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 Bugle inC | |
| Brass instrument | |
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| Classification | |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 423.121.22 (Natural trumpets – an aerophone, with vibrating air enclosed within the instrument, the player's lips cause the air to vibrate directly, the player's lips are the only means of changing the instrument's pitch, the instrument is tubular, the player blows into the end of the tube, the tube is bent or folded, the instrument has a mouthpiece) |
| Developed | Antiquity; modern forms, c. 17th century |
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| More articles or information | |
Thebugle is a simplesignalingbrass instrument with a wideconical bore. It normally has novalves or other pitch-altering devices, and is thus limited to itsnatural harmonic notes, andpitch is controlled entirely by varying the air andembouchure.
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The English wordbugle comes from a combination of words. From French, it reaches back tocor buglèr andbugleret, indicating a signalinghorn made from a small cow's horn. Going back further, it touches on Latin,buculus, meaning bullock. Old English also influences the modern word withbugle, meaning "wild ox."[1]
The name indicates an animal's (cow's) horn, which was the way horns were made in Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.[2] The modern bugle is made from metal tubing, and that technology has roots which date back to the Roman Empire, as well as to the Middle East during the Crusades, where Europeans re-discovered metal-tubed trumpets and brought them home.[3]
Historically, horns were curved trumpets, conical, often made from ox or other animal horns, from shells, from hollowed ivory such as theolifant.[2][4] There existed another tradition of trumpets made of straight metal tubes of brass or silver that went back in Europe as far as the Greeks (salpinx) and Romans (Roman tuba), and further back to the Etruscans, Assyrians and Egyptians (King Tut's Trumpet).[3] After the fall of Rome, when much of Europe was separated from the remaining Eastern Roman Empire, the straight, tubular sheet-metal trumpet disappeared and curved horns were Europe's trumpet.[5]
The sheet-metal tubular trumpet persisted in the Middle East and Central Asia as thenafir andkarnay, and during theReconquista andCrusades, Europeans began to build them again, having seen these instruments in their wars.[3][6] The first made werethe añafil in Spain and buisine in France and elsewhere. Then Europeans took a step that hadn't been part of trumpet making since the Roman (buccina andcornu); they figured out how to bend tubes without ruining them and by the 1400s were experimenting with new instruments.[3][7]
Whole lines of brass instruments were created, including initially examples like the clarion and the natural trumpet.[8] These were bent-tube variations that shrank the long tubes into a manageable size and controlled the way the instruments sounded.[8] One of the variations was to create "sickle shaped" horn or "hunting horns" in the 15th century.[8] By the 18th century, Germans had created a "half moon" shaped horn called thehalbmondbläser, used by Jäger battalions.[8][9] During the last quarter of the 18th century, or by 1800, the half-moon horn was bent further into a loop, possibly first by William Shaw (or his workshop) of London.[8][10] The instrument was used militarily at that point as the "bugle horn."[10]
In 1758, theHalbmondbläser (half-moon) was used by light infantry fromHanover, and continued until after 1813.[8] It was crescent-shaped (hence its name) and comfortably carried by a shoulder strap attached at the mouthpiece and bell. It first spread to England where as the "bugle horn" it was gradually accepted by the light dragoons (1764), the Grenadier Guards (1772), light artillery (1788) and light infantry.[8][11]
18th-century cavalry did not normally use a standard bugle, but rather an earlytrumpet that might be mistaken for a bugle today, as it lacked keys or valves, but had a more gradual taper and a smaller bell, producing a sound more easily audible at close range but with less carrying power over distance. The earliest bugles were shaped in a coil – typically a double coil, but also a single or triple coil – similar to the modernhorn, and were used to communicate during hunts and as announcing-instruments for coaches (somewhat akin to today's automobile horn). Predecessors and relatives of the bugle included thepost horn, the Pless horn (sometimes called the "Prince Pless horn"), the bugle horn, and theshofar, among others. The ancient Roman army used thebuccina.
Pitch control is done by varying the player's air andembouchure.[8][12] Consequently, the bugle is limited tonotes within theharmonic series. Scores for standard bugle calls use the five notes of the "bugle scale".
The bugle is used mainly in the military, where thebugle call is used to indicate the daily routines of camp. Historically, the bugle was used in the cavalry to relay instructions from officers to soldiers during battle. They were used to assemble the leaders and to give marching orders to the camps.
The bugle is also used inBoy Scout troops and in theBoys' Brigade.
The Rifles, an infantry regiment in theBritish Army, has retained the bugle for ceremonial and symbolic purposes, as did other rifle regiments before it. When originally formed in 1800, theRifle Corps were the first dedicated light infantry unit in the British Army and were allowed a number of unique accoutrements that were believed to be better suited for skirmishing, such as their green jackets. Other infantry used drums when marching and had whistles to signal when skirmishing, but the Rifle Corps was a much larger body of men that would be expected to spread out over a large area under a single commander. As a result, the bugle was taken from cavalry traditions because signals could pass much further without the need for repeats. The buglers in eachbattalion are headed by the bugle major, a seniornon-commissioned officer holding the rank ofsergeant or above.
The bugle has also been used as a sign of peace in the case of a surrender.[13]
In most military units, the bugle can be fitted with a small banner or tabard (occasionally gold fringed) with the arms of its reporting service branch or unit.[14]
In military tradition, theLast Post orTaps is the bugle call that signifies the end of the day's activities. It is also sounded at military funerals to indicate that the soldier has gone to his final rest and at commemorative services such asAnzac Day in Australia and New Zealand andRemembrance Day in Canada[15]
Thecornet is sometimes erroneously considered a valved bugle, but the cornet was derived from morenarrow-bored instruments, the Frenchcornet de poste (lit. 'post horn') andcor de chasse (lit. 'hunting horn').
Keyed bugles (German:Klappenhorn) were invented in the early 19th century. In England, a patent for one design was taken out by Joseph Halliday in 1811 and became known as theKent bugle. This bugle established itself in military band music in Britain and America, and its popularity is indicated by the existence of many published method books and arrangements.[16] It was in wide use until about 1850 by which time it had been largely replaced by the cornet. Richard Willis, appointed the first bandmaster of theUnited States Military Academy'sWest Point Band in 1817, wrote and performed many works for the keyed bugle.[17]
Since the mid 19th century, bugles have generally been made with piston valves.
...trumpet disappeared from Europe after the fall of Rome and was not reintroduced until the time of the crusades, when instruments were taken from the Saracens... In Western art before the crusades...animal horns are generally shown.(subscription,Wikilibrary access, orUK public library membership required)
There is no evidence available on the use of the trumpet in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. It made its appearance again from the Orient, via the Crusades, beginning in the eleventh centuru
It is generally acknowledged...that the cylindrical bore instruments were borrowed from the East. Perhaps those buccins Turcs and cors sarrasinois which the Crusading chroniclers record included the nafīr and karnā...
The looped trumpet is a European development adopted by Eastern cultures; from the 14th century new forms of trumpets with curved tubes started to appear in Europe, and European instruments then began to supersede the straight trumpet in Islamic societies.(subscription,Wikilibrary access, orUK public library membership required)
The other variable that impacts brass instrument pitch and tone is air. Air can be thought of in many different ways, including quantity and speed. More air or faster air passing through the aperture results in a higher pitch and a fuller tone. Less air or slower air passing through the aperture results in a lower pitch and a softer tone.
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