| Importance of 3rd valve slide??
Hello group, I played all thru high school and some after also, my Olds trumpet had a brass ring on the 3rd valve slide, for lowering the notes using valve combinations 1&3 and 2&3. Certainly many horns do, and many do not. I was at a jazz club in Los Angeles a couple weeks ago, really enjoying what I was hearing. The group played 20's and 30's vintage. The cornetist was playing a vintage shepards crook cornet. Very often he poped the 3rd slide out to empty it. So, OK, it had no spit valve. So I walked up, looked closer, and the was no ring to extend the 3rd value either. It all started me thinking about it (OK, so times I'm slow).
Well, that seems to be how a lot of older trumpets were (and cheaper studen horns still are). It did have a main spit valve. I will figure the missing valve was a matter of expense. I have a Conn Wonder 1910's cornet, where the water key opens two drain holes (although not on the 3rd slide). So I would guess it was just the way clearing the third slide was done?
The bigger question, as I find it difficult to lip those notes down, is that what the musicians did (lip the pitch down)? Was the slotting looser on those horns (cornets and trumpets)?
On the Conn Wonder that I have, there is a slide (just like a main tuning slide) that has two finger pads so that I can adjust this slide in/out while playing. I assumed that this would allow the performer to compensent for the 23, 123 and 13 valve combinations. I just gets difficult to slide back to the correctly "tuned" location as correctly "tuned" position will "as far as it goes" but will be with this slide always just some amount out. Is this situation unique to the Conn Wonder cornet?? Thanks for any information. |