History of Primitive and Non-Western Trumpets - Early Manufactured Trumpets

Early Manufactured Trumpets

The earliest artificial trumpets appeared before the end of the Neolithic, and were adapted from the natural models provided by animal-horns and conch-shells. They were – and in some parts of the world are still – made from a variety of perishable and non-perishable materials, including bark, wood, gourds, bamboo, horn, bone, ivory, clay and, of course, metal. Early metallic trumpets were either hammered from sheets of a suitable metal (e.g. silver) or cast in bronze by the lost-wax method. Among these primitive trumpets the following may be noted:

• The ancient Nordic lur was made of bronze and dates back to the Late Bronze Age (1000–500 BCE). This extraordinary instrument consisted of an elaborate S-shaped conical tube, usually about 2 metres in length, with a slightly flared bell. It was an end-blown natural trumpet, and sounded rather like a modern trombone. To date, fifty-six lurs have been found: forty-five in Denmark, eleven in Sweden, four in Norway, five in northern Germany, and one in Latvia. They have often been discovered in matching pairs, which suggests that they were used for ceremonial or religious purposes, rather than as instruments of war. The original name of the instrument is unknown.
• The Celtic carnyx was also made of bronze, and was used as an instrument of war during the Iron Age (c. 300 BCE – 200 CE). It consisted of a cylindrical tube about 2 metres long; the bell was elaborately carved to resemble a wild boar’s head, with a movable tongue and jaw; the mouthpiece was curved. The carnyx was held vertically with the bell above the player’s head. The instrument is most often associated with the Celts, but is now known to have been used also by the inhabitants of ancient Dacia. A similar S-shaped trumpet from the Iron Age has been found at Loughnashade in Ireland. Named the trumpa créda (archaic Irish for “bronze trumpet”), it consists of two curved tubes of bronze, each comprising a quarter circle, one of which is of conical bore and one of cylindrical bore, with a joint in the middle. The Loughnashade trumpet is generally displayed with the two halves joined together to make a semicircle, but it is now thought to have been played with the two parts bending in opposite directions to make an S-shaped trumpet not unlike the carnyx, to which it may have been related.
• In India the primitive shringa or kombu was adapted to make a great variety of metallic trumpets. The modern kombu is generally a C-shaped instrument made of brass or copper, with a conical bore and a detachable mouthpiece. It is still played at weddings and funerals, and during religious processions. There are two sizes of kombu: the small timiri kombu and the large bari kombu. Another type of brass kombu – known variously as turi, bānkiā, bargu, banke, ransingha, narsingha, narsĩgā and nagphani in different parts of the subcontinent – is S-shaped and looks remarkably like the trumpa créda of Ireland. Indigenous straight trumpets have been made in India since the Neolithic and are still found today in various guises and under various names: turahi, turya, tutari, tuttoori, bhongal, kahal, kahala, and bhenr. The booraga of Sanskrit literature was possibly also a straight trumpet made of brass or copper.
• The wooden lur of medieval Scandinavia (not to be confused with the much earlier bronze instrument to which it has lent its name) is referred to in the Icelandic sagas as an instrument of war, used to marshal troops and frighten the enemy. It is also mentioned by Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum. This particular species of lur was a straight, end-blown natural trumpet, with a cylindrical tube about 1 metre long. It was made of wood – typically by cutting a thick branch in half lengthwise and hollowing it out, and then rejoining the two halves, which are secured with tar and willow osiers. A similar instrument, but secured with birch, known as the birch trumpet, has been used in Nordic countries since the Middle Ages as a signalling instrument and to call cattle.
• The Lithuanian daudytė is a natural wooden trumpet similar to the wooden lur of Scandinavia; its sections are held together with putty and linen yarn.
• The alphorn, or alpenhorn, is a distinctive natural wooden horn with a conical bore, upturned bell and cup-shaped mouthpiece. It has been used as a signalling instrument in the Alpine regions of Europe for about two millennia. The alphorn is generally carved from the solid softwood of the spruce or pine. In former times alphorn makers would use a tree that was already bent at the base, but today’s alphorns are pieced together from separate sections, which are secured with bark or gut. The cup-shaped mouthpiece is usually carved out of a block of hardwood.
