Posted by Klaus on April 20, 2001 at 03:53:28:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: German F syndrome posted by Sven Bring on April 20, 2001 at 01:24:00:
With traditional German tuba-architecture there is a need for a long leadpipe. But withind the last 6 or 7 years one of the larger makers (Anton Meinl?) made a rotary Kontrabaß tuba for the tubist of the Berliner Philharmonikern. This tuba had a very short leadpipe joining a very tilted valve cluster.
In the trumpet world some tendencies have gone in the opposite direction.
The German rotary trumpet in its traditional configuration has a very short and almost cylindrical leadpipe joining the valve cluster in the middle of the first of three branches. This set-up has been thought to be the reason for some, at least alledged, inflexibility of the German trumpet.
To remedy this different approaches have been applied. An Austrian maker gives his trumpets a shorter, more curled form, with the valve cluster in the 3rd of 5 branches. A North German maker places the valves in the middle of the second branch, which is off-set so that it is very close to the 1st branch, with the purpose that the paddles can have their traditionalt placement.
Another approach was taken by Scherzer of Markneukirchen, who placed the rotary valves in the middle of the 2nd branch like known from piston trumpets. The trumpet even is held and played like a piston trumpet. The valves are activated by finger buttons placed directly at the ends of the lever rods.
I have a specimen of the traditional German trumpet as well as one of the mentioned Scherzer model. The latter is the best, but I guess it would have been so disregarding the design, as the craftmanship and the choice of materials is at an unusual level.
Partially digressing, but with the intend to tell that traditional designs, should not put the brake on inventive thinking.
Klaus