Like most other instrument families, trombones are made in all
the voices of the choir, from soprano to contrabass. Think about violins and
saxophones for examples of other instrument families with lots of sizes.
These days, we primarily use the tenor and bass trombones, with an
occasional yelp from the alto. Tubas and string basses provide the
contrabass notes in the orchestras and bands. But tubas and valves have been
around only since the mid 1800's. Before that, contrabass trombones were
used more often. They are more common recently, and are used in symphonies,
operas, and in movie recordings. I've even used my older Minick contrabass trombone
in some recordings with the Tim Davies Big Band.
Contrabass trombones were originally in BBb with no valves, but since the
invention of valves, F has been the preferred key. And don't even start with us about what a "true contra" is or is not.
We
don't want to hear it. I for one believe the voice of an instrument is
determined more by the range in which it plays well than by its
overall length.
There are only a few options for the contrabass trombone buyer.
Few are imported into the US.
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Kanstul
It's about time for a great US made contrabass trombone. Zig
Kanstul has now built a new F contrabass trombone, and it's a winner. The
slide is .562"/.593" dual bore with conical end crook and no handle - the positions are short
enough not to warrant it. Valves are in-line Kanstul CR rotary
valves, in .620" and .655" bore. Yellow brass bell is 10.25" diameter, includes custom mouthpiece,
super strong trombone stand, and Cronkhite gig bag.
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Kanstul
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F contrabass
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New model in F, dual inline Controlled Resistance rotary valves, dual
bore slide, removable leadpipe, adjustable trigger paddles, custom
hand brace, includes Cronkhite case, mouthpiece, and super-burley
trombone stand, lacquered brass with nickel trim or all silver
plate, handmade in Los Angeles. Unlacquered prototype #1 is pictured
below.
As played in Los Angeles by Phil Teele, George Thatcher, Bruce
Otto, and Craig Gosnell. The unlacquered model below was
purchased by Paul Pollard of the Hong Kong Philharmonic.
Others have gone around the world to: Tom Kessler, Dwight Stone, Jim
Daniels, David Coats, Wayne Soloman (Fresno Philharmonic), George
Gollub, Alan Criado, Michael Forsyth, Kazushi Imamura (Japan), Jared
Rodin, Bill Pritchard, Offut Air Force Base, and Sandy Barrows.
A few snaps of Phil Teele trying out his new
Kanstul contrabass in silver plate:
Update: New models
feature a new ergonomic grip and tapered lower cork barrel, pics
below, scroll down a bit.
Here are some pics of the new ergonomic lower cork barrel:
And here is a pic of the Kanstul contrabass next to a Glassl Eb bass
baroque Posaune, so you can get some idea of size:
And here is a pic we're proud of: Five Kanstuls in a row:
Here's one in silver plate:
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New
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$8250 |
An oddity, the Minick G model
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Pictured above is my Minick contrabass trombone. Long ago, Jeff
Reynolds of the Los Angeles Philharmonic was playing with a G bass
trombone, and called his friend Larry Minick to see if Larry would
make a contrabass trombone in G. This would have the large bell
section of an F contra, but would use a standard length bass trombone
slide. Positions would be slightly shorter than on the F contra, some
keys would be simpler to play in, and more standard bass trombone
parts could be used in order to save the expense ot some new tooling.
I play Jeff's original Minick G contra, and he still owns another
one. I think about 6 were made. Minick also made several BBb contras,
though I haven't tried one. This G model is quirky, but plays all the
things an F contra would. I use a Doug Elliot mouthpiece. Though
short compared to the other contras, this Minick isn't just a G bass
trombone (which looks like a really long King 2B BTW), but is a much
larger instrument with a great low range, and not so great upper
range, but I deal with it.
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