Contrabass trumpet
Contrabass natural trumpet in E♭ built c. 1920 by Evette & Schaeffer. St Cecilia's Hall, Edinburgh
Brass instrument
Classification
Hornbostel–Sachs classification423.233
(Valved aerophone sounded by lip vibration)
Related instruments
Musicians
Builders
  • Lars Gerdt

The contrabass trumpet is the lowest-pitched member of the trumpet family, sounding below the bass trumpet. Only a few exist. The instrument appeared in the mid-20th century and has no orchestral or jazz repertoire.[1] Usually built in 12' F a perfect fourth below the B♭ bass trumpet, it has the same length as the F contrabass trombone, cimbasso, or tuba. Some (sometimes called the subcontrabass trumpet) are built larger in 18' B♭— an octave below the bass trumpet and two octaves below the standard B♭ trumpet.

History

Contrabass trumpet in B♭, c. 1925–1930 by H. N. White Company. Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, Arizona[2]

A "contrabass trumpet: in 18' B♭ played by tuba player Don Butterfield appeared in 1962 on the TV show I've Got a Secret.[3] The instrument was loaned to the show from a Claremont College University musical instrument collection, which is now at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.[4][2]


In 1967, Roger Bobo, tuba player with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, commissioned a contrabass trumpet from instrument maker George Strucel. Unhappy with the sound of the contrabass trombone in recording the Canzoni e Sonate by Gabrieli, they built an instrument in 12' F in the shape of a large bass trumpet, out of spare tubing and a bass trombone bell from the Bach factory.[5] Tuba player Carl Kleinsteuber made four similarly configured contrabass trumpets in F in the 1990s. He made them cheaply out of spare brass instrument parts as "fun" instruments, acknowledging the absence of any known repertoire.[6] In the early 2000s, Latvian trombonist Vairis Nartišs built four instruments in 18' B♭ which he called "subcontrabass trumpets", two of which are now in museums.[7][8]

Performance

Contrabass trumpets have not gained wide appeal, and very few instrument makers offer a contrabass trumpet today; Lars Gerdt in Sweden offers a model in F based on the Strucel/Bobo instrument.[9] Their unwieldy shape and weight can make contrabass trumpets difficult or impractical to play. The timbre from their cylindrical-bore construction, use of valves and similar range allow them to be readily substituted with a cimbasso.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Leeman, Dan (27 July 2020). "What In The World Is A Contrabass Trumpet?". Notestem. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 KontrabassTubaMann (25 September 2021). "r/Tuba: The Contrabass trumpet at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, AZ. Hilariously impractical and awesome". Reddit. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  3. ↑ Butterfield, Don (contrabass trumpet); Moore, Gary (presenter) (2016) [Recorded 21 May 1962]. I've Got a Secret - Arlene Francis hands out Emmys! (Television episode). New York: CBS Television. Segment begins at 5 min, 43 sec. Retrieved 3 August 2022 – via YouTube, cited in Leeman (2020).{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  4. ↑ Gordon, Larry (21 April 2008). "A departure sadly noted". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  5. 1 2 Bobo, Roger (16 November 2012). "Strucel Contrabass Trumpet in F". Archived from the original on 16 November 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  6. ↑ Kleinsteuber, Carl (13 January 1997). "Re: Contrabass trumpet". Contrabass-L list archive. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  7. ↑ Nartiss Latvia (2021). "Subcontrabass Trumpet Nartiss NATU711-1". Reverb. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  8. ↑ Nartišs, Vairis. "Lowest Trumpet in the world: Subcontrabasstrumpet Nartišs Latvia". Showbrass.lv. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  9. ↑ "Contra Bass Trumpet". Lars Gerdt AB. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
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