[TPIN] Vented Natural Trumpets (are not a bad thing)

[Achias1 at mchsi.com]

I usually reply the same way when questions about vented nats come up, so pardon
me if you've heard this before.

In Ed Tarr's book, "The Trumpet," has gives a very good explanation of how the
early nats were built and why modern ones need vents:

The early instruments were made from brass that was hammered into sheets, which
left a textured sheet no matter how good the artisan was. This texture allowed
the instrument to be much more flexible in slotting than today's instruments in
which the brass sheets are milled (or drawn) smoothly.

Therefore, the early instruments didn't need vents because the player could (and
 had to) lip all notes into tune. Todays instruments must have vents because
some notes slot out-of-tune and can't be lipped in tune without risking cracking
the notes.

The vents are not a crutch - they're a necessity.

Dave


----------------------  Original Message:  ---------------------
From:    John Kool <johnkool at windstream.net>
To:      kanstulpicc-tpin at yahoo.com
Cc:      TPIN <tpin at tpin.okcu.edu>
Subject: Re: [TPIN] Gabriele Cassone Playing Brandenburg # 2 on Natural Trumpet
Date:    Mon, 18 Feb 2008 04:37:24 +0000

> Very nice!
> 
> I seem to remember a few years ago, someone lambasting the English  
> chap (wish I could remember the name....Smithers?) for using a vented  
> trumpet.
> 
> Were vents "authentic period" innovations?
> or not.