Trumpet
A trumpet is a tube whose enclosed air column is vibrated by buzzing the
lips on a mouth hole or mouthpiece. This tube originally was a hollow log
or bone, then a cane, and ultimately a metal or ivory instrument. The
loud, raucous blasts of these primitive instruments banished evil spirits
and summoned gods. In later periods the trumpet was used in ritual and
war. By 1400 the unwieldy Western straight trumpet was often bent into an
S shape. By 1500 the S shape was condensed to the contemporary
single-form loop, which resembles the trumpet of Claudio Monteverdi and J.
S. Bach. The 7-ft (2.1-m) tube pitched in D (with attachable C-loop) was
designed to produce well-articulated pitches through the fourth octave of
the harmonic series. Consequently, the natural trumpet, although
difficult to master, could be used with brilliant and impressive melodic
effect in its highest (clarino) range. Trumpets were traditionally
reserved for royalty, who created restrictive guilds to guard the
privilege and prestige of clarino trumpeters. In the classic period (late
18th century), the demanding clarino technique became outmoded. Trumpets
were shortened, which placed the five remaining usable partials in the
treble range, first to F with crooks from E to C, then to the presently
standard B-flat with A-slide. In order to fill the gaps in the range,
partially successful attempts to adopt a slide extension were made.
Nevertheless, valves, first applied in 1824, were considered unnecessary
and made little impression before the mid-19th century; their use did not
achieve full melodic potential until later. Recently a 4-ft (1.2-m)
trumpet in high C has been adopted by many orchestral musicians, and
trumpets in high D, F, and piccolo B-flat are used for performances of
baroque music. Richard Wagner made use of a bass trumpet in C in The Ring
of the Nibelung. A cone of wood or fiber, called a mute, is often used
with the trumpet to produce special effects.
The members of WHS's Trumpet section are as follows;
Alicia Rivera---Section Leader
Erin O'Connel---Assistant Section
Leader
Jessica Lillie---Assistant Section
Leader
Tom Bauer
Daniel Selbst
Michelle Deverteuil
Raymond Dass
Joe Tomasso
Doug Schmidt
Anthony Dorta
Ryan Donaldson
Chris Buckley
Sinecio Cordero