thing 24: trumpet saline
Ever since I saw it in the instrument collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I’ve been obsessed with the trumpet marine, a giant one-stringed instrument that’s supposed to sound like a trumpet. Besides its monstrous size, the most important characteristics of the trumpet marine are that it’s fingered at the harmonics and played with a bow (like Glendon’s harmonic violin) and that it has a buzzing bridge that gives it the brassy sound of a trumpet. The bridge has to be carefully balanced to get it to buzz, which is done by adjusting the tension on a string called the guidon that tugs the main string sideways. (You can see the guidon in the closeup shot.)
My instrument with no bow at all is a pretty poor imitation of a trumpet marine, but it does sound a bit salty. In the sound sample, you can hear as I fiddle with the guidon to get a buzz that I like. On the last four notes in the sample, I supressed the plucking sound in software to simulate what it might sound like when bowed. (And I cranked the reverb way up.) It does kind of sound like a trumpet!
What was I saying about making stringed instruments too big for myself? This one is over seven feet tall.
Last 5 posts by ranjit
- thing 29: dog - February 29th, 2008
- thing 28: rotten stick box fiddle - February 28th, 2008
- thing 27: awful horsehair bow - February 27th, 2008
- thing 26: rotten stick saxamophone - February 26th, 2008
- thing 25: oak box boo - February 26th, 2008
your sound from this thing is GREAT! thanks to you for inspiring me!! i’ve totally loved your posts.
can we get a fischbowl-ranjit jam session post at some point before the end of the month?
great!!! all your instruments are just awesome!
and i second sea star’s question. ?
Once again, so awesome!
There’s a reference to seamen playing a “tromba marina” in one of Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series of novels set on a Royal Navy ship-of-war in the early 1800’s (I forget which one).
From his description often wondered what it sounded like. Now I know! Thanks.