View source for Valve trombone

{{Short description|Brass instrument in the trombone family with valves}}
{{infobox instrument
  | name           = Valve trombone
  | names          =
  | image          = Yamaha Valve trombone YSL-354 V (re-crop).jpg
  | image_capt     = Valve (tenor) trombone in B♭
  | background     = brass
  | classification = {{hlist
    | [[Wind instrument|Wind]]
    | [[Brass instrument|Brass]]
    | [[Aerophone]]
  }}
  | hornbostel_sachs = 423.233.2
  | hornbostel_sachs_desc = Valved aerophone sounded by lip vibration with cylindrical bore longer than 2 metres
  | developed      = Mid 19th century
  | range          =
  | articles       =
  | musicians      = {{hlist <!-- alphabetical by surname -->
    | [[Bob Brookmeyer]]
    | [[Bob Enevoldsen]]
    | [[Maynard Ferguson]]
    | [[Brad Gowans]]
    | [[Rob McConnell]]
    | [[James Morrison (jazz musician) | James Morrison]]
    | [[Clifford Thornton]]
    | [[Juan Tizol]]
  }}
  | builders       = {{hlist
    | [[C.G. Conn | Conn]]
    | Olds
    | King
    | Bach
    | [[Yamaha Corporation | Yamaha]]
    | [[Holton (Leblanc) | Holton]]
    | [[Jupiter Band Instruments | Jupiter]]
    | Getzen
    | Besson
    | J.W. Pepper
    | Kanstul
    | Schagerl
  }}
  | related        = {{hlist
    | [[Trombone]]
    | [[Trumpet]]
    | [[Firebird (trumpet) | Firebird]]
    | [[Cimbasso]]
  }}
}}
The '''valve trombone''' is a [[brass instrument]] in the [[trombone]] family that has a set of [[brass instrument valve|valves]] to vary the pitch instead of (or in addition to) a slide. Although it has been built in sizes from alto to contrabass, it is the tenor valve trombone pitched in B♭ an octave lower than the [[trumpet]] which has seen the most widespread use. The most common models have three [[piston valve]]s. They are found in jazz and popular music, as well as [[marching band]]s in Europe, where they are often built with rotary valves and were widely used in orchestras in the 19th century.

== History ==

The valve trombone emerged concurrently with the invention of [[brass instrument valve|valves]] in the early 19th century. Most early instruments retained the shape and form of the slide trombone, employing three valves with the tubing arranged in place of the slide; others used the new valve mechanism as an opportunity to explore different configurations while retaining the overall cylindrical bore and bell profile.{{sfn|Guion|2010|p=60-62}}

{{Multiple image
  | total_width = 500px
  | title = 19th century valve trombones
  | align = center
  | image1 = MIMEd 4647. Clavicor in C by Guichard.png
  | image2 = DP331005.jpg
  | image3 = MIMEd 6463. Bass valve trombone, nominal pitch 13-ft E-flat (white).png
  | image4 = F132 Ventilbasun 2.tif
  | alt1 = clavicor
  | alt2 = cavalry trombone
  | alt3 = armeeposaune
  | alt4 = rotary valve trombone
  | footer = <small> From ''left'' to ''right'': clavicor with three Stölzel valves, {{circa|1830}} ([[St Cecilia's Hall]], [[University of Edinburgh]]);<ref name="MIMEd-clavicor">{{Cite web |title=Clavicor, nominal pitch 8-ft C |work=Musical Instruments Museums Edinburgh |publisher=University of Edinburgh |publication-place=[[St Cecilia's Hall]] |url= https://collections.ed.ac.uk/mimed/record/18016 |access-date=26 May 2024 |id=Accession: 4647 }}</ref> cavalry trombone with six Périnet valves by [[Adolphe Sax]], {{circa|1863}} ([[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York);<ref name="met-6valve"/> armeeposaune with rotary valves, {{circa|1880}} (St Cecilia's Hall, University of Edinburgh);<ref name="MIMEd-armeeposaune">{{Cite web |title=Bass valve trombone, nominal pitch 13-ft E♭ |work=Musical Instruments Museums Edinburgh |publisher=University of Edinburgh |publication-place=[[St Cecilia's Hall]] |url= https://collections.ed.ac.uk/mimed/record/111090 |access-date=26 May 2024 |id=Accession: 6463 }}</ref> valve trombone with rotary valves, {{circa|1890s}} ([[Swedish Museum of Performing Arts|Scenknostmuseet]], [[Stockholm]])<ref name="scenkonst-valvetrombone">{{Cite web |title=Ventilbasun c. 1888-1905 |work=MIMO: Musical Instrument Museums Online |orig-date=1639 |publisher=[[Swedish Museum of Performing Arts|Scenkonstmuseet]] |publication-place=Stockholm |url= http://www.mimo-international.com/MIMO/doc/IFD/OAI_SMS_MM_POST_4066 |access-date=26 May 2024 |id=Accession: F132 }}</ref></small>
  | footer_align = left
}}

