25AN-Darmstaedter Salaberger.pdf - 5th Conference on ...

Integral Curve versus Separate Bell. New Aspects on the Construction Modes of 

Crumhorns. 

Beatrix Darmstädter, Dietmar <strong>Salaberger</strong> 

The research project 

In 2007 the Collection of Historical Musical Instruments in Vienna (Sammlung alter 

Musikinstrumente des Kunsthistorischen Museums Wien, SAM) initiated a research project 

expediting the documentation and measuring of 27 Renaissance wind instruments including 

all cornettos and crumhorns belonging to the collection. Funded by the Austrian Science Fund 

(Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung, FWF) this project (P19924-G13) 

was set out in co-operation with the Institute for Measuring and Test Engineering of the 

Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschule Oberösterreich, Campus 

Wels, FH OÖ), specialized in Industrial Computed Tomography (CT). 

As opposed to the multislice CT-scanner employed mostly for medical purposes, the FH OÖ 

possesses devices applied to industrial assays featuring a modern volumetric format 

representing the musical instrument in its complete 3D-structure. 

The CT turned out to be the ideal measuring method especially for the curved sections of 

crumhorns, which extract themselves from common manual measuring processes. 

The method 

Computed tomography (CT) is a radiographic non- destructive testing-method to locate and 

size volumetric details in three dimensions. The main advantages of this method are the 

reasonable high scanning speed, the high resolution and that the specimen is neither touched 

nor influenced in any other way during the measurement. Since the development of CT 

systems especially for industrial applications started, the field of applications has widely 

spread from automotive and aeronautic industry to biological, arts and archaeological 

science 1, 2, 3, 4 . 

Beside the possibility to look into the specimen non-destructively it became more and more 

important to measure geometrical details inside the specimen which is not possible with any 

other method. 

The principle of an industrial CT scanner is very similar to a medical whereas x-ray 

generation and detection as well as the measurement procedure differ a little since the 

materials to investigate differ too. It is therefore possible to irradiate heavy and large 

specimen made of metals as well as plastics or biological matter with high resolution. 

Principle and construction of an industrial CT scanner are shown in fig 1. 

The x-rays penetrate the specimen and generate a projection image on the digital detector. By 

rotating the object and taking several (typ. 720) images, a mathematical algorithm is capable 

of reconstructing the 3D geometry of the specimen. The method is sensitive on density 

1 

Johann Kastner, Daniel Heim, Dietmar <strong>Salaberger</strong> - Advanced applications of computed tomography by 

combination of different methods - Proceedings of European <strong>Conference</strong> on Non-Destructive Testing 2006, 

Berlin 2006, pp. 12. 

2 K. D. Bouzakis, Kyriakos Efstathiou, Dietmar <strong>Salaberger</strong>, Johann Kastner - Design and manufacturing aspects 

of a vaginal speculum of antiquity as investigated by computed tomographies - Journal of Archeological 

Science, Vol. 35, No. 1, 2008, pp. 633-642. 

3 Gabriella Dvorak, Reinhard Gruber, Dietmar <strong>Salaberger</strong>, Gerald Zanoni - Trabecular Bone Structures in - 

Journal of Dental Research, Vol. 87, No. 9, 2008, pp. 866-870. 

4 

Dietmar <strong>Salaberger</strong>, Johann Kastner, Wolfgang Stadlbauer, Gernot Zitzenbacher, Rotraut Freytag - 

Determination of diameter, length and three-dimensional distribution - Proceedings of PPS-24, Salerno 2008, pp. 

1. 

1

differences and atomic number. Different materials are therefore represented by different gray 

values. 

The device used for the presented measurements was a RayScan 250 E manufactured by Ray 

Scan Technologies GmbH (Meersburg, Germany) 

We used a micro-focus tube and a flat panel detector with 1024 x 1024 pixels. 

Fig. 1: Scheme and photo of an industrial CT scanner 

To achieve the highest resolutions for each instrument up to 6 successive measurements were 

performed. Since the object size itself determines the achievable resolution especially due to 

the curved ending of the crumhorns the higher resolution could only be applied at the straight 

part. To get an overview of the whole instrument measurements with the best possible 

resolution for the curved ending were applied. (275 µm/Voxel) In addition to that scans with 

highest possible resolution (150 µm/Voxel) were done for the straight parts. 

The measurement time for one scan was 35 minutes, mainly defined by the number of 

projections that was set to 810. The time to scan the whole specimen was up to 3.5 hours 

whereas always two crumhorns were scanned together. 

The result of a CT scan consists of a 3D dataset that can be evaluated both manually and 

automatically. Standard-software is available that is used to visualise the data and to do some 

simple evaluations. Especially for dimensional measurement algorithms and tools have to be 

developed to be able to extract the wanted information. 

For the determination of the geometrical data of the crumhorns software was developed to 

determine diameters automatically. In some cases, especially in the curved regions, diameters 

had to be determined manually. Beside the gain in evaluation speed the automatic evaluation 

allows to determine the geometrical data more accurately. 

The automatic evaluation determines a medial axis of the more or less straight part of the 

instrument. The inner and outer diameter is determined perpendicular to this medial axis. The 

analysis of the curved part of the instruments would have needed the development of very 

complex software. This was not feasible for this study hence diameters in the heavily curved 

regions were determined manually. Fig. 2 shows the regions for automatic and manual 

evaluation. 

The slice image of SAM 678 shows a very bright area that represents the metal key. Due to 

the high differences in density the CT result contains measurement failure (artefacts) in this 

region. In some cases it was not possible to determine geometric values in these regions. For 

example at SAM 679 diameters could not be determined on position 428 and 438. 

2

In the 3D image of SAM 206 the outer as well as the inner structure of the instrument are 

visible. In regular intervals circles were fit to the inner and the outer shape of the slice views. 

The slices were aligned perpendicular to the medial axis before the fit. To determine the 

diameters gray value profiles were measured manually using the centre of the fitted circles as 

reference. 

