such as the flute or saxophone, do not constitute members of the brass family of instruments.
History of the Trumpet 1. Time and place of origin:
Scientist believed that trumpets were being used for signaling around 2000 BC in Ancient Egypt, Greece and the Near East. It was believed that they were being used in parts of china due to a discovery of a fossilized animal horn that was carved out. Pictures of trumpets were found that date back to Mesopotamia around 2700BC. The trumpets of today have many ancestors from which they originated form. One of the oldest Non- keyed trumpets is the Alphorn. It was made of the trunk of a tree. It is best known for its big body and big sound and it is still used today in some mountainous areas. They were commonly used for herding cows, summoning communities, church, and war calls. In the seventeenth century (baroque era), the Alphorn evolved into a Natural trumpet. Natural trumpets were made of metal instead of a tree trunk. The Natural trumpet looked like a long cylindrical tube with a flared bell at the end. As years passed more responsive and better sounding trumpets arose. In the late seventeenth century, the Rotary trumpet was born. Just like the natural trumpet, this trumpet was made of metal. The rotary trumpet was used by players of this time, mainly
Before getting into the history of how brass instruments originated and developed it is necessary to be clear on what a brass instrument actually is. A brass instrument is defined as an “aerophone,” which means it is an instrument where the musician must blow air into the instrument. The musician produces the tone by buzzing the lips into what is generally a cup-shaped mouthpiece. It doesn’t mean that the instrument is necessarily made of brass, since instruments that are made of other metals, wood, horn, or even animal bone are included in the family of brass instruments. Likewise, other instruments that are made of brass or metals, such as the flute or saxophone, do not constitute members of the brass family of instruments.
History of the Trumpet 1. Time and place of origin:
Scientist believed that trumpets were being used for signaling around 2000 BC in Ancient Egypt, Greece and the Near East. It was believed that they were being used in parts of china due to a discovery of a fossilized animal horn that was carved out. Pictures of trumpets were found that date back to Mesopotamia around 2700BC. The trumpets of today have many ancestors from which they originated form. One of the oldest Non- keyed trumpets is the Alphorn. It was made of the trunk of a tree. It is best known for its big body and big sound and it is still used today in some mountainous areas. They were commonly used for herding cows, summoning communities, church, and war calls. In the seventeenth century (baroque era), the Alphorn evolved into a Natural trumpet. Natural trumpets were made of metal instead of a tree trunk. The Natural trumpet looked like a long cylindrical tube with a flared bell at the end. As years passed more responsive and better sounding trumpets arose. In the late seventeenth century, the Rotary trumpet was born. Just like the natural trumpet, this trumpet was made of metal. The rotary trumpet was used by players of this time, mainly