The history of the trumpet - Essay Example

However, this is only the recorded history and the presence of trumpet can be older. Initially trumpet was not used as a musical instrument, but for martial and religious purposes. Historically, trumpets were of grand importance as militarily, they were employed by trumpeters for delivering commands to troops present at far away distances. Bugle, a form of trumpet is used in place of trumpet in today’s military just as a conventional instrument. Trumpet as a musical instrument go through betterment during the middle Ages and Renaissance (Downey 29).

The technique of designing and crafting the trumpet also got better with time. This paper elaborates the historical presence and importance of trumpet and traces it back to its origin. Trumpet has got the reputation of highest register in terms of brass musical instruments. Historically, trumpet is among the oldest most musical instruments. When a trumpet is used, a buzzing sound is created that is made by blowing air with the support of a whistling posture of the lips. The trumpet that is found today is made up with brass tubing that is a quality that it gained after the fifteenth century.

It is present in many forms nowadays and is used as a musical instrument while its historic form was not altogether musical (Tarr 62). During the sixteenth century, military and courts both used the trumpets for their own purposes. Usage of trumpet started becoming famous in Germany during the sixteenth century. The ending of this century marks the usage of trumpet in musical terms and before this, it was mostly used for courtly and military reasons. Initially, the trumpeters made use of low pitched sounds, but later on, they also made use of high pitched sounds.

The musicians also started to use diversified harmonic series (Brownlow 78). The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw the heighted version of the trumpet. Famous composers like Leopold and Michael were famous in terms of their musical compositions. For courtly purposes, the D and C keys in trumpets were employed while for military purposes, Eb and F keys in trumpets were employed. Diverse registers of trumpets were played by the musicians of the era (Barclay 46). When the valves were introduced to the trumpet, the interest of musicians in the usage of trumpet increased.

In the nineteenth century, the trumpet was no more a common musical instrument as it became an orchestral instrument. At this time, the F key in trumpet along with crooks were employed that made the trumpet more interesting as a musical instrument (Tarr 93). The shape and form of trumpet had improvements with the passage of time. The valves took the place of crooks with the time and improvement of the trumpet as a musical instrument. The size of the trumpet also saw transformations. The improvements in the trumpet enabled the musicians to play the trumpet with much ease and sound (Wallace & McGrattan 116).

The trumpet’s first known form was Alphorn that was constructed by means of a tree trunk. The trumpet has high pitched sound and big appearance. It was generally employed for flocking cattle, beckoning groups of people, religious preaching and war related messages by military. The 17th century that was also called baroque era saw the transformation of Alphorn into trumpet (Smither 358). The initial trumpets were called natural trumpets, which was constructed by means of metal. Previously, tree trunk was used in place of metal.

The trumpets that were created then were in form of elongated cylindrical tubes having a