Fig. 2: Slice vies of SAM 678 with separation of automatic and manual evaluation (left), 3D semitransparent 

view of SAM 206 with circle fits to support manual evaluation (right) 

In fig. 3 a slice view is shown where the white line gives the direction of diameter evaluation. 

This direction will be oriented in the 3D- space according to the direction of the medial axis. 

The main issue of dimensional measurement in CT data is to define the surface point most 

accurately 5 . For this reason the gradient of gray values along the defined direction is 

determined. At the position of maximum and minimum gradients the surface points are 

located and the diameters can be calculated. 

Fig. 3: Slice view of SAM 678 with direction of evaluation (left), Gray value gradients along this direction 

(right) 

5 Johann Kastner, Dietmar <strong>Salaberger</strong>, Christoph Heinzl - Measurement of microparts and reproducible surface 

extraction -PTB-Report Geometrymeasurement by industrial CT, Braunschweig 2007, pp. 181-192. 

3

Historic context and interpretation of the data 

The crumhorn, evidently, got its name from the curved lower part of its body - the most eyecatching 

feature of the instrument. Crumhorns appeared before 1500 and were mainly played 

in German and Italian regions 6 . Early iconographic evidence of crumhorns accrues in the 

German area: Sebastian Virdung publishes his Musica getutscht in 1511 where he pictures a 

consort of four crumhorns [Krumhörner] close to a bladder pipe [Platerspil] and a kind of 

curved cornetto [Krumhorn] 7 . The four crumhorns without keys represent a high consort; 

their shape and their curved sections are entirely conform to the style and outer form of the 

bladder pipe. The bend of the curved part of the smaller instruments has almost the form of a 

circular arc. Between 1512 and 1519 The Triumphal Procession for Maximilian I., including 

the woodcut Musica Schalmeyen, Pusaunen vnd Krumphörner by Hans Burgkmair was 

created 8 . Two crumhorns form a part in an ensemble with two shawms and a trombone that is 

played by the portrayed Hans Neuschel, the father of the famous instrument maker Jörg 

Neuschel. One of the musicians playing the crumhorn turns his back towards the viewer so 

that the upper part of the tube is invisible. The lower part of the instrument shows a bend in 

the form of a semicircle with the conical bell section pointing at the musician. Martin 

Agricola publishes in his Musica instrumentalis deudsch 1528 a woodcut that shows a consort 

of four crumhorns similar in design to Virdung's instruments, which seems to be indicative of 

Agricola's arrangement: The Kromphörner precede the Platerspiel and the Krumphorn 

tagging curved natural horns with finger holes 9 . Concerning the fingering charts Virdung 

takes exclusively the recorders into consideration that provide the basis for the playing of 

other woodwind instruments using a similar fingering system, whereas Agricola enhances the 

charts with fingerings for the crumhorns. The bending of the bass crumhorn progresses in a 

wide curve; the descant crumhorn shows very individual proportions, too: The bending with 

its bell reaches up to a third of the instrument's standing height and ends between the third and 

fourth finger hole. The plate XIII of the Theatrum Instrumentorum of the Syntagma Musicum 

by Michael Praetorius sources a set of five crumhorns in the pitch of c 1 /d 1 (exilent), g/a 

(descant), c/d (alto), f/g with two keys and two sliders to C/D (tenor) and A/Bb/C/D with one 

key (bass) 10 . The form of the wind cap with its trim lines and its long tapered form as well as 

the beads under the reed cap are commensurate to the cap and style of preserved historic 

instruments. Compared to the short wind caps of crumhorns depicted in the books of Virdung 

and Agricola one can assume that around 1600 the musicians used staples of mutable lengths 

permitting an easy adjustment of the instrument to differing pitch standards and that the caps 

in general were designed to house reeds on longer staples than the generation around 1500 

played with. The position of the thumb hole, the finger holes, resonance holes, keys and 

6 The Spanish dulçayna and the French douchaine were cylindrical bored double reed instruments without 

windcaps. These most likely straight shaped oboe-like instruments appeared in Sevilla and Rome in c. 1295, as a 

literary description of a poet's wedding respectively a description of Italian musicians and another literary 

mention in the Roman de Fauvel (Paris, c. 1316-1320) say. The storto, the Italian equivalent of the crumhorn, 

emerges 1518 in Brescia, where a set of instruments was offered as a gift to the Gonzaga dynasty. (Kenton Terry 

Meyer: The Crumhorn. Its History, Design, Repertory, and Technique, Studies in Musicology No. 66, Ann 

Arbor 1981, p. 218, 236, 240). 

7 Sebastian Virdung: Musica Getutscht, Basel 1511, [fol. 15], (facsimile reprint, ed. Klaus Wolfgang Niemöller, 

Kassel 1983). At Virdung's time the German term for curved cornetto was Krumhorn, too - that may cause 

confusion as far as the terminology is concerned. 

8 Triumphzug Maximilians I., copy of the woodcut Musica Schalmayen, Pusaunen vnd Krumphörner by Hans 

Burgkmair, exhibition of SAM. 

9 Martin Agricola: Musica instrumentalis deudsch, Wittemberg 1528, p. 21, (facsimile reprint, ed. Gesellschaft 

für Musikforschung, Leipzig 1896). 

10 Michael Praetorius: Syntagma Musicum, vol. II, De Organographia, Wolfenbüttel 1619, plate XIII, (facsimile 

reprint, ed. Wilibald Gurlitt, Basel, New York 1964). 

4

sliders is realistic. The bend of the smaller instruments does not indicate a segment of a circle 

but it has a l-like shape with the open end pointing straight forward and not up to the 

musician. In the Syntagma Musicum the bell section of the depicted instruments widens 

slightly and gets a typical oval form. 

In Italy an early iconographic reference for the use of crumhorns is given by Lorenzo Costa in 

his Il Trionfo della Morte in 1490 11 where a putto holds a crumhorn with a clear visible 

resonance hole at the beginning of the curved section in his left hand. The simple form of the 

short cylindrical reed cap, the broad beak and the style of the bending are similar to the 

instruments printed by Virdung and Agricola who just depicted schematically six finger holes 

in the lower section of the tube. In 1510 Vittorio Carpaccio painted the Presentazione di Gesù 

al Tempio 12 with an angel in the foreground playing a descant () crumhorn ornamented with 

two beads under the reed cap. The end section of the bending leaves the mark of a more 

elaborated appearance and workmanship as the other iconographic sources around 1500 do. 

