TromboneChat

Hi everyone! I'm wondering if anyone on here has any experience with non-western lower brass instruments. Would really love to hear stories, sounds, to see photos!


(the image below is of an Nepali bass karnal horn, for illustration purposes)

kakaki used in muslim areas around southern Sahara:

No photo, but we should include the Dijeridoo

There are a number of instruments that work like brass. Brass instruments are also called "lip reed" instruments and include the shofar, conch shell. cornett (also called "zink"), serpent. and Russian Bassoon.

Below is photo of Trembita (it is Ukrainian "lip-reed" instrument, like Alpine horn).
Carved from single piece of pine or spruce wood and can reach up to 8 meters.

BGuttman wrote: ↑Tue Oct 08, 2024 4:41 am and Russian Bassoon.

... which is famously neither Russian nor a bassoon.

You left out the ophicleide, which seemed to be making something of a comeback a few years ago in a very niche market. I haven't heard much about it recently, though I did attend one solo performance at an Army tuba & euphonium conference a few years back. However, that's really a western instrument, as are the serpent and Russian Bassoon.

ghmerrill wrote: ↑Tue Oct 08, 2024 9:57 am

BGuttman wrote: ↑Tue Oct 08, 2024 4:41 am and Russian Bassoon.

... which is famously neither Russian nor a bassoon.

You left out the ophicleide, which seemed to be making something of a comeback a few years ago in a very niche market. I haven't heard much about it recently, though I did attend one solo performance at an Army tuba & euphonium conference a few years back. However, that's really a western instrument, as are the serpent and Russian Bassoon.

The ophicleide and its cousin the quinticlave (the latter of which I actually had an opportunity to play) were generally made of brass, and I was talking about instruments not made of brass. One other that I could have mentioned was the South African Vuvuzela, now usually made of plastic.

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This Russian Bassoon reference here has jogged my memory of actually using this instrument as an illustration of difficulties in scientific classification -- over 10 years ago at a meeting in Durham of the Phenotype Ontology Research Coordination Network (Whew!! What do you suppose THAT means? ). Part of the summary of that was "He used a classification of brass instruments as an example illustrative of the key issues and discussed why these issues matter, and how easy it is to introduce errors." So we can see that not only do brass instruments contribute to the advancement of science, but in particular the Russian Bassoon does, even if it's only about half brass.

I'm really happy to be retired and using brass instruments just to play music.

ghmerrill wrote: ↑Tue Oct 08, 2024 12:38 pm "He used a classification of brass instruments as an example illustrative of [...] how easy it is to introduce errors."

I'm really happy to be retired and using brass instruments just to play music.

Now that you mention it, i must admit i often engage in brass instruments classifying, instead of playing them (a guilty pleasure )

At least I got paid for it (at least kind of).

These are technically "western" but still no less amazing — bronze age Danish lurs:


from video description: 'Lur music from Boreas performed by Marek Stolarczyk & Prof. Rolf Sandmark (in the background) on reconstructed bronze age lurs at the Borum Eshøj grave mounds in Eastern Jutland, June 9th 2018.

Boreas was a theatre piece performed in 1993 at Borum Eshøj. The place is famous for the three well preserved bronze age graves, that were found there in the 1800s.'

there's also a second video on that account, of several lurs performing together.

Yamaha trombones? Jin Bao?

Here is the Uzbek and Tajik folk instrument karnay. It is 3000 years old. It is very common in Central Asia.

Trombo wrote: ↑Fri Jan 03, 2025 10:17 am Here is the Uzbek and Tajik folk instrument karnay. It is 3000 years old. It is very common in Central Asia.

WOW!

Ever since i found this video i have been fascinated by the sound of this instrument, I think it's called a Buccina. Strictly speaking it is probably still a western instrument though a very old one.


The same is true for true for the Carnyx.