10 years ago I started playing my quarter-tone, double bell trumpet!

A résumé

5-11-2010

Concept

In my career as a soloist and ensemble player mainly performing contemporary music, I felt a strong need to enhance my trumpet. Somehow the trumpet didn’t seem complete: new repertoire often uses quarter-tones and fast mute changes. Gradually I developed the idea of a trumpet that could do both easily: a quarter- tone, double bell trumpet. In 1999, after trying several trumpet makers, I visited Dieter Gärtner in Düren, Germany.

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He was very open to my ideas. Over the years I had collected quite a few trumpet parts, such as bells, leadpipes and tuning slides. It was obvious to use these for the realization of the idea. Dieter started by adding a 4th valve: the quarter-tone valve. He soldered a rotary valve onto the tuning slide. That seemed easy! The next step was to add a fifth valve for attaching a second bell. We thought the best place to build in the valve was after the valve block, where the tubing is still fairly cylindrical. A second bell was shaped, pointing up over the first bell. Although the bend is very different from the first, the second bell has the same length and therefore the exact same pitch. The valve sends the air to the lower or upper bell, or—in half-valve position— divides the air between the two bells. It can change the sound in a split second: between open and muted, or between two different mutes. The process required a lot of trial and error, but in March 2000 the quarter-tone, double bell trumpet was finished — and good! In May of that year I played my first concert on the instrument.

Effects

The 4th valve is for playing quarter-tones. In combination with alternative fingerings on the other three valves, you can play even smaller microtonal steps. The 4th valve can also be used in a half-valve (hv) position. It makes the sound unstable, rather jazzy, fragile and soft, like a heavily muted trumpet. In contrast to the traditional trumpet, you can still use the first three valves in a normal manner while adding the half-valve effect of the 4th valve. The 5th valve is for colour change. Changing quickly from open to muted can create an echo effect, like two trumpets playing instead of one. An unexpected and surprising effect occurs when using the fifth valve in half-pressed positions. When changing slowly from the lower to the upper bell (or vice versa), the sound becomes a mixture of the two bells. These blends are unique and impossible to realise on a traditional trumpet.

Some more effects

Using the trumpet with an extremely soft mute and an open bell gives an enormous dynamic range. The trumpet is a very directional instrument: one bell points in the normal direction, the second points upward. Changing bells and directions results in a strong acoustical effect. After gaining experience with my first double bell trumpet, I had a second one built for technical improvements and for another effect. On this second trumpet I can turn the second bell backwards, resulting in an instrument that can project sound forwards and backwards — another striking acoustical effect.

Success

Audiences have always responded enthusiastically to the instrument, without exception. The look is strange but cool! The available sound colours, acoustical effects and dynamic range create unexpected surprises and leave open ears startled. In the beginning, brass colleagues mostly responded with scepticism. It started when I presented the idea to trumpet makers. I was told that adding an extra bell or valve was nonsense, impossible, or would ruin the quality of the trumpet. When I started performing, I was often surprised by reactions from colleagues. I received remarks such as: “Impossible to improve the trumpet, it is perfect as it is,” “A second bell is superfluous,” “Just for the fancy looks.” Many simply laughed at the idea. I encountered trumpet colleagues who did not even want to look or listen when I appeared as a soloist with their group or orchestra. Brass players can be very conservative, almost afraid of change and development. As a performer of new music, I generally notice an aversion among brass players towards new repertoire. Many composers, however, were inspired by the new possibilities. New repertoire has been written for my instrument: solo works, chamber music, works with electronics, and solos with ensemble and orchestra. Peter Eötvös was the first composer to show interest, even before the instrument was actually built. He was planning to write a piece for me, and when I told him about my idea of the two bells he started working immediately. The result, Snatches of a Conversation, was premiered during the Basel Musikmonat in 2002. A second work for double bell trumpet and ensemble followed in the same year. Dutch composer Martijn Padding composed Pieton de Hauterives in 2002. Soon after, other commissions followed. In 2004 I presented new works for my instrument by Rebecca Saunders and Isabel Mundry on my first solo CD Blaauw. In 2005 my second CD followed, with works by Hanna Kulenty and Valerio Scannicandro. The trumpet also turned out to be useful for existing repertoire, for example Tōru Takemitsu’s Paths. I even use the instrument for standard repertoire in ensemble and chamber music. Composers have arranged existing works, originally written for standard trumpet, for the double bell trumpet. In addition to performing new repertoire, I used the new possibilities for improvisation. Some of these results are presented on two CDs: Improvisations and PlayRobotDream. Even after ten years, this instrument remains a fascinating tool for me. I continue to discover and develop nuances that surprise me.

Electronics

In 1999/2000, parallel to the development of the double bell trumpet, I invested in electronics. Both were attempts to enhance the trumpet. During that period I practiced both the new trumpet and performing with electronics intensively. Playing the trumpet was more complicated than expected. The use of the three valves of the right hand had been automated since childhood. Coordinating the new 4th and 5th valves with the left hand, however, required a great deal of practice. Working with electronics was also like learning a new instrument. It was a field with unlimited possibilities. In concert situations, however, I found that I always needed an extra person for sound projection. Usually the sound engineers had far more knowledge and skills than I did, which lessened my interest in pursuing electronics myself. The work on the double bell trumpet proved much more satisfying. Practising the trumpet still occupies me and continues to be very rewarding. The electronic equipment is packed away and stored...

History

A trumpet is a collection of brass tubes, and it can be shaped in many ways. It was François Périnet who, in 1839, developed the piston-valve trumpet, the most common trumpet today. The valves made the trumpet fully chromatic by changing the tube length. An open valve lets the air pass straight through the tubing, while a closed valve diverts the air through additional tubing before returning it to the main tube. A combination of three valves provides all the variation a chromatic trumpet needs. For me, the quarter-tone valve and the extra bell were a logical development — an enhancement that solved many problems and created new possibilities for contemporary music. It is a development, not an invention. I remember seeing pictures of Bobby Shew playing a trumpet with two bells long before I got the idea myself. Later, while studying at the conservatory in Amsterdam, I often saw Billy Brooks playing at Central Station Square on an instrument with two bells. Hear the Shew Horn on youtube and Billy Brooks on youtube I had long forgotten about these players when I began working professionally in contemporary classical music. The repertoire I encountered triggered the wish for a new trumpet. After I started using the double bell trumpet in concerts and presenting it on radio and television, people began sending me images of double-belled instruments. I learned that my instrument is actually part of a much larger family.

Conclusion

Ten years of double bell trumpet have been successful. Fantastic music has been written for the instrument, and it is through this repertoire that the new developments could establish themselves. And it works — it did not ruin the quality of the trumpet. I've noticed that even sceptical colleagues have started exploring the repertoire and discovering the possibilities. It makes me very happy that several players have copied and begun using the double bell trumpet.

Repertoire (selected)