Well, you're right if you assume a professional setting. But in the
vast musical world which encompasses trombones, are there more
professional organizations or amateur organizations? In professional
groups, yes, they will insist on the instrument named in the score, if
such an instrument is clearly named. They'll hire somebody especially
to play that instrument if they need to.
But amateur groups won't. They'll use what forces they have at hand, so
a bass trombone part may well be played on a small-bore tenor with an f
attachment.
So it all depends -- my experiences are mostly with amateur groups,
which is why I made the remarks. And some paid-per-service groups may
well have to adapt to the forces available rather than being able to
hire specifically for one instrument for one work.
That's what I was referring to -- how many orchestras play Beethoven's
symphonies which have trombone parts on instruments bearing much
resemblance to the trombones he had in mind? Bore sizes have changed
dramatically, but we still play his symphonies with our modern huge-bore
(comparatively) trombones and don't give it a second thought.
If you are writing for a specific ensemble or can guarantee that your
music will only be played by professional organizations which will have
the correct instrumental forces, there's no worry. But not many of us
have that luxury.
David H. Bailey
Don Hart wrote:
Hi David,
I'm not sure what the specific situations are that limit your expectations,
but in a professional setting I expect the nomenclature to be adhered to, or
that someone will notify me of a needed change. When I write for bass trbn
I have a fairly particular sound in mind: that resonant, fat sound that is
only really achieved with a large bore instrument. Substituting a large
bore tenor like the 88H will change the texture of the score, at least to
some degree. Use my Selmer with it's stuffy little F-attachment, and all
bets are off.
The more specific a requested sound or style (especially if exposed or
featured) and the further it is from a perceived norm, the more specific the
attempt should be in specifying the desired instrument and/or player. In
studio work this sometimes necessitates discussing personnel with the
contractor, making sure he and the player(s) know what is needed. I've also
called players directly, when I know who has been booked, to check their
comfort level with something I have in mind.
I feel like there is a perceived norm for bass trbn when I ask for it, but
contrabass trbn seems to be much more specialized, though that may be due to
the fact that I haven't written for CBT and don't know of one locally.
Don Hart
on 6/24/06 6:57 AM, dhbailey at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Christopher Smith wrote:
On Jun 23, 2006, at 5:16 PM, John Howell wrote:
At 4:42 PM -0400 6/23/06, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
In a message dated 6/23/06 3:27:17 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
1. The only modern contrabass trombone I've EVER heard of is in
BB-flat,
though some today add an F trigger. Both of these are an octave
lower than
the tenor-bass instrument used today, regardless of its boresize.
Actually, Mirafone makes one that is pitched in F.
Gentlemen, we are arguing semantics, and my only concern is with sound.
Actually, nomenclature is very important when specifying instruments for
a score, which is what we all do here.
So yes, it is helpful to know what instrument will be used when we
specify bass trombone or contrabass trombone.
But even if we use the nomenclature that we think is clear, we still
don't know what instrument will be used when we specify bass trombone or
contrabass trombone.
Many people play bass trombone parts on large-bore tenor trombones with
f-attachments, while many others play them on trombones with F and D
attachments (did I get that second one right?) which have larger bores
and give a fatter sound.
But specifying Bass Trombone only guarantees that you might get an
instrument with an F-attachment -- I've even seen those parts played on
obvious tenor trombones even without particularly large bores but with F
attachments to enable them to get the lower notes. Not great tone, but
the pitches were there. Not the sound the composer had in mind, I'm sure.
Specify contrabass trombone and you may get a tuba playing the part.
The musicians playing the parts will determine what instrument plays
that part, not the nomenclature we put on it.
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