My New Bass Trumpet

Bass Trumpet

Upon arriving back at home in Portland, after a week in Europe, I found a huge box that my wife had put in my office; it turned out to be a bass trumpet which I had ordered from EBAY a few weeks ago. Some of you may remember that I blogged about another ebay purchase, a marching baritone, from a few years ago. The marching baritone was fun, and I did use it a bunch for some home recording; however, it's a heavy instrument, and I didn't end up bringing it out too much for this reason. My bass trumpet is way lighter and just seems more manageable. I'm not really a low brass guy, but I think I could have some fun with this instrument. Bass trumpet is kind of rare, and there are bass trumpets which list for between $2500 to $4000. This Ebay purchase was used for 200 bucks. Some of these bass trumpets are from China. I'm not really sure of the quality; this one seems fine for my purposes. For me it's really about getting used to the embouchure, air, and what we call the "slotting."

Bass trumpets have been used in Wagner's music, but I would say you are way more likely to see a valve trombone than a bass trumpet in jazz. (Still, maybe I can get in the Downbeat poll for miscellaneous instrument.) I decided to post a short clip. Keep in mind, this is really my first attempt. The first valve is a bit slow, and I'm not sure about the intonation, but in general it seems like an ok horn. Maybe I'll become known as " Portland's Best Bass Trumpet Player." Or maybe " The Paul Robeson Of The Trumpet." Maybe I'll do a recording with all bass instruments: bass trumpet, bass clarinet, bass saxophone, bass flute, and .....bass. Oh, and bass drum. Maybe add bass trombone, which is otherwise known as Bass Slide Trumpet......