Q's about Monkes

[John Mohan]

[Dan in Sydney]

As someone who has owned and played Monke trumpets professionally for many years now, I'll have a stab at answering some of your questions.
I was lucky enough back in 1997 to spend a fair bit of time with Reinhold Friedrich and Norbert Haas in Frankfurt. At that time they and the others in the Frankfurt Radio Section were playing Monke almost exclusively. If you listen to say, the Mahler Symphony recordings with Eliahu Inbal and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony (Hessiche Rundfunk) the trumpets were Monke.
My goal was to absorb as much as I could about playing these instruments properly by working with my German colleagues.
The "sock in the bell" factor that you mention- to me the first thing you have to realise is that these horns do not blow with the same degree of openness and feedback as say, a good Bach. You have to play them differently---like a Monke! For a start, they are a smaller bore---even the "large bore" Monke is a smaller valve bore. Most of the ones I encountered had interchangeable leadpipes and it was a matter of finding which one worked with your mouthpiece. Most of these guys at the time played Bruno Tilz 1 1/4E mouthpieces with a PB backbore which was slightly larger than the standard backbore. Reinhold played a 1 1/4 EB which had a larger ID and a slightly less broad rim. Wolfgang Bauer at the time played a 1 1/4 E with a DB backbore which was larger still. So these mouthpieces were all much larger with a different shank taper than a standard American Bach mouthpiece. This in itself tends to offset the resistance of the Monke trumpet.
At this time, the other popular "German" trumpet was made in Austria, the Lechner. The Lechner was generally more approachable response-wise to someone who played piston trumpets. It was less heavy a response compared to the Monke.
The biggest challenge back in those days as far a Monke was concerned was to find a good one--one with good intonation and even throughout the range. I was very lucky in that I had a choice of six or seven at the factory in Cologne, and could try them with my own Tilz piece at the time.
Regarding the Yamaha copy, I have played both my Monke and Yamaha copies in the orchestra, and at least at that time, the sound of the Yamaha didn't really come close to having the same character, despite the fact that the valves were terrific.
Funny, regarding mouthpieces these days, it's mainly the throat/backbore configuration that maybe wants to be a bit different to what one would play on a piston instrument. Plenty of German players I know happily play Bach, Stork, and Schilke on their German trumpets. My Frost MVD/23/10 piece works beautifullly on both my Monke instruments, as do pieces from Josef Klier, Breslmair, Parke and Toshi.
I do agree with Gottfried Reiche on the matter of blend within a section and the Monke trumpets. They work very well as a set, and better on some repertoire than others. In Sydney we also had a set of Schagerls which we preferred for certain pieces. Sound, articulation, and response did not mix very well between the two. They could sound a bit "dull" beside some of the other trumpets available today--such as Weimann, Galileo, Schagerl, etc.
I will say however, that having sat beside Reinhold playing his Bb and at the time, Hannes Laubin playing his, the sound on a Monke Bb was unforgettable.
As orchestras throughout the world steadily become more 'homogenous"--ie sounding very similar--the unique sound and response character of the classic Josef Monke trumpet might not be as accepted in a lot of places as they once were. Even in Frankfurt now, they play as much on Schagerl as on Monke.
_________________
Principal Trumpet,
Sydney Symphony (1978-2011)
Lecturer in Trumpet, Australian National University 1990-2010
Bach Artist and Clinician, Soloist
http://www.conn-selmer.com/en-us/artist-information/centerstage/artist-roster/daniel-mendelow/