Dictionary of Music - Birding America

440 trombaconsidered an interval to be avoided, both in buildingchords and in melodic progressions. Hence itsmedieval name, diabolus in musica (Latin for “devilin music,” often translated as “devil’s tritone”).However, twentieth-century composers generallyuse it as freely as any other interval.tromba (trôm′bä).The Italian word for TRUMPET.tromba marina (trom′bä mä rē′nä) Italian:“marine trumpet.” An instrument with a single longgut string that was played with a bow and soundedonly harmonics. Unlike most bowed instruments,the bowing took place above the fingering, for whichthe thumb was much used. One leg of the bridge (seeBRIDGE, def. 1) was shorter than the other and sowas free to vibrate against a metal plate fixed to thesoundboard, producing a brassy sound. The trombamarina was used principally from about 1450 to1775, and the reason for its name is not known. Italso was called nun’s fiddle because it was oftenused in convents. Other names were the GermanNonnentrompete, Nonnengeige, Marientrompete,and Trumscheit, the French trompette marine, andthe English trumpet marine.trombone A brass instrument of medium-lowpitch, a standard member of the orchestra and band.It has a cup-shaped mouthpiece and a cylindricalbore (tube-shaped inside) that widens gradually atthe bottom into a flared bell. In addition, attachedbetween the mouthpiece and the main tube of theinstrument is a long, U-shaped length of tubing,called a slide. The slide, which can be pushedtoward and away from the player, plays the role ofvalves in other brass instruments—that is, it changesthe length of the total tube, and therefore alters thepitch. Like other brass instruments, the trombone ismade to sound by vibrations of the player’s lips; seeBRASS INSTRUMENTS for further explanation. Withthe slide pushed all the way in, in first position, theplayer sounds the fundamental note of the instrument(in a tenor trombone, the B-flat above middleC; in a bass trombone, the F above middle C). Insecond position, with the slide pulled out a little, theinstrument sounds exactly one half tone below thefundamental, in third position one whole tone belowthe fundamental, and so on to the seventh position,lowering the pitch by three whole tones. In this way,all the notes of the chromatic scale become available.However, since it takes time to move the slidefrom one position to another, it is difficult to play aseries of notes very smoothly.fig. 247 p/u from p. 461The trombone is descended from the SACKBUT,which was invented as an improvement on the naturaltrumpet in the fifteenth century. Numeroussizes of trombone were built, ranging fromsoprano and alto to contrabass (double bass).Today mainly the bass and tenor sizes are used,each with a range of about two octaves. The tenortrombone is usually pitched in B-flat and the bassin F; a symphony orchestra generally includes twotenors and one bass. In addition to its normalrange, the tenor has three low pedal tones, which,however, are difficult to obtain. This difficulty islargely solved by providing the trombone with anextra coil of tubing, which is brought into play bymeans of a thumb valve and which lowers thepitch from B-flat to F. It is this instrument, ineffect a combination tenor-bass trombone, that isshown in the accompanying illustration. It is lesscumbersome, easier to play, and has replaced thebass in many orchestras.fig. 248 p/ufrom p. 461Music for tenor trombone is written in the bassclef, but for the top of its range the tenor clef issometimes used in order to avoid ledger lines. Musicfor bass trombone is always written in the bass clef.Unlike most brass instruments, the trombone is not atransposing instrument, its music being written atthe same pitch that it sounds.In the early nineteenth century, a contrabasstrombone came into use; bent into four parallel tubesand having a double slide, it was pitched an octavebelow the tenor trombone. It is seldom used today.