The soprano helicon (in E) is a coiled
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 a ...
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 soprano cornet is a transposing brass instrument similar to the standard B cornet but pitched a fourth higher in E.
A single soprano cornet is usually seen in brass bands and silver bands and can be found playing lead or descant parts in ...
. The helicon clearly has a larger bore and wider tapered conical
tube
Tube or tubes may refer to:
* ''Tube'' (2003 film), a 2003 Korean film
* ''The Tube'' (TV series), a music related TV series by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom
* "Tubes" (Peter Dale), performer on the Soccer AM television show
* Tube (band), a ...
with a large bell for the instrument of its size. The
pitch of E
4 was deliberately chosen, so that musicians can easily play the soprano line within the middle
register
Register or registration may refer to:
Arts entertainment, and media Music
* Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc.
* ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller
* Registration (organ), th ...
of the instrument going mostly up to G
5. E
4 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
The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...
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
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...
in the beginning of May 2006. This instrument had a
bore of an E
alto horn
The tenor horn (British English; alto horn in American English, Althorn in Germany; occasionally referred to as E horn) is a brass instrument in the saxhorn family and is usually pitched in E. It has a bore that is mostly conical, like the flug ...
, so the smallest Alto horn
mouthpiece was used for playing it. The tapering and bell size was from the Melton MW-F10 Flugelhorn. The instrument had an intense dark sound and great low register down to the lowest pedal tones but on the other hand it had a problematic high register, starting with the written
middle C
C or Do is the first note and semitone of the C major scale, the third note of the A minor scale (the relative minor of C major), and the fourth note (G, A, B, C) of the Guidonian hand, commonly pitched around 261.63 Hz. The actual frequen ...
. Although the intention was to make a brass wind with a voluminous dark sound, there was still problems in the case of the first prototype - mostly caused by creating a soprano instrument with a timbre of an alto.
So the next prototype, which was ready a month later, used a regular bore of B Flugelhorn and a deep cup Flugelhorn mouthpiece. The tapering of the main tube had to be reshaped but the bell size stayed the same – . The instrument had four
valve
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...
s (the 4th used as a quart valve). The main tube was also reshaped by moving the tuning slide after the 4th valve instead of having it at the beginning like the Flugelhorns. The 4th valve also had a trigger mechanism (which is operated with the right thumb) to extend the tube for better intonation of tones between low F-sharp and pedal C. The 4th valve itself is operated by the left hand. Another characteristic of this instrument was the bore profile, which remained conical even between the valve sections. The instrument still preserved the richness and volume of the 1st prototype, had a great low register, and it also played well in the higher "soprano"
tessitura
In music, tessitura (, pl. ''tessiture'', "texture"; ) is the most acceptable and comfortable vocal range for a given singer or less frequently, musical instrument, the range in which a given type of voice presents its best-sounding (or character ...
.
The instrument was ready for the first public appearance.
Matej Rihter, the eminent
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
n
trumpeter
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B ...
gave its first performance, playing
Après un rêve
''Après'' is the sixteenth studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop.
Background
Consisting partly of covers sung in French, it was released on 9 May 2012 on Thousand Mile Inc after the album was rejected by Virgin EMI Records. Pop said hi ...
by
Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...
by himself on the MID EUROPE Festival 2006 in
Schladming
Schladming is a small former mining town in the northwest of the Austrian state of Styria that is now a popular tourist destination. It has become a large winter-sports resort and has held various skiing competitions, including most notably the ...
on 14 July. After this debut, the instrument had to go back to the Melton factory in
Geretsried
Geretsried (; ) is a town in the district Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, located in Bavaria, Germany. The town is the most populated town in the district, with 23,219 inhabitants as of 31 December 2012.
History
Geretsried was first mentioned in the ...
for further improvements and finalization. One of the problems was the complicated right thumb mechanism for 4th valve trigger which was very indirect and so far slow in reaction. The concept was changed and the trigger is now operated with the left hand. Since the main tube tended to be too long, the general intonation was a bit flat. With simple pulling out a general tuning slide and tuning slides on the third valve, an E instrument could be easily changed from E to a D instrument. This is especially appropriate for performing the baroque and classical repertoire for
corno da caccia, which was often composed "in D". Ferdinand and Andreas decided to equip the instrument with a set of the two tuning slides (D and E) and two 2nd valve slides. Then the Soprano helicon needed a lacquer and Melton ''Kunstgravur''. By the end of September 2006 the first Soprano helicon was completely finished and sold to
Irena Nadler who is now the first regular student in the world, learning this instrument.
The Helicon Ensemble, conducted by
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 ...
, was formed in September 2014 at the
Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet and is the only helicon ensemble in the world.
In addition to Irena Nadler, the first professional helicon student,
Vidor Krivokapic and
Bruno Zizmund also play the soprano helicon within the ensemble.
Sound characteristics
As expected, the Soprano helicon:
*Has its own and special timbre and musical personality (to illustrate it: halfway between modern valve corno da caccia and B-flat flugelhorn)
*It’s an easy blowing instrument, well balanced in all registers and dynamics
*It has a useful range of more than three octaves, starting with pedal tones up to
C6
*It could be played easily at a high speed and has a potential to become a virtuoso instrument
*It sounds "big enough" to bear a leading melodic line as well as in different Band scorings as in Symphony orchestra
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soprano Helicon
Brass instruments