The Bass Trombone is unusual among all wind instruments in that the modern instrument bears no relation to its predecessor. The modern Bass Trombone is, in reality, a modified Tenor Trombone. The Tenor Trombone is pitched in B-flat – and so is the Bass. Confused yet? The original Bass Trombone was a large, ungainly instrument pitched in either G, F, or E-flat a third, fourth, or fifth below the standard Tenor Trombone. The instrument was so large that the slide had to have a handle attached to it in order for the player to reach all the way out to sixth and seventh positions. Players found this instrument tiring, and by the end of the Nineteenth Century, it had almost completely disappeared. In its place was a Tenor Trombone with a single valve attached to it. This valve lowered the fundamental pitch of the instrument, B-flat a fourth to F. In conjunction with the valve, the bore of the instrument was enlarged to be of the same proportion as that of the old Bass Trombone. The effect was a small instrument with a large bore that made the same sound as the older, larger instrument. However, there was a problem with this arrangement. Continue reading “Bass Trombone”→
This post is more of a catalog of availability than suggestions or orchestration
Horn
Straight
Stopping
Cup (rare)
Wagner Tuben
Straight
E-flat Cornet
Straight
Cup
Harmon (rare)
Plunger
Hat/derby
B-flat Cornet
Straight
Cup
Harmon
Plunger
ClearTone
Bucket
Hat/derby
Pixie (straight mute used in combination with plunger)
Alto Horn
Straight
Cup
Baritone Horn
Straight
Cup
Piccolo Trumpet
Straight
Cup
Harmon
Hat/derby
Trumpet
Straight
Cup
Harmon
Plunger
Cleartone/solotone
Bucket
Hat/derby
Pixie (straight mute used in combination with plunger)
Bass Trumpet
Straight
Cup
Harmon
Alto Trombone
Straight
Hat/derby
Tenor Trombone
Straight
Cup
Harmon
Plunger
Bucket
Cleartone/solotone
Hat/derby
Pixie (straight mute used in combination with plunger)
Bass Trombone
Straight
Cup
Harmon
Plunger
Bucket
Hat/derby
Pixie (straight mute used in combination with plunger)
Contrabass Trombone
Straight
Cimbasso
Straight
Flügelhorn
Straight
Cup
Harmon
Bucket
Solotone/cleartone
Mellophone
None
Euphonium
Straight
Bucket (rare)
Cup (rare)
Tuba (Bass and Contrabass)
Straight
Bucket (rare)
Cup (rare)
With some of the rarer instruments, like Flügelhorn, Mellophone, Alto Horn, Bass Trumpet and others, they can use mutes designed for some of the other brass instruments (in most of these cases, the Tenor Trombone).
As alluded to in my post on the trombone family, Bass Trombones used to be very different instruments than they are today. At one time, three different Bass Trombones existed, the G Bass, the F Bass, and the E-flat Bass. The F Bass was the standard instrument throughout most of Europe up until the late 1800s or early 1900s. The E-flat Bass was used primarily in German and Austrian military bands. Schoenberg used the E-flat in his massive Gurrelieder where it has a famous glissandi passage in octaves with the E-flat Alto an octave higher that cannot be done accurately on any other trombone. However, the British Empire used a very different instrument, the G Bass. No one is quite sure why the Brits preferred their instrument in G, but it was the long-standing tradition until the 1960s and 1970s. The use of an instrument in G meant that some of the lowest Bass Trombone passages, like the low C in the famous chorale in Brahms 1, could not be played on the British instrument. However, sometime in the 1920s or so, instruments featuring a valve, pitched in D, were produced, which gave the G Bass Trombone the needed notes and an extended lower range.
The G and F Bass Trombone have always been curious to me. With the revitalization of authentic performances, it would make sense that players would take these instruments up once again, but it doesn’t seem to be happening. There are plenty of good G Basses lying around, including some excellent instruments made in the 70s.
Were this instrument to be used, I would avoid notes that require the low D extension (notes below C#2). Technique is necessarily slower than either the Tenor or the Bass because the slide requires a handle to reach 6th and 7th positions.
Look at what Holst does in his Planets to see exactly how he treats the G Bass. The part lies perfectly on this instrument ranging down to its lowest note (in fact, it is the first note the part requires). Remember, Holst was a trombonist who knew the instrument well.
A demonstration of the G Bass Trombone
While doing some research on this instrument today, something I had never thought of struck me – the G Bass Trombone is really a Baritone Trombone, not quite a Tenor and not quite a Bass. Since this statement has been somewhat controversial, let me clarify what I mean.
The sound of brass instruments rely on two differing factors.
The length of the tube
The diameter and flare of the tube.
The length of the tube of the G Bass is clearly in the Bass range. However, the bore is much closer to that of the Tenor Trombone (looking strictly at modern instruments). This means that the sound of the instrument is bigger than the Tenor Trombone (modern) but smaller than the Bass Trombone (modern). This is the reason that I would call the instrument a “Baritone” Trombone. In an ensemble setting with modern instruments it would necessarily sit between the Tenor and the Bass.