The frontal perspective chosen for the painting disallows any conclusion concerning the form 

of the bending; beyond doubt the bend is pronounced and the bell section points towards the 

musician. 

The virtual lengthening of the bell ends of the crumhorns depicted at Virdung and Agricola 

subtends the perpendicular major axis of the instrument schematically at an angle of approx. 

90°. In some cases the open end of the tube is chamfered, like Agricola adumbrates at the 

descant and Virdung at the bass crumhorn. The drawings on a realistic scale by Praetorius 

show angles between approx. 147° (descant) and 109° (bass) redounding to a change of the 

instrument's appearance. 

As crumhorns never have been popular instruments in France, Marin Mersenne uses in his 

Harmonie Universelle the organological description of the Musette for introducing the 

Tornebout with their main pipe Chalumeau which parameters correspond in general with the 

features of the crumhorn 13 . The two crumhorns depicted close to the description are 

perspectively distorted schematic representations with aspects pointing at the models around 

1500 and with elements of more recent instruments. 

The historical iconographic report on early crumhorns focuses exclusively on instruments 

with integral curves. 

Separate Bells 

Instrument makers sometimes decided to build crumhorns with separate bells and only few of 

them are conserved in collections. 

Besides the feature of the separate bell these instruments with their eye-catching ornaments, 

carvings and precious materials are designed highly individually. The descant crumhorn with 

a detachable bell in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum (Mu 127) is evocative of a bagpipe 

chanter remodelled in a crumhorn. Within the 17th century, when the tradition of crumhorn 

playing was already expired, the use of chanters as separately played crumhorns was not an 

uncommon custom as, for instance, Mersenne writes in his Harmonie Universelle, who 

certifies that "all chanters of the bagpipes need to be covered with a wind cap" and that "they 

11 Andrea Bornstein: Gli strumenti musicali del Rinascimento, Padova 1987, p. 107. Adelheid Rech dates the 

fresco Il trionfo della Morte in San Giacomo Maggiore Bologna with 1488. (www.essentialvermeer.com [27-2- 

2009]). At the same time the first Krummhorn-organ registers are proven in the German speaking region, for 

instance 1489 in the Dreikönigskirche in Dresden. (Christhard Mahrenholz: Die Orgelregister, Kassel 1968, 

p.135 and Kenton Terry Meyer: The Crumhorn. Its History, Design, Repertory, and Technique, Studies in 

Musicology No. 66, Ann Arbor 1981, p. 220). 

12 

Karl Geiringer: Instrumente in der Musik des Abendlandes, Munich 1982, tab. 36. (The painting 

Presentazione di Gesù al Tempio is preserved at the Accademia Art Gallery Venice.) 

13 Marin Mersenne: Harmonie Universelle, vol. 3, Paris 1636, p. 290 (facsimile reprint, ed. François Lesure, 

Paris 1986). 

5

have more sweetness and power, if they are blown directly instead of connecting them to the 

bag because one can articulate by using the tongue" 14 . The reed cap of Mu 127 and its bell are 

unique: The bell's conical opening faces forward, its outer surface is decorated with carvings 

and it has an irregular ending. The cylindrical thick-walled reed cap is made of wood and 

ivory; the ornaments resemble the decorations of bagpipes. The keys 15 , probably closing the 

two little finger holes, are missing. Just one single brass eyelet, assumedly served as a key 

mounting, remained. Usually keys were neither used to close two little finger holes on 

woodwind instruments nor chanters normally have been made with two lateral little finger 

holes, so it seems that this instrument is an exception. Mu 127 came into the Munich 

collection at the latest in 1883 16 and was without much doubt made within the 19th century or 

during the 2nd half of the 18th century. From the ethnographical point of view the style of the 

ornaments resembles instruments of the former Yugoslavian region 17 . 

An interesting form features the three "toy crumhorns" with detachable bells preserved in the 

SAM (SAM 295, SAM 296 SAM 297). Julius Schlosser defined that the crumhorns belong to 

the 30 toy instruments coming from the Ambras collection 18 . Walter Senn specified that the 

inventory of the Ambraser Kunstkammer refers to a "clain langlechts weißes Gstätele" 

brought to Ambras in 1666 which contained seven "Tockeninstrumente" including "vier 

Instrument, zway Geigen und ain Lauthen" 19 . Due to the fact that in the 17th century the 

German term "Instrument" usually named keyboard instruments, psalteria or dulcimers it is 

unlikely that the three crumhorns were subsumed. On the other hand Schlosser relates to the 

fact that the 30 toy instruments he mentions in his catalogue left the Ambras collection in 

1821 and were all together brought to Vienna - even if they never had been documented in 

inventories as contiguous items 20 . The three miniature ivory-crumhorns (SAM 295, SAM 296, 

SAM 297) with conical inner bores have one thumb hole and seven equidistant frontal finger 

holes as well as shawm-like blowing contrivances (SAM 295). These constructional 

parameters indicate more the symbolic character of objects presented in art and curiosity 

chambers than the intention of a replica. The fine decorative rings, the proper bore of the tube 

and the accurate execution of the finger holes argue for an experienced craftsmanship. 

The most interesting feature of these crumhorns is the round detachable bell 21 in form of a u- 

pipe covering c. 1/3 of the sounding length 22 . This section continues the conical bore of the 

tube. For stabilising the u-formed tube consisting of two separately gouged out halves the 

14 Marin Mersenne: Harmonie Universelle, vol. 3, Paris 1636, p. 289, (facsimile reprint, ed. François Lesure, 

Paris 1986). "Ceux qui vsent du Chalumeau de la Musette sans se seruir de la peau & des Bourdons, mettent la 

boette AB sur l'anche: elle se void icy separée, & puis posée sur ladite anche, qui paroist à trauers comme si la 

boette estoit de crystal[...]" and "[...] car tous les Chalumeaux de la Musette se doiuent sonner à couuert, & ont 

beaucoup plus de grace & de vigueur estant embouchez, que quand ils tiennent à la peau, parce que l'on articule 

leurs sons par le moyen de la langue, comme i'ay remarqué en parlant des autres instrumens;" 

15 Bettina Wackernagel: Holzblasinstrumente, Kataloge des Bayerischen Nationalmuseums, vol. XXII, Tutzing 

2005, p. 151. 

