History
In the days of Michael Praetorius (1618), the length of the Trummscheit was 7' 3" and the three sides at the base measured 7", tapering to 2" at the neck. There was at first only one string, generally a D cello string. The heavy bow, similar to that of the cello, is used between the highest positions of the left hand at the nodal points and the nut of the head. In a Trummscheit in the collection of the Kgl. Hochschule, at Charlottenburg (No. 772 in catalogue) the frets are lettered A, D, F, A, D, F, G, A, B, C, D.
In Germany, at the time when the trumpet was extensively used in the churches, nuns often substituted the tromba marina because women were not allowed to play trumpets — whence the name Nonnengeige (literally, nuns' violin). In France, the Grande Ecurie du Roi comprised five trumpets-marine and cromornes among the band in 1662, when the charge was mentioned for the first time in the accounts; and in 1666 the number was increased to six. The instrument fell into disuse during the first half of the 18th century (see equal temperament), and was only to be seen in the hands of itinerant and street musicians. In modern times, the group Corvus Corax still regularly plays the tromba marina.
Read more about this topic: Tromba Marina
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