{"id":2078,"date":"2016-04-20T17:58:13","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T21:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musikalessons.com\/blog\/?p=2078"},"modified":"2023-01-25T16:09:10","modified_gmt":"2023-01-25T21:09:10","slug":"the-bass-trumpet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musikalessons.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/the-bass-trumpet\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bass Trumpet- A Brief Overview"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bass Trumpet
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Where it came from and where it is now<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Richard<\/a>
Richard Wagner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The composer who wrote a 16-hour opera cycle and dreamed up the black sheep of the tuba family (the Wagner Tuba) has contributed more to the low brass world than you think.<\/p>\n

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Wagner also helped propagate the development of the Bass Trumpet, for better or for worse.<\/p>\n

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Maybe you already knew this and maybe you didn\u2019t—either way, few instruments share a background as murky as the Bass Trumpet, and even fewer suffer as much confusion in the modern era as to how and where it should be played. The bass trumpet didn\u2019t start with Wagner, and it didn\u2019t end with him either; let\u2019s try to shed some light on the subject.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat is a Bass Trumpet?\u201d The Basics<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The bass trumpet is fairly self-explanatory; it is a trumpet set a sixth, ninth, or an octave below a traditional trumpet. The determining factor is which key the bass trumpet is set in—the bass trumpet is most often made in C or B\u266d, and every once in a while you will see an E\u266d bass trumpet. Most professional orchestral bass trumpets come in the key of C.<\/p>\n

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\"the<\/a>
Bb Bass Trumpet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As an example, the B\u266d bass trumpet is set an octave below the normal \u201csoprano\u201d B\u266d trumpet.<\/p>\n

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The B\u266d bass trumpet usually comes with three valves, whereas the C bass trumpet commonly has four. This allows the C to dip slightly lower in the range—down to a D below the bass clef. The mouthpiece is larger than a trumpet mouthpiece, but it is still smaller than a trombone\u2019s; therefore, trombone players are most often charged with performing the bass trumpet parts in orchestral literature.<\/p>\n

\"C<\/a>
C Bass Trumpet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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You may notice some strong similarities in sound between the bass trumpet and the valve trombone, but think of the bass trumpet as having a harder tone (it really is a trumpet, just down an octave or two!). The confusion between the two can also be blamed on some modern instrument manufacturers who make versions of the bass trumpet that are nothing more than valve trombone tubing bent in a different shape.<\/p>\n

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Think of it this way: if you buy a cheap model of a bass trumpet, you are likely getting a re-fitted valve trombone (and there isn\u2019t necessarily anything wrong with that).<\/p>\n

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The Bass Trumpet\u2019s Origins<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While the modern bass trumpet bears closer resemblance to the valved bass trumpets being invented in Germany in the 1820s, Anthony Baines brings up an interesting discussion of natural bass trumpets in his book, Brass Instruments: Their History and Development<\/em><\/a>. According to Baines, Prussian cavalry—and military bands altogether—used 9 foot B\u266d bass trumpets to round out the bottom end of the ensemble. Furthermore, there was usually a 13 foot bass trumpet in E\u266d that didn\u2019t see as much action on the score, but it was present nonetheless. These instruments were looped—we aren\u2019t talking about 9 and 13 foot herald-style trumpets.<\/p>\n

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The inventive spirit within the brass community accelerated towards the end of the 18th century, and by 1814 Heinrich St\u00f6lzel had invented (or invented at least one important version) of valves on a horn. The Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung<\/em><\/a> reported in 1821 a performance using St\u00f6lzel\u2019s Chromatische Tenor-trompetenbass<\/a>—what we would refer to as the \u201cbass trumpet.\u201d It is safe to say that these are the origins of the bass (also known as \u201ctenor\u201d) trumpet with valves, and it is this set of instruments that so inspired Richard Wagner to write for them.<\/p>\n

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Orchestras and the Bass Trumpet<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Anthony Baines writes, \u201cDeep trumpets of the above kinds would not have escaped Wagner\u2019s keen eye in course of his not infrequent dealings with military bands.\u201d As a result, the bass trumpet soon became the figure of Wagner\u2019s imagination. By the time Wagner immersed himself in the composition of Der Ring Des Nibelungen <\/em>(throughout the 1850s), the bass trumpet would have been fairly well known in Europe. The bass trumpet had emerged at the perfect time; Wagner\u2019s wide use of the leitmotif <\/a>demanded both unique instrumentation and uncommon sounds to get the desired result.<\/p>\n

\"Orchestra<\/a>
Orchestra Pit at Bayreuth, Wagner’s Opera House. The first complete performance of the entire Ring Cycle was performed there between August 13th and August 17th 1876.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wagner ordered a custom bass trumpet from famous instrument maker Johann Gottfried Moritz<\/a>, and a horn in the key of C, with A and B\u266d crooks supplied. Wagner had actually wanted to use one of the preexisting bass trumpets for the opening of Das Rheingold<\/em>, but the part simply went too high.<\/p>\n

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Around the time that Moritz sent his bass trumpet to Wagner in Munich, Alexander<\/a> started offering a similar alternative, only his looked and sounded more like a bigger version of the traditional trumpet (Moritz’s looked similar to the modern marching baritone). While opera houses of the mid to late 19th century used both the Moritz and Alexander models interchangeably, modern bass trumpets follow the Alexander tradition more closely than Moritz\u2019s style.<\/p>\n

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Probably due to Wagner\u2019s influence, composers like Stravinsky, Janacek, and Schoenberg began to write works with bass trumpet parts; other than Wagner\u2019s Ring Cycle<\/em>, the Rite of Spring<\/em> by Stravinsky is the most well-known work to use the bass trumpet. Schoenberg\u2019s Gurre-Lieder—one of his few tonal romantic works—may be the most challenging work in the orchestral bass trumpet repertoire.<\/p>\n

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Some tips for the lucky bass trumpet player in the Wagner: “It’s best to use a C bass trumpet for Wagner, as you play with trumpets more than the low brass,\u201d said Bach-Conn-Selmer Trombone Artist Dr. David Begnoche<\/a>. \u201cThe low brass use C, but fingerings are different, and intonation is always a challenge even on the best bass trumpet.”<\/p>\n

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Bass Trumpet and Its Use in Jazz<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cy Touff<\/a> was a pioneer in bringing the bass trumpet to jazz music—up until that point, the role was filled primarily by valve trombone. Elliot Mason of Wynton Marsalis\u2019 band at Lincoln Center is well known for his use of the bass trumpet, and Rashawn Ross has recorded with the bass trumpet as well. Ross is known for his studio work and his tenure with the Dave Matthews Band.<\/p>\n

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For a better idea of how the bass trumpet sounds in jazz, watch this video of Cy Touff in his Octet and Quintet CD.<\/p>\n