Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 8:15 pm Post subject: Hickman's new 5-valve C trumpet
Dear Friends,
I have been working for several years to design and have built a professional model C trumpet with five valves. Although normally played as a C trumpet, it can also play as a trumpet in D, D-flat, and B-natural.
Cliff Blackburn perfected my design and built a prototype that knocked my socks off. I will be presenting a one-hour lecture-demonstration on it at the upcoming ITG Conference in late May. . . just three weeks from now.
I have placed a few color photos and a downloadable booklet of orchestral excerpts on the Internet. I think the advantages of this instrument will be obvious after seeing it. If interested, check it out here:
Joined: 02 Jun 2006 Posts: 1050 Location: Salisbury, MD
Posted: Thu May 01, 2014 1:57 am Post subject:
Dave - looking forward to the presentation at ITG. _________________ Pat Shaner
Play Wedge Mouthpieces by Dr. Dave exclusively.
Experiment with LOTS of horn makes and models.
Dr. Hickman, in your booklet there are extended musical selections where the trumpet remains in an "alternate" key of D, B natural, etc. Your answer to the first listed question says that this is a C trumpet meant to play in other keys when advantageous.
Can you really lock this horn into D, for example, and use it as a straight D trumpet? Or will you run into certain notes that just don't feel right?
It seems that past examples of multi-key horns do best in the base key, good in alternate keys for the "helper" notes, and fair to poor for extended use in those alternate keys.
-- Joe
PS - If it would only do Bb, too, I could sell all that I own for this one pearl of great price.
PPS - Were I to get one, maybe I'd get the Mordor script engraved on the bell "One ring to rule them all."
Amazingly, and to my delight (and surprise), the trumpet does play quite well in tune in various keys in the middle and upper registers when using mainly fingerings "open," plus the first two valves. The lower register requires more notes with combinations 2-3, 1-3, and 1-2-3, which tend to be a little flat because the valve slides are cut for C trumpet length. Even then, I think many lower passages are playable with good intonation when the 4th and/or 5th valves are used.
For instance, playing THE TRUMPET SHALL SOUND in D trumpet is no problem. Passages that contain low F-natural on the C trumpet are playable by pressing all four piston valves (and extending the third slide a little). This is easier than having to extend the third slide way out to lower an F-sharp.
In my opinion, there is no reason to purchase a separate D trumpet. This might make the decision to buy an E-flat trumpet that also plays in E a good choice, rather than purchasing an E-flat/D trumpet.
At ITG, I will demonstrate 25 or so orchestral passages in various keys. I will also have sign-up sheets for people to make appointments with me to try my trumpet (using the booklet of examples, which I will have for anyone who wants one). A good player will quickly see how the horn has many advantages. Heck, even without using the added valves, I think people will find the instrument to be an incredible trumpet. . . as good or better than any of the newer C trumpets produced by the top makers right now.
History tells us that new designs are always seen with skepticism, but open-minded people learn to accept new ideas if they improve our ease of playing and music making.
Joined: 24 Dec 2010 Posts: 2197 Location: Venice, CA & Paris, France
Posted: Thu May 01, 2014 7:03 am Post subject:
yes, but will it be named after a city in southern Spain?
sorry, i couldn't resist..... _________________ ron meza (deadbeat jazz musician) & (TH 5 post ghost neighborhood watch ringleader)
waiting for Fed-Ex to deliver a $50 trumpet to my door. shipping was prepaid by seller of course!
http://ronmeza.com http://highdefinitionbigband.com
Joined: 08 Feb 2006 Posts: 833 Location: Chicago, IL
Posted: Thu May 01, 2014 7:05 am Post subject:
Was this instrument inspired by the 5 valve Tottlephone with similar key configuration? Pretty sure one was used/owned by Armando Ghitalla likely built off of a Bach 238 C trumpet platform.
Another one: how is the balance; the feel of the horn? Is this a 24 gauge Ambronze bell? Blackburn horns can feel kind of heavy - I find their Bb with the 24 gauge bell is a bit bell heavy. Their G/A picc was quite heavy compared to my Selmer (I believe it is due to the full-sized valve block). However, my C with the 24 gauge bell balances well and feels great to hold.