16 Wackernagel, 2005, 152. 

17 Wackernagel, 2005, 152. 

18 Julius Schlosser: Die Sammlung alter Musikinstrumente, beschreibendes Verzeichnis, Publikationen aus den 

Sammlungen für Plastik und Kunstgewerbe, vol. III, Vienna 1920, p. 99. 

19 Walter Senn: Musik und Theater am Hof zu Innsbruck, Innsbruck 1954, p. 341. The identification of these 

"Tockeninstrumente" by analyzing their stylistic characteristics yields the result that the violin (SAM 279), the 

bass cittern (SAM 281), the cittern (SAM 282), the lute (SAM 283), the dulcimer (SAM 284), the psalterium 

(SAM 285) and the clavichord (SAM 286) were mentioned in the Ambras inventory from 1666. The idea of 

Schlosser that these fragile items served as toys for the crown prince is - from a present-day perspective - rather 

implausible. 

20 Schlosser, 1921, 100. 

21 The bell is missing at item SAM 297. 

22 SAM 296 with the bell length of 54 mm has the sounding length of 164 mm and SAM 295 with the bell length 

of 42 mm has the sounding length of 127 mm (outer measurements, without staple). 

6

ends are made in form of decorated rings. Especially the upper ring helps to avoid cracks in 

the region of the socket. 

Seeing the crumhorns of the Viennese collection Curt Sachs indicated - without mentioning 

supporting evidence - that crumhorns with detachable bells belong, together with the models 

of stringed instruments of the Ambras collection, to the earliest types and he dated them from 

around 1500 23 . 

The crumhorn SAM 203 was often copied and has been subject of research since the early 

20th century. Instrument makers and musicologists applied themselves to this unique 

instrument because of its individual construction. Two surprising facts can be seen: The 

instrument of boxwood with a thumb hole, six frontal finger holes and two lateral little finger 

holes is accurately turned not carved (fig. 4) and it has a detachable bell. 

Fig 4: SAM 203. The bore does not follow the pith in the centre of the stem but it is turned excentrically. 

Moreover the original reed cap still exists; the brazen staple with its fine, white soldered seam 

looks old. As far as the reed is concerned one should be sceptical about the assessment of 

Julius Schlosser and Kenton T. Mayer, who adjudged the reed put on the instrument as 

original 24 . The comparison of the recent reed with the reed on the photograph printed by 

Meyer suggests that two different reeds are talked over. The crumhorn SAM 203 is signed 

with [star] Ī MILLĀ [star] on the foot of the bell. The instrument maker who used this mark 

is not identified yet; Schlosser hypothesises that it stands for "in Milano" and sees an 

instrument coming from a Milanese workshop 25 . The yellow light-coloured appearance of the 

instrument and the unorthodox form distinguishing this model from other crumhorns, suggest 

that today's SAM 203 is already mentioned in the Ambras inventory of 1596 as "ain gelbs 

krumps Horn" and later on as a "gelb krume alte Schallmeyen" 26 . 

The foot section is made up of two extra parts: a u-shaped compact tube continuing the corpus 

and a thin-walled bell. The tenon to which the u-shaped part is plugged on, has the 

unconventional length of 48.6 mm and reaches till the first resonance hole at the inner side of 

the bend (fig. 5). 

23 Curt Sachs: Das neue Wiener Instrumentenmuseum, Archiv für Musikwissenschaft 1921/III, p. 133: "Ganz 

besonderen Wert möchte ich auf die kleinen Modelle der Ambraser Sammlung legen. Als Spielzeug - und als 

solches haben wir sie auch dann anzusehen, wenn im Einzelfall die Absicht auf die Unterhaltung der Kinder 

nicht ging - müssen sie nach einem allgemeinen Gesetz im wesentlichen die Formen älterer Zeit beruht haben. 

Tatsächlich finden wir unter ihnen die Fiedel mit einwärtsgerichteten C-Löchern, die viersaitige Laute, die 

Cister mit abgesetzten Schultern, das Krummhorn mit besonderem Schallstück - kurz: Typen, die spätestens in 

die Wende des 15. zum 16. Jahrhundert gehören." 

24 Meyer, 1981, 48; Schlosser, 1921, 83. 

25 Schlosser, 1921, 83. 

26 Schlosser, 1921, 83; Senn, 1954, 167. 

7

Fig. 5: SAM 203. The tenon ends short above the first resonance hole. 

In the lower area of the u-shaped joint two bizarre bungs catch one's eye. The bung on the 

player's side is round, has the outer diameter of 10.2 mm and is decorated with four trim lines 

and a small nub in the middle of the bung closing a hole of 4.9 mm diameter leading to the 

inner of the bore. Vis-à-vis an escutcheon-formed bung (fig. 6) closes another hole of 5.5 mm 

diameter, extending into the tube. Its outer surface is decorated with a St. Anrdew's cross that 

is tentatively carved respectively scratched into the wood in a quite superficial manual 

manner. 

Fig. 6: SAM 203. Escutcheon-like bung. 

The white layer - indicating material of higher density - between the bungs and the tube 

shows that the bungs were not just popped into the hole but additionally glued. A second 

resonance hole is bored in the middle of the curved section (fig. 7). 

Fig. 7: SAM 203. Second resonance hole. 

