Helicon (musical Instrument)
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Helicon (musical Instrument)
The helicon is a brass musical instrument in the tuba family. Most are B basses, but they also commonly exist in E, F, and tenor sizes, as well as other types to a lesser extent. The sousaphone is a specialized version of the helicon. The first sousaphone, a non-production prototype made by J. W. Pepper & Son, Inc., had an upright bell, hence the nickname "rain catcher" because of its shape. Later production versions differ primarily in two ways: a bell shaped to face forward with a larger flare and a bell diameter of , and a "goose-neck" leadpipe which offers greater adjustability of mouthpiece position at the expense of tone quality. Both the sousaphone and helicon have a wide and roughly-circular shape leaving a large empty area in the center, and are designed to be worn around the player's body, with the inside of the coil resting on the shoulder. The instrument is very popular in Central and Eastern Europe and is a common instrument for a military band and a mounted band. I ...
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Wind Instrument
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of the effective length of the vibrating column of air. In the case of some wind instruments, sound is produced by blowing through a reed; others require buzzing into a metal mouthpiece, while yet others require the player to blow into a hole at an edge, which splits the air column and creates the sound. Methods for obtaining different notes * Using different air columns for different tones, such as in the pan flute. These instruments can play several notes at once. * Changing the length of the vibrating air column by changing the length of the tube through engaging valves ''(see rotary valve, piston valve)'' which route the air through additional tubing ...
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Military Band
A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the title of Bandmaster or Director of Music. Ottoman military bands are thought to be the oldest variety of military marching bands in the world, dating from the 13th century. The military band is capable of playing ceremonial and marching music, including the national anthems and patriotic songs of not only their own nation but others as well, both while stationary and as a marching band. Military bands also play a part in military funeral ceremonies. There are two types of historical traditions in military bands. The first is military field music. This type of music includes bugles (or other natural instruments such as natural trumpets or natural horns), bagpipes, or fifes and almost always drums. This type of music was used to control troo ...
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Soprano Helicon
The soprano helicon (in E) is a coiled brass instrument from the helicon family. The design of the modern soprano helicon takes acoustical advantage of the helicon's easy blowing, but is not simply another circular petite bugle or soprano cornet. The helicon clearly has a larger bore and wider tapered conical tube with a large bell for the instrument of its size. The pitch of E4 was deliberately chosen, so that musicians can easily play the soprano line within the middle register of the instrument going mostly up to G5. E4 was also chosen for its open and piercing nature within the pitched bass winds since it was intended for the Soprano helicon to become a first and leading voice of the family (speaking in terminology of the band, taking the role of 1st Flugelhorn or 1st Cornet and not the role of Petite Bugle, or Soprano Cornet). The crew of Melton’s Development Department, led by Ferdinand Kleinschmidt and Andreas Gambs made the first prototype in the beginning of May 20 ...
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Meinl-Weston
Meinl-Weston is a leading manufacturer of brass instruments, based in Geretsried in Germany and formerly based in Graslitz. Their main brands are Melton and Meinl Weston, with current instruments bearing both logos. Despite the engraving ''A Division of Getzen'' which appears on some instruments sold in the United States, the company remains family owned and operated. In 1991, Gerhard Meinl helped found the TA Musik group to take over Vogtländische Musikinstrumentenfabrik, the B&S brand in East Germany. The group is now known as JA Musik GmbH, and manages the Meinl-Weston, B&S, Scherzer, and Hans Hoyer brands of band instruments. See also * Getzen The Getzen Company is a family-owned manufacturer and wholesaler of brass instruments. The present product portfolio consists of trumpets, cornets, flugelhorns, trombones, and a baritone horn. Four generations of the Getzen family have participate .... References External links Home page Companies based in Bavaria Brass instrume ...
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Igor Krivokapič
Igor Krivokapič (born 10 November 1965 in Ljubljana) is a Slovenian composer, retired tuba virtuoso and instrument inventor. Life and work Igor Krivokapič first studied tuba at the Academy of Music in Lubljana. He then perfected his abilities at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston under Toby Hanks (tuba), Caleb Morgan (electronic composition), Bob Ceely (classical composition) and Malcolm Peyton (orchestration). After his studies Igor Krivokapič was first appointed solo tubist at the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 1995. He was forced to quit tuba playing due to consequences of a car accident in 1995. He then worked as an editor for classical music at the Slovenian Radio from 1996 to 1999. From 1999 to 2009 he was a free lance composer. Since 2009 Igor Krivokapič is professor for tuba and chamber music at the Conservatory for Music and Ballet in Lubljana and also teaches partly at the Academy of Music in the same city. In the early 2000s Igor Kriv ...
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Saxtuba
The saxtuba is an obsolete valved brasswind instrument conceived by the Belgian instrument-maker Adolphe Sax around 1845. The design of the instrument was inspired by the ancient Roman cornu and tuba. The saxtubas, which comprised a family of half-tube and whole-tube instruments of varying pitches, were first employed in Fromental Halévy's opera ''Le Juif errant'' (''The Wandering Jew'') in 1852. Their only other public appearance of note was at a military ceremony on the Champ de Mars in Paris in the same year. The term "saxtuba" may also refer to the bass saxhorn. History In the 1770s, the French artist Jacques-Louis David carried out extensive researches into the ancient Roman instruments that appeared on Trajan's Column in Rome. Two of these instruments – the straight tuba and the curved cornu – were revived in Revolutionary France as the ''buccin'' and ''tuba curva''. To devise the saxtubas Sax merely added valves to these natural instruments, thus providing them with ...
