Not exactly a trumpet but.....

Saw this in New Orleans yesterday. A bugle at the battle of New Orleans. However..... with all the key modifications I wonder what it sounded like and what kind of music it played.

GeorgeB

@Niner
I have heard of valved bugles but have yet to hear what one sounds like.

flugelgirl

Keyed bugle. We have one at work but it’s in no shape to be played right now. That one’s only half my job - I’ll remove the dents, and the woodwind tech will repad the keys.

@Niner
Oh my goodness! A saxophone has slept in sin with a bugle.

Tobylou8

Dale Proctor would know!!

Dr GO

@Tobylou8 said in Not exactly a trumpet but.....:

Dale Proctor would know!!

That is so true, and in trumpet forums his vast knowledge earns him the special title of "Proctortologist", even if his reviews are delayed and he falls a little "behind".

Tobylou8

I've begged him to join.... but alas, he has so far declined. Bob Pixley uses Dales old TM avatar now. When I see it, it reminds me of Dale.

Here's a video example of what one sounds like.

Newell Post

Going from memory, the first keyed bugles appeared around 1800, the first rotary valves in the 1820s, and the first piston valves in the 1830s, so the date of 1813 is right on the money. The Haydn trumpet concerto was written in 1796 and was first performed on a keyed trumpet not entirely unlike this bugle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trumpet_Concerto_(Haydn)

administrator

I'm kind of irritated that the museum states it has "valves," when, clearly, it is a "keyed" bugle and not a valved instrument (as in perinet or rotary valves).

GeorgeB

@administrator
Yeah, I was somewhat confused that it was called a bugle with valves when it just showed keys, but what do I know.

Bob Pixley

Yes, that's a keyed bugle, not a valved bugle. Valved bugles are basically the forerunner of the flugelhorn. You'd think people at a museum would be able to get something so simple labled correctly, but I saw one of the instruments in the Gettysburg museum labled incorrectly, too.

By trial and error, I learned to play a borrowed Eb keyed bugle a number of years ago and performed a few simple pieces on it before the owner asked for it back and traded it for another instrument. There was no "standard" setup for them, and the number of keys varied from horn to horn. If I remember correctly, all the keys raise the pitch, except for the one nearest the bell flare, which is normally open and lowers the pitch when used.

I'm using the "Dale Proctor" avatar with his permission. We are pretty tight...lol