Select a title to expand the section:
The three-hole system was developed on a coiled trumpet by Walter Holy (Cologne, c.1958), with the woodwind instrument maker Otto Steinkopf (1904–1980) and the brass instrument maker Helmut Finke (1923–2009). The four-hole system was developed by Michael Laird (London, c.1970) on a trumpet in the common (twice-wound) format. Michael Laird (b.1942) had studied with Walter Holy (1921–2006) in Cologne in 1963.
In lieu of printing static names and contact details on p. 12 of 'Just' Natural Trumpet, I decided to offer the details of instrument makers as an updatable online resource.
This is certainly not an exhaustive list, as I have not had the opportunity to try instruments by every maker. These are the makers that I can recommend from my own first-hand experience. These craftspersons make (or made) replicas of museum-worthy instruments using historically informed methods.
A short video will be added in the near future.
Russell Gilmour wrote 'focus on the bigger picture rather than on small imperfections'. The following advice from Michael Laird, from personal correspondence in 2022, is applicable here.
Michael Laird (2022): ‘I always aimed for perfection when I was a trumpet player but I never achieved it. Perfection isn’t so important to me … it’s like looking at a Van Gogh painting under a microscope and analysing all the brushstrokes: you lose the overall picture’.
In the Preface (p. 2) I explained that 'I specifically wanted to avoid devising new studies' in 'Just' Natural Trumpet 'in order to separate what is historical from what is modern'. Since these lip-trill exercises are modern, they are provided only as a subsidiary online resource.
Included in the PDF Resource Pack for 'Just' Natural Trumpet (scroll to the bottom of this page).
Bendinelli began his method by showing the range of the trumpet in F major. This transcription is mentioned on p. 50 of 'Just' Natural Trumpet.
Included in the PDF Resource Pack for 'Just' Natural Trumpet (scroll to the bottom of this page).
Lully’s opera Alceste was performed at the Palace of Versailles in 1674. Instrumental groups are visible on both sides of the stage in an engraving by Jean Le Pautre, which is available to view on the website of the Minneapolis Institute of Art: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/76097/the-fetes-of-1674-jean-le-pautre.
Included in the PDF Resource Pack for 'Just' Natural Trumpet (scroll to the bottom of this page).
Practise this simplified version of bars 18–19 from Ex. 62 (Intrada from Deutschland grünt und blüht im Friede [TWV 12:1C] by Georg Philipp Telemann). See p. 154 of 'Just' Natural Trumpet for the musical example. This practise suggestion is described on p. 156.
Simplification of bars 18–19 from Ex. 62
Included in the PDF Resource Pack for 'Just' Natural Trumpet (scroll to the bottom of this page).
Tartini (1771) trans. Babitz (1956), pp. 100–1 [Ital. orig. p. 39] wrote a number of examples of cadenzas in C major which happen to fall within the harmonic series: they are therefore (theoretically) playable on the natural trumpet.
A video about the history of the English slide trumpet can be viewed here:
List, compiled by Russell Gilmour, of trumpet-related knots from The Ashley Book of Knots, Ashley (1944) ed. Budworth (1993):
p. 100: ‘597. A Trumpet Cord or Double Monkey Chain Lanyard Knot.’
p. 246: ‘1374. […] a common Monkey Chain, … is sometimes called Single Trumpet Cord.’
p. 246: ‘1375. Double Trumpet Cord Turk’s-Head [based on #2871].’
p. 261: ‘1429. […] the Carrick Bend … is often seen in trumpet cords and in military braids.’
p. 374: ‘The knots of the next few pages may be… employed as Terminal Knots on lanyards, trumpet cords, etc. A few of these knots are original … and several are from trumpet cords and military uniforms.’
p. 472: ‘2868. Chain Sinnet, also called monkey chain, monkey braid, single trumpet cord, single bugle cord, chain stitch, crochet stitch, and chain braid. This is one of the most universal of sinnets, and is employed for a variety of domestic purposes. It is often found in gold on dress uniforms.’
p. 472: ‘2871. Chain Sinnet, doubled, is called “trumpet cord”; sometimes it is called “double trumpet cord.”
p. 472: ‘2872. Trumpet cord may be tucked through triple loops if desired, which produces a larger but no handsomer cord.’
p. 473: ‘2873. […] closely approximates French Sinnet and that will make a very handsome trumpet cord.’
p. 485: ‘2950. Twist braid, sometimes called trumpet cord and bugle cord.’
p. 546: ‘3442. Common, plain or ordinary whipping’.
