5-bell Schilke Comparison video!

ACB

This was a very fun video to make! While this horn isn't for sale I wanted to share it with everyone to hear their thoughts... I have a 5-belled Schilke option in my own personal collection that I love to play from time to time.

What do you think about the differences between the bells?

Kehaulani

Fun, thanks.

J. Jericho

Very interesting and entertaining comparison. Thank you for taking the time to make this video.

My reactions*:

Arban's - The contrasts were the most noticeable here.

#1 - Nice, typical trumpet sound
#2 - Fuller, cleaner than #1
#3 - Slightly nasal sound
#4 - Nice, typical trumpet sound, very much like #1
#5 - Darker, similar to #2, but not quite as clear a tone

Joy Spring

#1 - Nice, typical trumpet sound
#2 - Slightly fuller, cleaner than #1
#3 - Nice, typical trumpet sound, similar to #1
#4 - Nice, typical trumpet sound, similar to #1 and #3, although you seemed on the verge of cracking a few notes
#5 - Compact sound, reminiscent of Clifford Brown. Guess which term you used to describe the Blessing Super Artist you demo'd?

Phil Collins' Hanging Long Enough

#1 - Bright
#2 - Bright, slightly fuller
#3 - Brighter, seemingly easy to play
#4 - As bright as #3
#5 - Slightly tinny, shrill; it looked like you used more effort to play this one.

As usual, the $0.02 fee is waived for my opinion.

oldpete

I saw that yesterday and enjoyed it. I really liked the B5 bell

ROWUK

Nice comparison Trent. My experience with the tuning bell Schilkes is fine up to mezzoforte after which the transition to loud is much less controllable than bells with braces. The brilliance just takes off - which is fine for big band jazz or combo work, but in a classical setting becomes a liability. Countless tests with sound posts did not solve my problem.

I liked the original B1 bell and the Kanstul Benge copy best. It had the right combination of core and halo for my ears. The other three were very good but not as balanced in tone/core. I have a student with a tuning bell Schilke B1, B6 and a modified C. The B1 and C trumpets have the best balance and playing duets has sum and difference tones bouncing all over the practice room.

For my tuning Bell Bach 229H, I developed a brace for tuning slide bells. That gave me the response advantage of a brace and the intonation advantage of the tuning bell.

If I owned that horn, it would also be a keeper. It is so much different than everything else and thus broadens the palette of colors that I could offer.