[Trombone-l] Old words for trombone. Was Re: Of new trombonequintets

[Walter Barrett]

On May 5, 2006, at 10:35 AM, John Burton wrote:

> In following this thread, I'm puzzled in one thing.
>
> "Big Trumpet"....  ehrm... would that LOOK like a  modern-day "Big  
> Bugle"??  Surely you're not referring to a valved instrument...
>
> But then, I don't believe in valves, rotors yes, slide -- definitely!
>

The word started out when trumpets didn't have valves (the Italian  
word is "tromba",) so those newfangled sacbutty things would have  
LOOKED to the casual observer like a Big Trumpet/ Trombone. (I did a  
church service the other day, some lady congratulated me on my  
saxophone playing. People STILL don't know what to call these  
things!) In Italy, one of the words for tuba is "bombardon", which  
means big cannon. An Euphonium is a "Bombardino," little cannon.


Walter Barrett

"There are known knowns.
There are things we know that we know.
There are known unknowns.
That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know.
But there are also unknown unknowns.
There are things we don't know that we don't know."
     -Donald Rumsfeld

Alto, tenor, bass trombones
Bass trumpet, euphonium, tuba
Yamaha Artist/Clinician
http://www.walterbarrett.com