F Contrabass Trumpet
Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 7:28 am
I'd like to comment on Dillon's unfinished contrabass trumpet in F. I’m writing this because I don’t think many people have experience in Contrabass trumpets and maybe don’t know what a contrabass trumpet is like.
Do not expect this instrument to play like an F tuba.
I don't know the one offered at Dillon's, but I made an F contrabass a few years ago using Roger Bobo's F trumpet as a guide. It was a real challenge building it because lots of tubes had to be bent to fit within a small space. Both mine and Bobo's is really stuffy because of the all the cylindrical tubing which has many bends in it. (It wasn't possible to build an open wrap)
I could imagine that the project offered by Dillon’s was abandoned because the work was getting too expensive for the client. Contrabass trumpets are a lot of fun but ultimately these instruments sound like a bass trombone and play like a stuffy radiator.
Do not expect this instrument to play like an F tuba.
I don't know the one offered at Dillon's, but I made an F contrabass a few years ago using Roger Bobo's F trumpet as a guide. It was a real challenge building it because lots of tubes had to be bent to fit within a small space. Both mine and Bobo's is really stuffy because of the all the cylindrical tubing which has many bends in it. (It wasn't possible to build an open wrap)
I could imagine that the project offered by Dillon’s was abandoned because the work was getting too expensive for the client. Contrabass trumpets are a lot of fun but ultimately these instruments sound like a bass trombone and play like a stuffy radiator.