Vulgano Brother

We're talking about 300 years ago, right? Consider for a moment the writings of Herbert L. Clarke and the recordings of him playing, from about 100 years ago. Note the vibrato Clarke used--it is extremely fast by today's standards, and is, in fact, too fast--a modern trumpeter would get laughed off the stage using that billy-goat vibrato, yet it must have been in fashion back in Clarke's time.

I would argue that there is nothing we can read that would suggest Clarke's approach to vibrato. I would also argue that while studying the different treatises can possibly get us in the ball-park in terms of style and sound, there is no way for us to predict that fuzzy thing known as "fashion," and it matters not what instrument we play.

When I lived in Germany I lived in a house that was only 100 years old, and had some friends that lived in a 400 year old house, but they had electricity and flush toilets and hot water on demand.

I see nothing "wrong" with using a piccolo trumpet for baroque works, provided that the result is musical. What is important is the message, not the medium by which the message is sent.

(By the way, I have an Amado waterkey on my old Meinl-Lauber Tarr model.)

GordonH

Maurice Andre used to say that the period instrument movement had the "smell of the museum about it".

Playing natural trumpet is good fun. In fact I used to make my own and I am about to put all the instructions on my web site.

If you could play natural trumpet as your main instrument it would work out OK but switching between them would make dealing with the out of tune notes difficult as you would have to find some way to control the intonation.

I used to have an Eb cavalry trumpet that John Webb made up D and C crooks for:



It was great for doing things like Haydn symphonies.

Eb cavalry trumpets are very cheap and easy to find as "junk" if you want to play around with natural trumpet.