It is noticeable that the diameter of the first resonance hole, with 7.3/7.5 mm (outer position) 

and 8.3/9.0 mm (inner position) is much bigger than the second resonance hole with 5.8/5.5 

mm (outer position) and 5.4/5.3 mm (inner position) and that it has a wide undercutting. The 

first resonance-hole is uneven bored: The outer part shows a smooth surface which 

8

macroscopically appears shiny whereas the surface of the inner part is made in a rough style, 

microscopically it appears fibred (fig. 8a and 8b). 

Fig. 8a: SAM 203. Second resonance hole. 

Fig. 8b: SAM 203. Second resonance hole. 

The second resonance hole is throughout bored in the rough style of the inner part of the first 

resonance hole. 

The exact position of the resonance holes in relation to the sounding length (without staple) is 

414.3 mm and 479.3 mm i.e. at 68% and 79% of the bore-length. 

Around 1900 at least two reproductions of the Viennese crumhorn were mentioned in the 

catalogues of international collections: One instrument is described in the catalogue of the 

Musée Instrumental of the conservatory in Brussels and another () copy got into the Crosby 

Brown Collection in New York 27 . Victor-Charles Mahillon describes the crumhorn in 

Brussels in detail and attests that the first resonance hole ("E") was covered with a horn 

lining 28 . A similar description is given by Julius Schlosser saying: "Im Trichter befindet sich 

ein Luftloch mit Horneinfassung" 29 . Unaccountably there exists no historic photograph 

documenting this feature - even the picture in Schlosser's catalogue does not clearly show an 

insert of horn 30 ; just a drawing by Mahillon lets us forebode the lining (fig. 9). 

Fig. 9: Drawing of SAM 203 by Mahillon. 

27 Catalogue of the Crosby Brown Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Hand-book no. 13, New York 

1904, p.150. 

28 "Une ouverture latérale en E, garnie d'une busette de corne, sert à la production du son le plus grave, de sorte 

que toute la partie située au-delà, vers le pavillon, est d'une minime utilité au point de vue de la sonorité." 

Victor-Charles Mahillon: Catalogue Descriptif et Analytique du Musée Instrumental du Conservatoire Royal de 

Musique de Bruxelles, vol. 2, Brussels 1909, p. 241. 

29 Schlosser, 1921, 83. 

30 Schlosser, 1921, plate XXXIX. 

9

The fact that the outer part of the surface of the first resonance hole appears glossy allows for 

the conclusion that the original horn lining got lost. The pictures from the 3D-tomography 

give helpful information. The slices which lie close to the centre of the hole, show white 

edges in the northern and southern parts of the inner surface indicating a higher density 

possibly hearken back to an inlay made of a stiff material pressing against the wooden surface 

or to residua of glue (fig. 10a). 

10a 

10b 

Fig. 10a: SAM 203. V-shaped cut of the first resonance hole with white traces at the outer edge of the first 

resonance hole. 

Fig. 10b: SAM 203. Indentation in the wall of the first resonance hole. 

In addition the form of the inner walls is unconventional: The inner part of the hole opens 

conically in the direction of the inner tube and has a broad undercutting, whereas the outer 

part of the resonance hole, where the horn insert was reportedly placed in, appears 

cylindrically (fig. 10a). 

Under the ultraviolet lamp one can diagnose white gleaming deposits north-, east- and 

westward in the hole. If there ever has been any insert, the chances are that it was affixed with 

glue. 

Empirically verified the closure of the first resonance hole retards the free vibration of the 

instrument. If one covers the half hole the sound becomes faint. 

The detachable two-part foot joint with the tube's length of 248.0 mm was made in an 

unconventional way. In the northern part the narrow main bore diameter continues in the long 

tenon ranging close to the first resonance hole. At the end of the tenon an abrupt reduplication 

of the bore diameter arises from 6.57/6.74 mm to 13.21/12.97 mm. The radial section on the 

picture shows by means of the characteristics of the annuli that the u-shaped curved joint was 

hewed out of a solid block of wood, whereby, without much doubt, problems occurred in the 

course of manufacturing the bore, that were solved by the instrument maker using a cross-hole 

by dint of two lateral auxiliary holes. The craftsman produced this joint without sufficient 

insight and control, as the bore of the second resonance hole proves. Without assessing the 

run of the cross-holes and the bore diameter, the maker left broad traces of his tools by 

lancing perpendicularly far beyond the bore into the wooden base of the instrument (fig. 11). 

Fig. 11: SAM 203. Efforts to carve out the inner bore in the u-shaped bell section. 

10

Fig. 12: SAM 203. The bore of the whole bell joint. 

For completing the bore towards the bell the instrument maker builds a non-centred bore 

beginning at the end of the tube that - with several inexactnesses - hits the cross-hole (fig. 12). 

The turned bell attached to the u-shaped connection piece has a remarkable form because the 

outer surface is not on a par with the inner form. 

The instrument maker designed a tulip-shaped inner surface, similar to the pear-shaped bell of 

the "d'amore" instruments, with fragile walls of 0.25 mm in some areas (fig. 12), that 

influences the sound colour of the instrument by fortifying the o-formants (400-600 Hz). The 

outer form of the bell appears funnel-shaped and is restrained ornamented with trim lines. The 

upper seam of the bell appears - typical for the "d'amore bells" - narrowed. 

Hypothetical excursus: simulation experiments 31 

The bore profile of this unusual bell is visualized in fig. 13a in the section between c. 430 mm 

and 640 mm. It has an impact on the impedance by irritating the region of the 4th and 8th 

partial tone, where the <strong>5th</strong> and the 8th partials cannot develop clearly. The fundamental tone 

and the second partial do not appear pronounced - a characteristic that is observed at several 

crumhorns as well as at oboes. Fig. 13b shows the amplitude of each harmonic at every 

frequency point. As the black curve (sound level) does not exceed the region around 2500 Hz 

the instrument is not expected to have a powerful sound. Characteristic for SAM 203, the 

peaks of the white curve (sound balance) are not explicitly pronounced, pointing to a wide 

tuning range - especially wherever a pronounced fundamental is missing (e.g.: small c, c# and 

d, bb, b and one-lined c). In the playing range, i.e. in the small octave, the fundamental is - in 

comparison to the impedance curve - stronger than expected. The analysis of the harmonic 

spectrum indicates that in general the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th partial tone dominate (e.g.: small f 

to small g) leading to a capped, nasal sound. 

