Upright flugelhorn!

[imperialbari]

Actually, Klaus, I see no need for the tuning portion of the mouthpipe to be SO long... that is only traditional, and it is not like one has to make a High Pitch/Low Pitch change any longer, nor to put the flugelhorn in 'A".

I would think it should be entirely possible, even with the tuning up front!

The tuning leadpipe needs to be long.

First of all because it holds the very critical leadpipe taper, which is relatively longer on the flugelhorn than on the tuba, at least if we speak of the top piston variant like my beloved Besson 981. The piston flugelhorn is the most conical of all conical brasses.

All instruments with tuning slides only have to pull half the length needed for a given shift of pitch because two branches are affected. With a tuning leadpipe you have to pull the full length.

As an aside anecdote:

I once bought a very old Zelenka of Prague flugelhorn off a web auction. It has a huge bell volume. I knew it would come without the tuning leadpipe, but I supposed, that I could use the tuning leadpipe from my very good B&S rotary flugelhorn. I couldn’t! It was of a far too big diameter. But this ole man has quite a few instruments. The solution was to use the A-pitch-leadpipe from my Selmer piccolo trumpet. Works beautifully.

I have a very soft spot for the old Bohemian and Moravian makers, even if I only own 4 or 5 of their instruments.

Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre

[windshieldbug]

The tuning leadpipe needs to be long.

First of all because it holds the very critical leadpipe taper, which is relatively longer on the flugelhorn than on the tuba, at least if we speak of the top piston variant like my beloved Besson 981. The piston flugelhorn is the most conical of all conical brasses.

My experience with 20th century flugelhorns is that they no longer have any taper in the mouthpipe tuning slide. My Couesnon and rotary valve horns merely have cylindrical tubing, which then starts the conical process once clear of the valves.

But these are modern flugelhorns. And the reason I collect historic instruments is because I like their sound, deep mouthpieces and all...

[Doug@GT]

Yamaha made Fred Mills an upright flugelhorn with 3 top valves. They possibly also made the so-called soprano tuba used by the Tokyo Tuba Ensemble. I have seen a photo of the latter, not of the former.

Fred Mills has been reported to take part in the Atlanta Tuba Christmas with exactly that instrument.

Fred brought his to the 1st Athens TubaChristmas two years ago. After the initial "aww, that's cute" I personally didn't like the "trumpet" sound coming from a tuba ensemble, but folks in the audience seemed to enjoy it.

In any event, it made the event more memorable, and Fred's playing was very fine as usual!

Doug "is sad that there is only a 45% chance he'll be at the Athens TubaChristmas this year"

[imperialbari]

Yamaha made Fred Mills an upright flugelhorn with 3 top valves. They possibly also made the so-called soprano tuba used by the Tokyo Tuba Ensemble. I have seen a photo of the latter, not of the former.

Fred Mills has been reported to take part in the Atlanta Tuba Christmas with exactly that instrument.

Fred brought his to the 1st Athens TubaChristmas two years ago. After the initial "aww, that's cute" I personally didn't like the "trumpet" sound coming from a tuba ensemble, but folks in the audience seemed to enjoy it.

In any event, it made the event more memorable, and Fred's playing was very fine as usual!

Sorry about flunking on Georgia geographics! Did not take part in the 1996 Olympics. If for no other reasons, then that I had a local rock festival to manage at that time. The Danish handball women went to the final, which was played during the two hours, where we should have carried home the profit through the sale of beer. We ended up in big red numbers, but our sponsors covered our asses and did not blame us.

Fred Mills is a musician I never will forget. I heard CB live in 1989. The distribution of the workload and the musical co-operation between Fred and Ron Romm was marvellous. Ron did all of the solo work on the Bb instruments. Fred did the piccolo work, and in between he played one of the most convincing low 2nd Bb trumpets, I ever have heard. Aside from the musical expressivity that re-established some circulation in his lips.

If Fred’s sound stood out at the Tuba Christmas event, then I would not blame that on Fred playing “trumpetyâ€

[Doug@GT]

Sorry about flunking on Georgia geographics!

No worries--Fred may have brought his horn to the Atlanta TC as well--just before my involvement with it.

If Fred’s sound stood out at the Tuba Christmas event, then I would not blame that on Fred playing “trumpetyâ€