Posted by Interesting compari- on March 10, 2004 at 21:30:55:
In Reply to: Re: CC helicon ID? posted by goodgigs on March 10, 2004 at 15:47:29:
son which escaped me, even if I had seen the Distin, which you point to.
However a US service tubaist stationed in Europe (he will out himself if necessary) privately gave me an even more promising hint.
He happens to own an Eb 3 piston helicon, a photo of which I have uploaded to my galleries at the link given below here.
That helicon happens to have a 3rd valve wrap very similar to the BBb one I asked about. Actually a similarity so striking, that I am fairly convinced to have been pointed to the right answer.
Another very interesting feature of that Eb helicon is its economy of tubing before hitting the not too common full circle main tubing of Eb sousaphones/helicons, of which King has been a main representative.
If I should strike a tangent to the main thread, then I would mention the hand forged stay between the main circle and the bell of the Eb Lebrun helicon.
To me it is strikingly similar to the equivalent stays found on several brasses coming out of the several Markneukirchen makers, which all drew and draw on the same sub-contractors.
The Belgian-Saxonian-(and even Czech and Dutch) axis is not an obvious one, but there have been many common design traits to be found in especially the general outline as well as in the bell profiles of the top-piston tenor and baritone brasses from these areas. Not that these brasses are musically interesting, as they all are extremely hard to play in tune.
That makes me think of the fact, that not only did the Markneukirchen makers draw on the same sources for bells, valve sets, and more components. So did at least one or two brass makers in my own country (definitely I. K. Gottfried, but possibly also the Schmidt of Copenhagen company, which folded shortly after WWII).
The influential role of the brass instrument makers on both sides of the Czech-German border hardly can be overemphasised. If every single brass player may like that influence or not is a quite different matter.
Personally I love their rotary instruments and loathe their pre-wall-fall piston instruments.
Klaus Bjerre of Denmark
Retired teacher
Free music files in .pdf format:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/YorkMasterBBb/
(Approved membership required)
Index over brass instruments gallery and catalogue scans:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/YorkMasterPublicPhotosIII/files/
(Membership is open for all)