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Saxhorn
The saxhorn is a family of valved brass instruments that have conical bores and deep cup-shaped mouthpieces. The saxhorn family was developed by Adolphe Sax, who is also known for creating the saxophone family. The sound of the saxhorn has a characteristic mellow tone quality and blends well with other brass. The saxhorn family The saxhorns form a family of seven brass instruments (although at one point ten different sizes seem to have existed). Designed for band use, they are pitched alternately in E and B, like the saxophone group. Modern saxhorns still manufactured and in use: *B soprano saxhorn: flugelhorn *E alto/tenor saxhorn: alto/tenor horn *B baritone saxhorn: baritone horn *The B bass, E bass, and B contrabass saxhorns are basically the same as the modern euphonium, E bass tuba, and BB contrabass tuba, respectively. Historically, much confusion exists as to the nomenclature of the various instruments in different languages. The following table lists the membe ...
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Cornet
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a soprano cornet in E and cornets in A and C. All are unrelated to the Renaissance and early Baroque cornett. History The cornet was derived from the posthorn by applying rotary valves to it in the 1820s, in France. However, by the 1830s, Parisian makers were using piston valves. Cornets first appeared as separate instrumental parts in 19th-century French compositions.''Encyclopædia Britannica'', Micropedia, Volume III, William Benton, Chicago Illinois, 1974, p. 156 The instrument could not have been developed without the improvement of piston valves by Silesian horn players Friedrich Blühmel (or Blümel) and Heinrich Stölzel, in the early 19th century. These two instrument makers almost simultaneously invented valves, though it is likely th ...
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Bellowhead
Bellowhead is an English contemporary folk band, active from 2004 to 2016, reforming in 2020. The eleven-piece act played traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide range of musical styles and influences. The band included percussion and a four-piece brass section. Bellowhead's bandmembers played more than 20 instruments among them, whilst all performers provided vocals. Their third album, ''Hedonism'' (2010), is the highest selling independently released folk album of all time, having sold over 60,000 copies and earning the band a silver disk. The band parted after their final gig at Oxford Town Hall in May 2016. In 2020, the band reformed for a reunion concert and, as of 2022, are undertaking a reunion tour, visiting Portsmouth, Oxford, Leicester, Cambridge, London, Brighton, Southend-on-Sea, Ipswich, Bath, Plymouth, Cardiff, Birmingham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Nottingham, Harrogate, Liverpool, Sheffield and Manchester. ...
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Mounted Band
A mounted band is a military or civilian musical ensemble composed of musician playing their instruments while being mounted on an animal. The instrumentation of these bands are limited, with the musician having to play his/her instrument, as well as steer the animal to the designated location. Most mounted bands, therefore, use instruments that can easily be held, such as bugles, horns, and Fanfare trumpets. Timpani and glockenspiels are also a common feature, usually located at the head of a band. Although a band that is mounted on any member of the families Equidae and Camelidae are considered to be a mounted band, horses are most commonly used, mostly being employed in military bands in Europe, North and South America, and some parts of Asia. Functions and origins Mounted bands in most cases are variants of military bands and are meant for the cavalry, and only several are in service today in various parts of the world. The main current functions have been providing musical sup ...
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Leadpipe
In a brass instrument, a leadpipe or mouthpipe is the pipe or tube into which the mouthpiece is placed. For example, on the illustration of a trombone, the leadpipe would be between #3 and #4, the mouthpiece and the slide lock ring. In the illustration of a French horn, the leadpipe is #2. Detachable leadpipes Most leadpipes are permanently fixed in the instrument, though aftermarket changes, usually carried out by a repairer, are quite common. Some instruments have a detachable leadpipe to allow changing key; to permit the player to easily select different playing and tonal characteristics; or simply to act as the instrument's main tuning slide where the shape, or other design issues, make this the best place for it. The use of the leadpipe as the main tuning slide is particularly common in flugelhorns and piccolo trumpets though not unknown in other instruments. For example, in the Selmer piccolo trumpet in the photograph, the leadpipes are used for all three functions: t ...
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Brass Instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones or labrophones, from Latin and Greek elements meaning 'lip' and 'sound'. There are several factors involved in producing different pitches on a brass instrument. Slides, valves, crooks (though they are rarely used today), or keys are used to change vibratory length of tubing, thus changing the available harmonic series, while the player's embouchure, lip tension and air flow serve to select the specific harmonic produced from the available series. The view of most scholars (see organology) is that the term "brass instrument" should be defined by the way the sound is made, as above, and not by whether the instrument is actually made of brass. Thus one finds brass instruments made of wood, like the alphorn, the cornett, the serpent and the didgeridoo, while some ...
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