INNOVATIONS

Innovations

Innovating trumpets is driven by my need to manifest music that I can hear and imagine which goes beyond the range of the traditional trumpet.

Hybrid Trumpet (Singing Lamp)

This Hybrid trumpet connects my Bass trumpet to a metal lamp (with a corrugated neck) via plastic tubing. The resulting high frequency overtones sound like electronic instruments. Another example of a “found object” from everyday life with unusual acoustical properties.

Naga Phoenix Trumpet

Photo Credit: Sophia Hegewald

The Naga Phoenix trumpet is a Hybrid top-action rotary valved trumpet with a microtonal slide which was made in 2011 in Singapore for me by trumpet maker George Schlub.

It was my attempt at evolving the Holton Firebird trumpet which I had been playing since 1998. The Naga Phoenix has more mellifluous and lyrical possibilities than its predecessor.

Drumpet

The Drumpet (“Drum+Trumpet“) is a rare Bass trumpet custom designed by Schilke that I acquired in 1995 and has a bird whistle attached to a disconnected slide via a plastic tube generating sound from two separate sources.

The sound toggles between a low sound emitted from the bell of the Bass trumpet and high noise frequencies from the bird whistle. The double sound effect allows me to play rhythmically similarly to a drummer using both hands.