• The Australian didjeridu is one of the best known species of primitive trumpet. A natural wooden trumpet, it has been in continuous use among the aboriginal peoples of Australia for at least 1500 years, and possibly much longer. It is usually manufactured from the trunk of a hardwood tree, such as the eucalyptus, which has been suitably hollowed out by termites. The instrument is typically about 1 to 1.5 metres long; the bore may be conical or cylindrical. By vibrating his lips against the mouthhole the player can produce a deep drone; the note so produced may be sustained indefinitely by means of a technique called circular breathing. Today the didjeridu is frequently played as a solo instrument for recreational purposes, though it was traditionally used to accompany dancing and singing on ceremonial occasions.
• The Ugandan arupepe is a natural wooden trumpet covered with animal hide.
• The molimo is a wooden trumpet used by the Mbuti people of the Congo to awaken the spirit of the Ituri Rainforest. It is also the name of the elaborate ritual in which the instrument plays a vital role.
• Bone trumpets made from human femurs (khang ling) and tiger femurs (stag ling) can still be found in the Himalayas, where they are associated with Buddhist tantra. In Tibet the human thigh-bone trumpet is called the rkan-dun (or rkang-gling) and plays an important role in the traditional shamanistic religion known as Bön. In the Tibetan language the word dun means both “trumpet” and “bone”! Brass replicas of bone trumpets are also known in Tibet.
• The borija, a short natural trumpet found in Yugoslavia, is made from the spiral shavings of the willow or ash, bound firmly into a conical tube about 50 cm long.
• The obsolete tāšu taure of Latvia was of similar design to the borija, but it was made from birch bark and could be up to 150 cm long.
• In the Amazon Rainforest giant trumpets up to four metres in length are made from tightly coiled bark; sticks are attached to one or both sides of the instruments to support them and prevent sagging.
• Bamboo trumpets can be found in many parts of Africa and South America, but are almost unheard of in the bamboo-rich regions of China and South-East Asia. A notable exception is provided by the bamboo “brass-band” tradition of Sulawesi, which is actually quite a recent tradition. In the 19th century Dutch missionaries introduced European brass bands to the island; later, in the 1920s, local craftsmen began to make bamboo replicas of these modern instruments. Today most replicas are made of zinc, though bamboo examples can still be found in isolated pockets, such as the Sangir Archipelago, which lies to the north of Sulawesi.
• Gourds, the hollow, dried shells of the fruit of a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, can be adapted quite easily to make natural trumpets. Gourd trumpets have been used in Africa for centuries, and are also to be found in Asia and the Americas; one particular variety of gourd, the calabash, is even known as the “trumpet gourd”. The gourd trumpet was also used by the Aztecs and other indigenous peoples of Central America. One notable variety, the Mayan Hom-Tah, has been compared to the Australian didjeridu. Among the gourd trumpets that are still in use today is the waza of the Berta people, who live in the Blue Nile region of the Sudan.

• Most trumpets fashioned from the ivory tusks of an elephant are of African origin; both end-blown and side-blown varieties can still be found in some parts of the continent today. The most notable exception is the medieval olifant, a short, thick, end-blown trumpet carved from ivory, which was apparently introduced to Europe by the Saracens at the time of the Crusades; a Middle Eastern instrument, the olifant was possibly adapted by the Arabs from African models, which have a long history.
• Clay trumpets can be found in South America, India, Western Europe and parts of Africa. South American varieties include imitations of conch-shell trumpets, such as the potuto of Peru. The Horniman Museum in London has a red-and-white-marbled clay Portuguese trumpet which was obviously copied from a brass instrument. Coiled clay trumpets probably derive from animal-horn or conch-shell models. Peru had long straight clay trumpets called pungacuqua or puuaqua which were up to 1.5 m long and were blown in pairs, as was the botuto from the Orinoco basin. Clay trumpets have also been found in Mayan cities in Central America.