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My friend was in Switzerland, and took a couple pictures of a strange instrument. However, the description was in german, and he didn't speak the language. He mentioned that he thought the reciever looked too small to be brass, but admitted that he could have been wrong about that. Can anyone tell us more about this horn? (it's really cool...and I'd definitely love to show up to a rehearsal with that...putting all of the double belled euphs to shame)

It's called a Schalmei and I believe most are German. I'm not exactly sure how they work but I believe the valve operate inside a sound box that engages each bell separately. Each bell provides a different pitch. There are some on a certain auction site for, what I think, is a reasonable price.

http://cgi.ebay.com/odd-East-German-Sch ... 286.c0.m14" target="_blank

http://cgi.ebay.com/odd-East-German-Sch ... 286.c0.m14" target="_blank

They are single metal reed instruments in the sense of accordions, harmonicas, harmoniums, and duck-calls. The Schalmei may be considered an orchestrated duck-call.



is the double octave soprano (melody). It plays from G through g in C major. Only 8 different notes, but they sound in octaves.

There are huge bands of these, which may be found on YouTube. Don’t blame me for your sickness if you go there.

Klaus

I found these... They're actually not that hard to listen too. I'm surprised.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BN2B5r0 ... re=related" target="_blank

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CosUs5NNvs" target="_blank

Lol, that is so cool...I kinda want one.
Thanks everyone

goodgigs wrote:Once years ago, while looking at the Amati site, I found a link to apprentice's masterworks which included a picture of perhaps the most beautiful
instrument I 've ever seen; it was one of those Schalmei, but it was raped as a seven belled sousaphone with the biggest bell in the center and all the others posed around it like peddles of a flower. The workmanship was unbelievable! I didn't capture the picture and haven't bin able to find it since.

Maybe Klaus has it in his collection?

I wish I did!

I don’t have that one. And I never saw Schalmeien in sousaphone shape. The four-note basses (C, G, B natural, and D) come in two shapes: vertical and helicon-shaped.

A seven note bass, as hinted, very well could be a one-off made for a master craftsman’s examn.

To mention the other types aside of single and double octave sopranos plus basses:

Bariton: like single octave soprano, just one octave lower, playing countermelodies

Begleitung: one valve, five bells (G, B natural, C, D, E) alternates between the Tonic and the Dominant triads, G is used for both.

Klaus

If I remember correctly. the 'Schalmei" stop on a Germanic voiced pipe organ is a mixture of several ranks which speak as one. It is a mix of the overtones to the primary key pressed. The concept is quite believable as an artistic mouth-blown voice with a brass ensemble. It would certainly be unique in that situation.

jmerring wrote:If I remember correctly. the 'Schalmei" stop on a Germanic voiced pipe organ is a mixture of several ranks which speak as one. It is a mix of the overtones to the primary key pressed. The concept is quite believable as an artistic mouth-blown voice with a brass ensemble. It would certainly be unique in that situation.

The modern Schalmei doesn’t really own that name, as it has nothing to do with the original double reed Schalmei (shawm). The main maker of the metal reed Schalmei was/is(?) a company by the name of Martin, which also made the pre-electronic ambulance sirens on the same acoustical principle. The German name for these is Martinshorn.

Klaus

I stand corrected; as usual.

jmerring wrote:I stand corrected; as usual.

I don’t think that way. Actually the Schalmei organ stops are named after the original wooden Schalmei/shawm family of double reed instruments.

As I remember the story of the modern metal Schalmei, it gained popularity as an easy to learn instrument in the Socialdemocratic German workers’ movement before 1930. I don’t remember it being associated with the nazis. It was also popular to some degree in the GDR. The German unification brought better standards of living to the old GDR areas, but also caused problems.

Some 10 years ago a congress of former GDR authors marched through the streets of Leipzig (maybe Dresden or Berlin) fronted by a band of 18 Schalmeien. Not that these authors/players ever had played the Schalmeien much before, but they used them for their symbolic value. I saw this on German TV. It sounded horrible.

The YouTube samples of Schalmeien bands may sound better, but I see a discrepancy between the apparently serious approach and the very limited musical potential of these instruments. One scale and two chords.

Klaus

jmerring wrote:If I remember correctly. the 'Schalmei" stop on a Germanic voiced pipe organ is a mixture of several ranks which speak as one. It is a mix of the overtones to the primary key pressed. The concept is quite believable as an artistic mouth-blown voice with a brass ensemble. It would certainly be unique in that situation.

The pipe organ stop Schalmei was just another reed stop with short resonators, not a multiple-pipe-per-pitch as is a mixture. Granted, the buzzing tone was enough to think you were in a hive of bees!

From http://organstops.org/s/Schalmei.html" target="_blank :

Most sources describe this stop as a soft-toned reed of the Regal class, found at 16', 8' or 4' pitch. It is suppposedly imitative of early double-reed instruments called chalumeau, piffero, schalmei, and shawm; similar or identical instruments included the bombarde and pommer. Wedgwood writes:

The first known example of the organ pipe of that name [Chalumeau] - the first reed stop of the organ - was at the Frauenkirche, Nürnberg (Conrad Rothenburger, circa 1463). Another early instance was at St. Martin, Danzig (1585).

This stop has been made with a variety of resonator shapes ranging from 1/16 to 1/4 length, including gently flaring, cylindrical, and the two forms illustrated here (the upper from Wedgwood, the lower from Audsley). The tone of this stop has also varied considerably, from that of a soft Trumpet to that of a Krummhorn. Locher and Wedgwood equate this stop with the Musette. According to Grove and Williams, the name Schalmei was used for an 8' flue in some “Hapsburg” organs of the late 1700's.

Back in the mid 1990s I was on tour with the California Repercussions - we were playing at Oktoberfest in Munich (great fun!) and some of us found a brass music instrument shop near the Town Center. They had some rather interesting old instruments on display - an Ophicleide and some "Russian Horns" (not for sale.) I asked the store owner about the availability of Schalmei - he was very huffy when he said "We don't have those 'toy instruments' here in Germany any more." Just as we were leaving the shop a bus full of Schalmei players went by, on their way to a performance at Oktoberfest...

BTW, Lark-In-The-Morning has imported them at times - check their website - their prices have come down a bit from the last time I looked. They do have seven sizes of what they call Tyrolean Trumpet.