Double-Bell Helicon (Russian Sediphone) !

[David Richoux]

Looking through Flickr tonight - found this very interesting horn in the Czech Music Museum:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12363891@N ... -lowbrass0

Wish I knew about this museum back when my band toured there - looks like a lot of interesting stuff!

[imperialbari]

Transliteration from other alphabets always is tricky. Still I think Sediva (the feminine form for a Josef!) is the same family as Schediwy or Schediwa known from Odessa in Ukraine as well as from Ludwigsburg in south western Germany.

My take on diverse Czech/German tuba designs is, that they couldn’t really make powerful and agile bass trombones, so they gave the tubas more bite than did the Americans, who were more based on the French and British ideas with their peashooter trombones including the bass in G.

Klaus

[Mike-ICR]

Anybody know how these work? Are the 2 bells pitch the same? Is there a trigger to operate the small bell (Like a double bell euphonium)or do they play in stereo?

[Mister JP]

Czech Music Museum... my arse! We all know this picture was taken in Dan's basement.

In all seriousness, that is an amazing looking horn, and I know absolutely nothing about how the damn thing even works, yet I must play it RIGHT NOW!

[imperialbari]

Want 4 bells on a helicon?:

[David Richoux]

Want 4 bells on a helicon?:

Is that a real tuba or one of those multi-reed Schalmeien instruments?

[Mike-ICR]

By the look of what looks like a sound box below the mouthpiece I would guess it is a Schalmei. Pretty cool!

[imperialbari]

The photo of course was chosen to make it less obvious that it is a Schalmei. The mouthpiece is just for blowing, not for vibrating lips. Couldn’t fool the two of you.

This instrument is a bass for the key of C. The four notes are G, B natural, D, and C.

Klaus

[windshieldbug]

Anybody know how these work? Are the 2 bells pitch the same? Is there a trigger to operate the small bell (Like a double bell euphonium)or do they play in stereo?

If the two bells played at the same time, they would effectively double the sounding length if and when the resulting standing waves were not interfered with. The valve tubing looks nowhere near long enough to be effective for that, so I believe it is an either/or proposition.

If they were not the same length, the valve tubing would be the wrong size for one or the other.

My bet is that it works just like a double-belled euphonium, two instruments of the same key, different bore with one set of valves for both.