Monteverdi (1607), Cazzati (1665), Mattheson (1713), and J. E. Altenburg (1795) explained that the mute raises the pitch of the trumpet by a tone. Fantini (1638) trans. Tarr (2009), p. 8 [Ital. orig. p. 6], wrote ‘when the trumpet is muted, one must play in D’ and J. E. Altenburg (1795) trans. Tarr (1974), p. 85 [Ger. orig. p. 86], explained that the mute raises the trumpet’s pitch ‘by a whole tone, if it is properly turned’ (i.e. produced on a lathe). However, modern practical experiments with mutes, based on the proportions of extant seventeenth- and eighteenth-century examples, have produced a transposition of only a semitone. This is a quandary, especially considering the consistency and provenance of the aforementioned reports. Further research and experimentation is required in this area; I will continue by offering an expedient modern solution. Today, trumpeters generally use a crook in addition to a semitone-transposing mute to contrive a transposition of a whole tone. For example, to achieve a muted sound in the key of D, we take an open trumpet in D and use a semitone crook to extend it to an open trumpet in D♭: inserting the semitone-transposing mute raises the trumpet’s pitch back to D. I know of no evidence to suggest that this is what was done historically, though the existence of tuning shanks (albeit for tuning the trumpet to various organs) is confirmed by Adler (1758) cited in Haynes (2002), p. 204: ‘a musician needs always to carry a number of shanks in his pocket, besides his trumpet, if he has to play in different churches’, so perhaps retuning was also required when playing with a mute.
In addition to those mentioned on the Acknowledgements page in 'Just' Natural Trumpet, the author wishes (with apologies for any omissions) to thank the following:
Laura Agut, Christian Ahrens, Christian Barraclough, Paul Beniston, Brian Berryman, David Blackadder, Murray Campbell, Fabio da Cataldo, Alexander Chance, Terence Charlston, Kate Clark, Igino Conforzi, Adrian Downey, Peter Downey, Rupprecht Drees, Leo Duarte, Martin Eybl, Ben Fullbrook, Alexander Gergelyfi, David Gilmour, Janet Gilmour, Josephine Gilmour, Kirby Haugland, Julia Hebecker, Gavin Henderson, Gareth Hoddinott, Michelle Holman, Peter Holman, Leo Howard, Henry Howey, Sam Kinrade, Michael Laird, Katie Lodge, Jennifer Lowe, Jean-François Madeuf, Domen Marinčič, Amanda Markwick, Katie McClaughry, Manu Mellaerts, Michael Mullen, Graham Nicholson, Klaus Pantle, Andrew Parrott, Johann Plietzsch, Robert Rawson, Andreas Roloff, Stephen Rose, Jaroslav Roucek, Christophe Rousset, William Russell, Alexandra Schebesta, Thorsten Schlepphorst, Alexander Schneider, Jonathan Sells, David Staff, Crispian Steele-Perkins, Linton Stephens, Swallowtail Print, Edward Tarr, Niels Tilma, David Todd, Sieuwert Verster, David Vickers, Oliver Webber (editor), Niranjan Wijewickrema, Zachary Wilder, Adam Wood, Adrian Woodward, Adam Woolf, Kris Worsley, Nick Wright, & Mikołaj Zgółka.
'Just' Natural Trumpet does not accept responsibility for the content of external websites or embedded videos. The author has provided these online resources so that they can be periodically updated; the author reserves the right to revise (or withdraw) any of these sections without prior notice.