It enjoyed its greatest popularity in the 19th century, when the technology of valves was developing rapidly. They became popular in European orchestras particularly in Italy and Austria, where composers wrote with a section of three valve trombones in mind.{{sfn|Yeo|2021|p=163-164|loc=valve trombone}} Among the first French valve trombones was the {{Visible anchor|Clavicor|text='''clavicor'''}}, configured upright with three Stölzel valves, briefly replacing the [[quinticlave]] in bands until it was itself replaced by saxhorns.{{sfn|Herbert|Myers|Wallace|2019|page=112|loc=Clavicor}}{{sfn|Herbert|Myers|Wallace|2019|page=333|loc=Quinticlave}}

Valve trombones were made in many configurations for marching bands, and in particular for [[mounted band]]s.{{sfn|Guion|2010|p=60}} A type of {{Visible anchor|Cavalry trombone|text='''cavalry trombone'''}} invented by [[Adolphe Sax]] in the 1860s has six valves, instead of the usual three, one for each position on the trombone slide. Instead of adding tubing, these valves isolate different amounts of tubing from the total length.{{sfn|Yeo|2021|p=134|loc=six-valve trombone}} Their unusual shape was designed to make it easier for players in cavalry bands to hold and use while mounted.<ref name="met-6valve">{{Cite web |title=Tenor valve trombone ca. 1863 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/652387 |access-date=9 May 2022 |website=The Met Museum |date=1863 |publisher=[[The Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |publication-place=New York |archive-date=19 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119144539/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/652387 |url-status=live |id=Accession: 2014.488a–d }}</ref> They were included in the curriculum at the [[Conservatoire de Paris]] in the last half of the 19th century, and used in French orchestras for a time despite the large amounts of tubing which made the instruments heavy and unwieldy to play.{{sfn|Yeo|2021|p=134|loc=six-valve trombone}}{{sfn|Herbert|2006|p=196}} In [[Austria-Hungary]] in the 1860s, instrument makers [[V. F. Červený & Synové]] invented a family of {{Visible anchor|Armeeposaune|text='''Armeeposaune'''}} ({{lit.|army trombone}}) in sizes from E♭ alto to B♭ contrabass, also designed for use in mounted and marching bands.{{sfn|Yeo|2021|p=14|loc=armeeposaune}}

The valve trombone was popular in American [[brass band]]s and [[military band]]s in the mid to late 19th century. In New Orleans the slide trombone did not appear until the "tailgate" style of playing emerged around 1904.<ref name="Grove">{{Cite Grove |title=Trombone |first=Trevor |last=Herbert |id=A2252542 }}</ref>

Valved [[alto trombone]]s in E♭ were occasionally built but remain rare instruments; a few survive in museums.<ref name="NMM-valve-alto">{{Cite web |title=Alto valve trombone, E♭ |work=National Music Museum |publisher=[[University of South Dakota]] |date=1900 |orig-date=ca. 1895–1912 |postscript=. Made in Bohemia; stamped Lyon & Healy, Chicago. |id=Accession number 03245 |url=https://emuseum.nmmusd.org/objects/6474/alto-valve-trombone-eflat |access-date=17 September 2022 |archive-date=20 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520031245/https://emuseum.nmmusd.org/objects/6474/alto-valve-trombone-eflat |url-status=live }}</ref>

A contrabass valve trombone known as the {{lang|it|trombone basso Verdi}} was developed in the late 19th century and is used mainly in [[opera]]s by [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]] and [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]]. This instrument was the prototype for the modern ''[[cimbasso]]'', which has seen a 21st century revival in [[video game music]] and [[film score]]s.<ref>{{Cite Grove|author-last=Meucci |author-first=Renato |title=Cimbasso |id=05789 }}</ref>

By the beginning of the 20th century, mass production of reliable instruments with high quality slides led to a return to popularity of the slide trombone. Despite this, valve trombones still remain popular in parts of eastern Europe and Italy, in [[Banda music]], [[military band|military]] and [[brass band]]s in South America and India, and in [[jazz]], often as a doubling instrument for [[trumpet]] players.

== Performance characteristics ==
[[File:Valvetrombonephoto.jpg|thumb|Former trombonist of [[ska punk]] band [[We Are the Union]] performs on a valve trombone]]
Some passages, particularly fast musical figures, are easier to execute on a valve trombone than on a slide trombone. Italian composers in particular, such as Verdi and [[Gioachino Rossini|Rossini]], made use of its agility. The valve trombone is also useful for situations when the movement of a slide can be impractical, such as when marching, mounted, or playing in a cramped orchestra pit.
Many players consider the tone of a valve trombone to be stuffier and less open, and it is no longer common in orchestras. 

== In jazz ==
As the B{{music|flat}} tenor valve trombone uses the same fingering as the B{{music|flat}} [[trumpet]], it is occasionally a doubling instrument for [[jazz]] trumpeters. Notable jazz musicians who play the B{{music|flat}} tenor valve trombone include [[Maynard Ferguson]], [[Bob Brookmeyer]], [[Clifford Thornton]], [[Juan Tizol]] of the [[Duke Ellington]] Orchestra, [[Rob McConnell]] and [[Bob Enevoldsen]].