31 The simulation was carried out with the software of BIAS 62 and VIAS. The bore measurements taken in the 

course of the FWF-project were the fundaments of this experiment. For the simulation of the impedance and for 

the sound analysis a 50 mm long staple was hypothetically calculated and put into the virtual instrument. The 

resonance holes were not considered because the simulation should illustrate the effect of the unconventional 

bell-joint. 

11

Fig. 13a: SAM 203. Scheme of the bore diameter. 

Fig. 13b: SAM 203. Experimental sound analysis (mode: intensity) 32 . 

32 Caption: x-axis: musical note; y-axis left: partials (from bottom to top); y-axis right: frequency Hz 

(logarithmic); reference colours: black -40 to -10 dB; yellow: 58 to 75 dB. 

12

Integral Curves 

The first dated crumhorns (SAM 678 bass; SAM 679 tenor with two keys and extension; 

signed with ) belong today to the SAM and left the workshop of Ioerg Wier (Memmingen) 

in 1522 33 . These instruments bear a likeness to the crumhorns printed in the Syntagma 

Musicum. The caps of both instruments are modern reconstructions, therefore it is not sure 

whether the reed cap of SAM 678 was side-blown, like Praetorius suggests, or end-blown, 

like the instrument turns out to be today. 

The alto/tenor crumhorn SAM 206 signed with a single is ascribed to the workshop of Wier, 

too. Over a third of the surviving crumhorns are marked with the two versions of Wier's 

sign 34 . Although the outer design of SAM 206 differs from the features of SAM 678 and 

SAM 679, the instrument leaves the mark of a crumhorn made by an experienced maker. The 

most striking visual peculiarities are the pattern of the cotton reel, which does not have four 

raised bands apart from a wider band immediately below the cap tenon but just one single 

bead 35 and the shape of the integral curve's end. Whereas normally the upper part of the 

curve's end with its ridge lies higher than the lower part of the tube, SAM 206 shows a 

different layout with the lower part of the tube protruding the upper part of the wall of the 

curve's end. 

The following three diagrams (fig. 14 to 16) show the bore diameter from the last finger hole 

of the 2nd triad to the end of the tube and document clearly three characteristics: At SAM 206 

the conical part of the curve's end is divided into a steep section connecting the main bore 

with the integral curve and a more flat end piece with a distinctive irregular oval elaboration 

resulting from the manual practice of widening the tube respectively the use of certain carving 

tools and scrapers (c). Before the beginning of the conical section of SAM 679 a slight 

narrowing (b) can be seen, which is only adumbrated at this instrument because the design of 

the extension keys leading in general to a modification of the traditional constructional 

parameters. From the 6th frontal finger hole to the (first) resonance hole the bore proceeds 

mainly cylindrically (a). The small mavericks in the graph of SAM 678 indicate the 

accumulation of sand or a disruption of the pith channel in the centre of the stem. 

33 The brazen fontanelle of SAM 678 bears the engraving "1522", flame-like clouds and a lunate moon with a 

man's capped head. SAM 679 shows a fontanelle akin to SAM 678 where an additional writing on an intricate 

banner refers to the maker "IOERG WIER". 

34 Barra Boydell assigned the marks and to Ioerg Wier based on the interpretation of written sources 

especially on a letter by August of Saxony (1563). Barra Boydell: Ioerg Wier an early sixteenth-century 

crumhorn maker, in: Early Music, October 1979, p. 518. 

35 The cotton reel is set on the completed instrument and normally consists of a harder wood than the corpus. 

Since this part is not a primal component of the crumhorn it could be replaced. In the case of SAM 206 no 

evidence for an assured later reconstruction can be stated: Macroscopically the outer surface of the maple cotton 

reel shows the same signs of aging like the rest of the corpus. The wood looks soaked with oil or shellac. Under 

the microscope the upper part of the component is worm infested - like the heart of the tenon. So the 

presumption that a new cotton reel was attached to the tenon after the original one has been destroyed by 

anobiidae is not undoubted. 

13

SAM 206 

hole 6 (front) to end 

26,0 

24,0 

22,0 

diameter [mm] 

20,0 

18,0 

16,0 

14,0 

12,0 

10,0 

8,0 

6,0 

4,0 

2,0 

0,0 

a 

b 

c 

NO/SW 

NW/SO 

304,3 

324,3 

344,3 

364,3 

384,3 

399,7 

419,7 

439,7 

459,7 

479,7 

499,7 

519,7 

539,7 

559,7 

579,7 

599,7 

619,7 

642,5 

length [mm] 

Fig. 14: Graph, curved section of SAM 206. 

SAM 678 


diameter [mm] 

32,0 

30,0 

28,0 

26,0 

24,0 

22,0 

20,0 

18,0 

16,0 

14,0 

12,0 

10,0 

8,0 

6,0 

4,0 

2,0 

0,0 

a 

b 

c 

NO/SW 

NW/SO 

527,3 

547,3 

567,3 

587,3 

607,3 

627,3 

647,3 

667,3 

687,3 

707,3 

727,3 

747,3 

767,3 

787,3 

807,3 

827,3 

847,3 

867,3 

887,3 

907,3 

927,3 

947,3 

967,3 

987,3 

length [mm] 


SAM 679 


30,0 

27,0 

24,0 

21,0 

c 

diameter [mm] 

18,0 

15,0 

12,0 

9,0 

a 

b 

NO/SW 

NW/SO 

6,0 

3,0 

0,0 

387,7 

417,7 

447,7 

477,7 

507,7 

537,7 

567,7 

597,7 

627,7 

657,7 

687,7 

717,7 

747,7 

777,7 

807,7 

837,7 

867,7 

897,7 

length [mm] 


If one compares the three end sections of the Wier-crumhorns, SAM 206 with the bore length 

of 642.5 mm catches one's eye because of its archaic round form and the ridge on the lower 

part of the wall of the tube reminiscent of early engravings, for instance in the Musica 

getutscht by Virdung. Seemingly the maker in the workshop of Wier considered the lower 

part of the instrument's wall as a muzzle-shaped overhang before he bent the crumhorn or he 

re-worked the opening in a contemporary style after the instrument was bent. The latter, in 

general, seems to be a more convenient mode because irregular edges complicate the 

application of scrapers. The integral curve is evenly cut, begins at approximately the same 

14

point of the inner tube and it opens v-shaped until the inner diameter of 22.96 mm at an 

average of c. 6.3 mm diameter of the main bore. It widens at c. 3.6 times of the cylindrical 

diameter. The length of the "bell section" is c. 62 mm. It does not start immediately after the 

main bore but it follows a smoothly conical interface (s. arrows, fig. 17). 