With the way this horn is built, it looks like it could be a bit bell-heavy.
trpt.hick wrote:
History tells us that new designs are always seen with skepticism, but open-minded people learn to accept new ideas if they improve our ease of playing and music making.
Eh, but this is not really a "new" design - perhaps a perfected one.
Like I said earlier, I like Blackburn a lot and especially like the building expertise on display here. However, the fact that the best players among us do not use these things (eg, Phil Smith supposedly uses an off-the-shelf Bach) shows that it isn't necessary -- but I agree that it could be easier and useful for mere mortals.
It would be interesting to find out who all ends up with one of these. Alas that I have neither need nor money for one as it would be a neat critter to have.
Was this instrument inspired by the 5 valve Tottlephone with similar key configuration? Pretty sure one was used/owned by Armando Ghitalla likely built off of a Bach 238 C trumpet platform.
Dave, this is great. I love it. It is a beautiful horn, too. I can't wait to try one. Since I won't be attending ITG I'll have to wait. At $7,000 I doesn't look to be in my future.
Robert, yep, the rotary just after the leadpipe is a similar setup as Ghtialla's C/D (4 valve version) that he played in Boston. It's also very similar to the 1933 Conn 22B I used to have with a rotary for flipping between Bb and A. I don't remember what Ghitalla's 5 valve version looks like, other than a bucket of bolts.
The D side of Ghitalla's 4-valve C/D Tottlephone is the best D horn I've played. It's a good C horn, too. I'm sure Cliff Blackburn did his usual top notch work and I'll bet this horn plays great!
The D side of Ghitalla's 4-valve C/D Tottlephone is the best D horn I've played. It's a good C horn, too.
That's a good point.
Really, this IS a D trumpet. The base instrument is in D. The rotor allows the loop out at the tuning slide (is this still a tuning slide?) to be engaged, adding a whole tone worth of tubing, dropping the horn to C. The 4th valve adds a half-step of slide length.
It shouldn't matter whether the horn is most commonly used with the rotor-controlled section of tubing engaged or not. The base key of the horn should be what you have without any extra tube-length engaged.
So this is a D trumpet, in my opinion. Not that there is anything wrong with that ....
Make no mistake, Ghitalla's horn is first and foremost a C trumpet. The D side is obviously secondary. It's just a great D, too. _________________ Scott Kuehn
Joined: 11 Aug 2004 Posts: 12662 Location: Gardena, Ca
Posted: Thu May 01, 2014 12:19 pm Post subject:
cjl wrote:
ltkije1966 wrote:
The D side of Ghitalla's 4-valve C/D Tottlephone is the best D horn I've played. It's a good C horn, too.
That's a good point.
Really, this IS a D trumpet. The base instrument is in D. The rotor allows the loop out at the tuning slide (is this still a tuning slide?) to be engaged, adding a whole tone worth of tubing, dropping the horn to C. The 4th valve adds a half-step of slide length.
It shouldn't matter whether the horn is most commonly used with the rotor-controlled section of tubing engaged or not. The base key of the horn should be what you have without any extra tube-length engaged.
So this is a D trumpet, in my opinion. Not that there is anything wrong with that ....
-- Joe
What about Dave's statement above that the slides are cut for a C trumpet?
Joined: 25 Mar 2010 Posts: 5299 Location: Central Texas
Posted: Thu May 01, 2014 12:41 pm Post subject:
This is a really interesting idea, and the text in Mr. Hickman's PDF really makes for some great reading.
I'd love a chance to try out the horn, but it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to make ITG.
One thing the modified excerpts really demonstrate is the value of alternate keyed instruments (or those that can play in more than one key, as this one does). Quite often people will ask why they need <x> keyed instrument, when they can just transpose.
These examples make clear (particularly if you are familiar with the original key they were written in) just how you can make the passage more secure, be it due to fingering, slotting, trills/grace notes, particular problem notes, etc. by moving to a different key.
I can't help thinking how a C/Bb/A version of this would also be very handy in some cases.
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