Why do valve trombones exist?

They saw the invention of valves as holding the prospect of improving playing techniques and also having other practical advantages – especially for military musicians. They attempted to design instruments that preserved the essential sound quality of the slide trombone, and many were successful.

What is a trombone valve?

Modern bass trombones have one or (more commonly) two valves which, when engaged, lower the pitch of the instrument. The first valve lowers the key of the instrument to F. There are two types of second valve—one type lowers the key to G♭, the other, less common, type lowers it to G.

What is the purpose of valves on brass instruments?

Brass instrument valves are valves used to change the length of tubing of a brass instrument allowing the player to reach the notes of various harmonic series. Each valve pressed diverts the air stream through additional tubing, individually or in conjunction with other valves.

Do trombones have valves?

The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Unlike most other brass instruments, which have valves that, when pressed, alter the pitch of the instrument, trombones instead have a telescoping slide mechanism that varies the length of the instrument to change the pitch.

How does a Thayer valve work?

Solution. The Thayer Valve uses a conical plug, allowing a deflection of the airflow by only 25 degrees or less. As a result, the response and tone colour are nearly unchanged from those of the open instrument, even for twin-valve bass trombones using the in-line configuration.

What are valves used for?

A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways.

How do valves work?

Blood passes through a valve before leaving each chamber of the heart. The valves prevent the backward flow of blood. Valves are actually flaps (leaflets) that act as one-way inlets for blood coming into a ventricle and one-way outlets for blood leaving a ventricle.

Are all trombones the same size?

Trombone bores generally come in three sizes: small bore, medium bore, and large bore. The smaller the bore, the less breath is required, resulting in an instrument that is easier to play and which boasts a subtle, mellow timbre.

Does trombone have three valves?

The F attachment is engaged by using a trigger which operates a valve (this is different from the three-valved valve trombone). This type of trombone is typically built with a larger bore size (0.525 or 0.547 inches (13.3 or 13.9 mm)) and is known as a B♭/F trombone, F-attachment trombone, or trigger trombone.

What is the purpose of a valve trombone?

The Trombone Valve (or F-attachment) The F-attachment on the trombone has two main purposes:  It provides alternate slide positions for some notes.  It provides a few lower notes.  (It can also allow certain trills, but this is an advanced concept).

How many valves does the trombone have?

The valves give 2^3 = 8 possible tubing lengths (which can be further adjusted with a small trombone-style slide as well, for tuning purposes). The combination of those 8 lengths and the harmonics of their associated fundamental tones gives many more than eight notes.

What is the price of a trombone?

On average, the prices of a trombone can range anywhere from as little as $300 for a student version to as much as $9,000 for a professional brand. For example, alto trombones can retail for $300 to $4,000 while a small bore tenor trombone can cost $700 to $3,500 brand new.