The opening of the integral curve of SAM 678, with the total length of 996.4 mm, starts 

shifted; in doing so the lower cut begins c. 8 mm previously at around 879 mm of the inner 

bore. The length of the curve is 119.4 mm. The end of the tube widens until 29.37 mm at an 

average diameter of c. 9 mm. The conical curve gets an enlarged volume because of its shifted 

beginning. This layout seems to be essential for achieving a full and loud sound since the 

thickness of the wall and the natural growth of the stem gives a limit for the maximal 

extension of the conical inner bore in the "bell section”. In the case of SAM 678 the conical 

opening increases not more than 3.2 times of the approximate cylindrical diameter (fig. 18). 

At SAM 679 (total length 915.1) this phenomenon can be seen abundantly clearly: The lower 

part of the wall opens 30 mm before the upper wall and builds an ample, voluminous cone 

with an end-diameter of 26.52 mm, which widens in relation to the cylindrical bore about 3.3 

times (fig. 19). 

Fig. 17: SAM 206. Curved section. 


15


Meeting the standard, all Viennese Wier-crumhorns show a bigger wall-thickness on the 

frontal side. This phenomenon results from the fact that especially in large crumhorns of the 

lower registers the finger-holes had to be drilled at an angle to comply with the possible 

maximum finger-reach. As a consequence the wall-thickness at the finger-holes was 

remarkable huge enhancing the nasality of the timbre. Furthermore the recent investigation 

led to the conclusion that the instrument makers preferred maple with photochromic growthqualities 

frequently occurring in the mountains: The axial section of these trees shows that the 

annual growth rings at the bright side lie more remote than at the night side. Hence the pith 

does not run centred but it is shifted toward the night side of the stem. Where the annual 

growth rings lie wider apart, the stem is flexible and bendable, whereas the more tight rings 

bestow a great firmness upon the wood. These natural factors have always been taken into 

account as the bright side of the wood with its thick walls was used as the upper side of the 

bending, whereby the fibres of the wood were exposed to a more intense distortion-pressure 

and the finger holes respectively the holes covered with keys were bored into this part of the 

tube's wall. The thin part of the wall was therefore used as underneath of the bending and 

served as a resistant but less deformed bottom. The following figure (fig. 20) shows that the 

instrument maker finished the outside of the instrument along an annual growth ring for 

obtaining a resistant and compact outer surface. 

Fig. 20: SAM 205. Different wall-thickness and photochromic growth-quality. 

Two other alto/tenor crumhorns, SAM 204 and SAM 205, enrich the collection. Historically 

they were, as well as the crumhorn SAM 206, part of the art cabinet founded by Archduke 

Ferdinand II. in the second half of the 16th century at the castle Ambras in Innsbruck. 

However they are not signed by a member of the Wier-workshop: SAM 204 does not show 

any mark and SAM 205 is signed under the cotton reel with a minuscule "a" in black letter 36 . 

36 This mark can be seen on several woodwind instruments preserved in European collections. Without much 

doubt it points to a maker working in the German speaking region. 

16

Both instruments feature completely different designed curved sections (fig. 21 and 22). The 

bending of SAM 204 is flat in the style of later instruments whereas the curved section of 

SAM 205 is drafted upwardly into the direction of the player. The integral curve of SAM 204 

which dehisces because of the natural deformation of the wood and the broken glue-joint is 

reinforced from outside with brown, partially glue-soaked paperboard. Above the second 

resonance hole an accumulation of sand can be seen. The lower part of the instrument is 

patched with an oval strip of leather () to close the disruption of the thin wood having the 

maximum wall thickness of 4 mm at this point. The material of high density looming in the 

inner of the tube probably may be glue. 


To maximise the volume of the bell the end of the tube is worked off until the smallest 

possible wall thickness. The step in the wood of the tube's end indicates an extreme abrupt 

opening of the “bell section”; the integral bell itself is smoothly cut. Like the integral curve of 

SAM 206 one sees a connecting part between the main bore and the "bell section" (s. arrows, 

fig. 21). 

The individual design of SAM 205 results mainly in the end-to-end bore of the resonance 

holes. The wood of the curved section is damaged by wood worm, but the instrument is 

stable. Between the resonance holes and the beginning of the integral curve the diameter of 

the bore widens perceptibly, most likely to boost the loudness of the instrument's sound. As 

far as the picture suggests the cone was made in at least two steps, whereas the bottom part of 

the wall was cut deeper into the tube than the upper part. 

