Brass

BRASS INSTRUMENTS

Serpents

The serpent is an early form of bass wind instrument, descended from the cornett, and a distant ancestor of the tuba. It is classified as a "labrosone", meaning it has a brass-style mouthpiece.

Trombones

The name trombone is of Italian origin and simply means "Large Trumpet". The trombone is probably the least changed of all the brass instruments with modern versions bearing a resemblance to their historical counterpart. During early music periods it was

Cornets and Post Horns

Cornets originated in France in about 1820, when the instrument was developed from the coiled post horn. Unlike the trumpet, the cornet has a mostly conical bore, which gives it quite a different tone to that of a trumpet. The earliest cornet on display d

Cornetts

The cornett is an early lip-reed instrument which is played in a similar way to brass instruments like trumpets. It was developed by the end of the 15th century and in common use (in Britain) until the end of the 17th century. Often it would be played in

Horns

The Bate Collection has a particularly fine collection of historical horns. These had been amassed, over the years by the eminent collector and horn expert Reginald Morley-Pegge. Many of them feature in his seminal work: "The French Horn: Some notes on t

Tubas, Euphoniums, Helicons and Sousaphones

The Bate Collection contains a number of bass brass instruments of the 19th and 20th centuries. These include tubas, euphoniums, helicons and sousaphone. The tuba is the deepest of the modern, valved brass instruments. it was invented by Prussian makers

For individual checklists, click links below:

Regional instruments

Tubas

Horns

Corni da caccia
Horns + crooks without fixed valves
Valve horns

Trumpets

Natural trumpets
Slide trumpets
Key trumpets
Valve trumpets

Serpents etc.

Trombones

Slide trombones
Valve trombones

Post horns & cornets

Natural instruments
Valve cornets