{{anchor|Normaphone}}
[[File:MIMEd 4235. Valve trombone in (normaphon) saxophone shape, in B♭ (white bg).png|thumb|upright|Normaphone in B♭ {{circa|1928}} by Heber. [[St Cecilia's Hall]], [[University of Edinburgh]] ]]
In the 1920s a valve trombone reconfigured into a saxophone shape was developed in Germany, called the ''normaphone'' ({{langx|de|Normaphon}}). It was later taken up by American jazz musicians, including William "Hicky" Kelly in the 1960s and Scott Robinson in the 70s.<ref name="Grove-normaphone">{{Cite Grove |first=Gary W.|last=Kennedy |title=Normaphone |id=J655300 }}</ref>

== Hybrid slide-valve trombones ==
{{Main|Superbone}}
[[File:MIMEd 3596. Holton TR-395 Superbone (white).png|thumb|Holton TR-395 Superbone (St Cecilia's Hall, University of Edinburgh)]]
Duplex or "hybrid" trombones that combine both a slide with a set of valves were built in the late 19th century by [[Gustave Auguste Besson|Besson]] and [[C.G. Conn]].{{sfn|Yeo|2021|p=46-47|loc=duplex instrument}}<ref name="1884-conn">{{cite web |title=Rare 1884 C.G. Conn Valve-Slide Hybrid Trombone |work=Worthopedia |publisher=WorthPoint Corporation |url=https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1884-g-conn-valve-slide-hybrid-1792642656 |access-date=9 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530031427/https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1884-g-conn-valve-slide-hybrid-1792642656 |archive-date=30 May 2022 }}</ref> In the 1940s, the jazz musician and machinist [[Brad Gowans]] invented a "[[valide]]" (a [[portmanteau]] of "valve" and "slide") with three piston valves and a short four-position slide.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Really Doubling in Brass |journal=[[Popular Science]] |volume=146 |issue=5 |date=May 1946 |page=81 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kiEDAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22valide+trombone%22g&pg=PA81 |access-date=2022-06-21 |archive-date=2024-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520031326/https://books.google.com/books?id=kiEDAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22valide+trombone%22g&pg=PA81#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> 
In the 1970s, the jazz trumpeter [[Maynard Ferguson]] and Larry Ramirez of [[Holton (Leblanc)|Holton Musical Instruments]] developed and patented the Holton TR-395 "Superbone" for Ferguson to use in his band.<ref name="superbone-patent">{{Cite patent |title=Tenor trombone construction |country=US |number=3937116 |status=patent |fdate=21 October 1974 |gdate=8 June 1976 |inventor1-first=Ramirez |inventor1-last=Lawrence |assign1=[[Leblanc (musical instrument manufacturer)|G. Leblanc Corporation]] |postscript=, class G10D7/10}}</ref> Similar to the 19th century instruments, it has a very narrow bore of {{convert|0.484|in}} and three piston valves, which Holton manufactured between 1974 and 2004.{{sfn|Yeo|2021|p=143|loc=Superbone}} Subsequent models developed in the early 21st century by the British-Chinese instrument maker Wessex and the Australian jazz musician [[James Morrison (jazz musician)|James Morrison]] use a larger {{convert|0.525|in|adj=on}} bore. Morrison's model, built by the Austrian instrument manufacturer Schagerl, has three rotary valves built into the bell section.<ref name="schagerl-superbone">{{Cite web |title=Trombone Model 'Superbone' |work=schagerl.com |publisher=Schagerl Meisterinstrumente |url=https://schagerl.com/meisterinstrumente/instrument/superbone/?lang=en |access-date=30 May 2022 |archive-date=20 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520031255/https://schagerl.com/meisterinstrumente/instrument/superbone/?lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="wessex-superbone">{{Cite web |title=Superbone (valve/slide trombone) – PB930 |work=www.wessex-tubas.com |publisher=Wessex Tubas |url=https://www.wessex-tubas.com/products/superbone-valve-slide-trombone-pb930 |access-date=31 May 2022 |archive-date=31 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531023421/https://www.wessex-tubas.com/products/superbone-valve-slide-trombone-pb930 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
{{ubli
| {{cite Q|Q111039945|last=Guion |first=David M. |date=2010}}
| {{Cite Q|Q111039091|last=Herbert |first=Trevor |date=2006 }}
| {{Cite Q|Q114571908|editor1-last=Herbert |editor1-first=Trevor |editor2-last=Myers |editor2-first=Arnold |editor3-last=Wallace |editor3-first=John |date=2019 |url=unset |publication-place=unset}}
| {{Cite Q|Q111040546|last=Yeo |first=Douglas |date=2021 |others=Peterson, Lennie (illustrator) |url=unset}}
}}
{{refend}}

{{Brass instruments}}

[[Category:Trombones]]
[[Category:Jazz instruments]]
[[Category:Marching band instruments]]
[[Category:Orchestral instruments]]