17


SAM 204 


24,0 

22,0 

20,0 

18,0 

diameter [mm] 

16,0 

14,0 

12,0 

10,0 

8,0 

6,0 

a 

b 

c 

NO/SW 

NW/SO 

4,0 

2,0 

0,0 

230,0 

240,0 

250,0 

260,0 

270,0 

280,0 

290,0 

300,0 

307,3 

317,3 

327,3 

337,3 

347,3 

357,3 

367,3 

377,3 

387,3 

397,3 

407,3 

417,3 

427,3 

437,3 

447,3 

457,3 

467,3 

477,3 

487,3 

497,3 

507,3 

517,3 

527,3 

537,3 

544,8 

length [mm] 


SAM 205 


24,0 

22,0 

20,0 

diameter [mm] 

18,0 

16,0 

14,0 

12,0 

10,0 

8,0 

6,0 

a 

b 

c 

NO/SW 

NW/SO 

4,0 

2,0 

0,0 

230,0 

240,0 

250,0 

260,0 

270,0 

280,0 

290,0 

300,0 

310,0 

320,0 

330,0 

340,0 

350,0 

360,0 

365,6 

375,6 

385,7 

395,7 

405,7 

415,7 

425,7 

435,7 

445,7 

455,7 

465,7 

475,7 

485,7 

495,7 

505,7 

515,7 

525,7 

535,7 

545,7 

555,7 

565,7 

575,8 

585,9 

595,5 

length [mm] 


Regarding the inner bore of SAM 204 and SAM 205 two different layouts can be seen (fig. 23 

and 24). The bore of SAM 204 proceeds cylindrically from the main tube to the beginning of 

the integral curve. In sector (b) the oval form changes into a round bore. The large medial 

diameter between 7.3 and 8.7 mm (a) and (b) as well as the oval form (a) in the cross section 

of SAM 204 results from an atypical bore-mode with an expansion of the inner tube beyond 

the edge of the pith (fig. 25). 

18

Fig. 25: SAM 204. Irregular bore. 

The integral curve opens abruptly about 7 mm, continues in a flat mode and ends in a steep 

conical part (c) that is reminiscent of a flare. In general the graph of SAM 204 shows a very 

individual inner bore concept. 

Continuing the narrow cylindrical main bore (a) the bore diameter of SAM 205 widens in 

sector (b) about 2 mm and ends in a conical "bell" section that opens regularly (c). 

The acoustical relevant differences of the curve and bell concepts take effect in sector (b) and 

as far as the formants and the loudness are concerned, in sector (c). Whereas the bore of the 

instruments SAM 206 and SAM 678 made by Wier narrow in sector (b), SAM 205 shows a 

slight widening. The corresponding sectors of SAM 204 and SAM 679 continue the diameter 

of the main bore. 

In comparison to the crumhorns of the Brussels Instrument Museum (Inv. no. 610 to 615) 

documented and inspected by Toon Moonen 37 , the instruments preserved in the 

Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna do not feature the same shape of the bell section. The 

Brussels instruments show a striking step in the wood of the upper part of the "bell's" wall 

whereas the bottom wall runs smoothly without any notch. The bell sections of the Viennese 

instruments are manifestly indicated by steps proceeding all over the inner surface of the tube. 

bore length 

(mm) 

integral 

curve’s 

length 

(mm) 

inner radius at the 

beginning of the 

integral curve (mm) 

inner radius at 

the end of the 

integral curve 

(mm) 

SAM 204 544.8 (alto/tenor) 87.5 3.9 11.1 c. 16.6 



SAM 678 996.4 (bass) 119.1 4.9 14.5 c. 38.1 

SAM 679 915.1 (tenor ext.) 127.4 5.0 13.1 c. 34.9 

Fig. 26: Synopsis of measurements. 

approximate volume 

of the integral curve 

(cm 3 ) 

For the crumhorns preserved in the Viennese collection becomes apparent that the shortest 

alto/tenor instrument (SAM 204) with the largest cylindrical mean bore diameter is equipped 

with the most voluminous "bell section". The volume of a crumhorn depends on the shape and 

the size of the bell as well as on the reed. A short reed enlarges the volume and a big bell 

gives a loud sound, too. The integral curve of the extended tenor crumhorn is considerably 

longer than the curve of the bass instrument. The diameter at the beginning of the integral 

curve is somewhat larger but it does not open up as strongly as the "bell section" of the bass 

crumhorn. The two sliders, apparently, require a big base diameter in the curved section and a 

long integral curve. 

Conclusion 

The conventional manufacturing method of crumhorns is bound to certain species of wood: 

The instruments held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum are made of maple. 

Maple has a moderate material shrinkage (radial c. 5.0%, tangential c. 8.0% and longitudinal 

37 Toon Moonen: The Brussels Crumhorns: Hypotheses on their Historical Construction, in: Gaplin Society 

Journal XXXVI, March 1983, p. 56 f. 

19

c. 0.4%), is resilient and stringy as well as hard. After resolving the mechanical risks of the 

bending process the instrument keeps its form constantly and stands out due to its little 

weight. Indeed, a decided visible outer design is not practicable but the acoustic property of 

these crumhorns is outstanding because of the material's uniformity and the optimal vibration 

capacity resulting from the uninterrupted tube. 

The three examples for crumhorns with separate bells show that the reasons for using a 

detachable tube section may have been various, but principally the material itself, the idea of 

an unconventional design and the possibility to modify the sound of the instrument - even if 

the acoustical parameters defined beyond the first resonance holes are marginal - lead to the 

decision. 

The late crumhorn Mu 127 (Bayerisches Nationalmuseum) follows the concept of a rustic, 

bucolic instrument in the style of an animal's horn that is easily manufactured due to the fact 

that the curved section is separately produced and threaded attached to the main tube. 

A macroscopic inspection of the "toy-crumhorns" (Sammlung alter Musikinstrumente, KHM) 

shows that the u-shaped parts were extracted from a small block of ivory: As the seams prove, 

in each case two hollowed out components were assembled. In the case of the small ivory 

instruments the typical manufacturing technique of crumhorns based on the bending of the 

lower part would have been too laborious because before the process of bending one has to 

boil the special prepared ivory in water or vinegar, whereas this procedure has to be repeated 

several times. In the case of SAM 295, SAM 296 and SAM 297 the structure and slight 

thickness of the ivory excludes any alternative production process. 

By means of the crumhorn SAM 203 it can be seen that the instrument maker disengaged 

himself from the dictate of the material and technical custom. He decided to produce a turned 

crumhorn; so neither the choice of the wood nor the mode of production would have allowed 

the use of an integral curve. In general the option for a separate bell helps to avoid problems 

and risks in the course of the bending process of the round section, where normally the 

wooden fibres tend to break. Moreover the separate bell with its individually designed surface 

provides room for decoration. 

20

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