oldlou

If the radius of the bend of the tuning slide is making a dramatic effect on the produced and projected sound, how do we explain the very tightly radiused individual valve tuning slides on almost all trumpets and cornets? Does the projected sound change dramatically with each use of our valves? Of course not. Many years ago, in 1913 E.A. Couturier patented his Conical Bore series of trumpets and cornets which were made with such widely radiused valve tuning loops that no adjustment was possible. The legs of those loops were no where nearly parallel. This design produced a very fine performing instrument, but, the big loopy shaped tubing from each valve was NOT the reason for the fine performance. The nearly total conicality of the entire instrument, including the straight through conical valve through tubes was a major factor there. The quality and fine assembly of the horns, along with exactly proper valve loop lengths are what made the horn a delight to play. The advent of valve slide quick adjusters and the near impossibility of doing an easy clean of the horn, along with poor magement of the plant and sales are what caused it to lose favor. When Couturier went out of business this set of patents and the right to build the horns with his name on them was secured by a second rate Chicago firm,( Lyon and Healy ), who altered the design by making the valve loops a part of a tuning slide, making the horn more cosmetically chalenged than it already was. It soon became history. Note my signature to see that I own and delight to play one of the original design.


OLDLOU>>

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Couturier trumpet
York Master Model trumpet
York Elite trumpet
York Airflow cornet
King super 20 Master Model cornet
King Liberty trumpet
Reynolds Professional cornet
Bohm & Meinl professional trumpet
Besson 10-10 trumpet with Holton M.F. bell
Olds Special cornet Los Angeles
B&H Sovereign cornet
G.R.Band Instr. cornet
Getzen Super Deluxe trumpet and cornet
Getzen Deluxe trumpet and cornet
Many others no room to list

rowuk

I have to admit oversimplifying a bit. Of course there is more to a slide than radius and brace. The material, thickness and trueness of bore in the bends are also important factors - just not as audible (to the audience) as many would like to believe.

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Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

bagmangood

I think the important thing is the difference for the feel of the player, with the exception of differences in materials, I think most players talk about changing their slide to create a "more open" feel or a "tighter" feel.
I will repeat what my teacher says every lesson: the audience doesn't care what you do to produce the music, they care about the music itself.

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Bach 180S-37
Bach C180-239 w/ Akwright tuning bell conversion
Monette B2S3&C2S3, Bach 7DW