And this leads me to all sorts of interesting ideas.
A group of four trombones:
Tenor Trombone
Tenor Trombone
“Baritone” Trombone
Bass Trombone
Or what about 6?
Alto Trombone
Tenor Trombone
Tenor Trombone
“Baritone” Trombone
Bass Trombone
Contrabass Trombone
Or what about a low quartet?
“Baritone” Trombone
Bass Trombone
Bass Trombone
Contrabass Trombone
Yes, the view is somewhat unorthodox, but why should we dismiss a tone color out of hand just because it isn’t common?
The traditional trombone section is comprised of three parts. Usually, this is two Tenors and one Bass. Occasionally, a fourth part is used. If a fourth part is included, it is another Tenor part. This is the standard section in an orchestra as well. In a band, there can be more than one player on a part, whereas in an orchestra it is strictly one on a part. Like I’ve said in other places, let’s use these extra players to our advantage.
The only works that I know that use Alto in a wind band setting are works from the 19th Century like Mendelssohn’s Trauermarsch. I know of no reason the Alto shouldn’t be part of a wind band setting.
1 Alto Trombone
2 Tenor Trombones
1 Bass Trombone
This would be a very easy section to form assuming you have a player that is competent on the Alto. Add to this a Contrabass, and we have a large section of five players with a huge range.
The sheer power of the trombone hit me full force when I started to study the score to the film Inception. The composer Hans Zimmer uses a trombone section of 6 Tenors and 6 Basses/Contrabass. Wow! The sound is immense, powerful, and frightening! I can imagine this sound in a band, and I like it.
We can think of a think of a large band section like this:
1 Alto Trombone
4 Tenor Trombones
2 Bass Trombones
1 Contrabass Trombone
This will give us a full section of 8 players. Doublings are not needed here, but one might be made for the Contrabass player and have them take up a Bass or Tenor to save them from tiring from this exhausting instrument. Very rarely does a Contrabass player play the Contrabass instrument for the entirety of a concert or work. The Alto player might also take up the Tenor if needed.
I leave out the Soprano Trombone from the section, as I find it rather useless in the context of a trombone ensemble. Its small sound won’t make an impact against a mass of Tenors and Basses. Even the Alto has a small sound that might not cut through the mass.
The eight member ensemble can be both powerful and solemn at the same time. Go listen to some trombone choir music, and you can hear the possibilities available from this majestic instrument. In harmony, we get the majestic solemnity, in unison, we get the tremendous power.
A Bruckner chorale for 8 trombones (Tenor, Bass, and Contrabass).
Excerpts from Strauss’ Alpensymphonie for 10 trombones (Tenor, Bass, and Contrabass).
Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor for Trombones (Tenor and Bass)
The trombone is unique among wind instruments in that its method of tone production is not through keys or valves, but by means of a slide. This fact is of course obvious to anyone who has everseen a trombone in action before. In fact, how often have we heard it called a “slide trombone?” Historically, the trombone is an old instrument, and on little changed since the 1400s. In those six centuries the only changes to the instrument we’ve seen are the widening of the bore and bell and the addition of a valve or two to aid technique. Due to its use of a slide, the trombone was the first fully chromatic brass instrument, and it held its position as the only chromatic brass until the early 1800s when the valve was invented (here I discount extinct lineages such as serpents, keyed bugles, and ophicleides, that, while chromatic have no bearing on modern brass writing). However, it is curious that this sole chromatic brass was only reluctantly added to the orchestra. Its primary role was to reinforce choirs. A group of trombones would play along with each of the vocal lines to ensure the pitch of the singers. As such, up until around 1800 the instrument was thought of as only a church instrument. The idea of a trombone being used for sacred music might come as a shock to those of us who only know the instrument in its modern usage: a loud, brash, and sometimes overbearing presence. An interesting thing to keep in mind is that the name trombone in Italian literally means “big trumpet.” The -one ending means big (therefore a Clarone is a Bass Clarinet and a Violone is a big Viola or as we would call it a Double Bass). This connection between trumpet and trombone is important because sound-wise they are identical. They are both cylindrical bore cup-shaped mouthpiece brass instruments (the only ones that fit this description in fact) and therefore form a cohesive family. The trombone family has not changed much over the years. The extreme ends (Soprano and Contrabass) are known to have been in existence for nearly as long of the other members of the family.
Range Notes
Unlike the other instruments, I’ve included range charts that contain every note playable on these instruments. When I use the term standard range, I refer to the non-pedal ranges. With the Alto and Tenor Trombones, I do note include valve notes in the standard range because not every Alto or Tenor Trombone will have a valve. Note, with the addition of valves, the number of positions is reduced by one (so that with both valves depressed a Bass Trombone has only 5 positions and an F Contrabass only has 4 positions).
