2. What is a brass instrument family?

 

For this first entry in the Romera Brass ACADEMY Blog, and after the introduction, let's start with a basic question that will help us focus and lay the groundwork for this new project.

I also want to provide a new perspective on the definition we can find in any dictionary.

What is a brass instrument?

 

I looked up the definition of brass instruments on Wikipedia, and it tells us the following:

"Brass instruments are wind musical instruments consisting of a metal tube (usually brass), which can be bent or straight, a mouthpiece and a bell at the opposite end of the mouthpiece. Although these instruments are made of metal, most of them have ancestors taken from nature, such as conch shells, hollow branches or animal horns."

The latter refers to the predecessors of our current instruments. I'll include some example images.

Instruments made of wood or taken from nature

 

Instruments in Tutankhamun's tomb

 

Lituus, Roman instrument

 

 

 

After this definition, I would like to add a contribution that, for me, I believe has an important nuance:

Brass instruments are (besides the previous definition) those that produce sound solely and exclusively from lip vibration. If there is no lip vibration, there is no sound, and the metal instrument simply will not sound.

That's why I've introduced this nuance into the definition of "What is a brass instrument?"

 

Brass instruments include trumpets, trombones, French horns, and tubas. I use the plural because those of you who play these instruments know that each of these categories encompasses all sub-categories.

Thus, we have all these instruments with different tunings, and all of them use a mouthpiece, larger or smaller depending on the instrument.

Well, we have now laid the foundation and the first stone to start this new adventure.

In the next Romera Brass ACADEMY entry, we will talk about a basic element for mouthpiece manufacturing: the material. What material do we use to make our mouthpieces? We will discover all its secrets.

See you soon

Greetings and much music!