The Flumpet is a hybrid

brass instrument A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones or labrophones, from Latin a ...

that shares the construction and timbral qualities of a

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

and

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

. The Flumpet was invented for

Art Farmer Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, double ...

David Monette David G. Monette (born 1956, Kalamazoo, Michigan) is an American craftsman who designs and builds custom brass instruments and mouthpieces for musicians. Monette's experience as a trumpeter and the influence of acoustician Arthur Benade led Mon ...

and is currently in production by Monette. The Flumpet is in the key of B♭.

Design

The Flumpet was designed in 1989 and borrows the three

piston valve A "piston valve" is a device used to control the motion of a fluid along a tube or pipe by means of the linear motion of a piston within a chamber or cylinder. Examples of piston valves are: * The valves used in many brass instruments * The va ...

design of both the

and

and shares the same instrument length of a trumpet. The curves on the end of the Flumpet have a resemblance to

shepherd's crook A shepherd's crook is a long and sturdy stick with a hook at one end, often with the point flared outwards, used by a shepherd to manage and sometimes catch sheep. In addition, the crook may aid in defending against attack by predators. Whe ...

s. The

mouthpiece Mouthpiece may refer to: * The part of an object which comes near or in contact with one's mouth or nose during use ** Mouthpiece (smoking pipe) or cigarette holder ** Mouthpiece (telephone handset) ** Mouthpiece (woodwind), a component of a woodw ...

is deeply conical which tapers slightly, as opposed to the trumpet mouthpiece which has an extreme taper to create a bowl shape. The sound of the Flumpet is described as thicker and richer than a flugelhorn and more mellow and rounded than that of a trumpet. During its creation, metal-worker

wanted to produce an instrument that broke design barriers but ultimately maintained its usefulness. The Flumpet has been described as "capable of both warmth and sharp attack", taking advantage of the softer sound produced by the flugelhorn, advantageous in smaller and more intimate venues, whilst still being capable of producing the more familiar harder tones of a trumpet. The tone has been described as having "characteristics of a flugelhorn, but not nearly as brittle. It has the response of a cornet, but again the sound quality is broader and more resonant."

Notable players

Charles Schlueter Charles Schlueter, born in Du Quoin, Illinois, is the retired principal trumpeter of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Schlueter studied with William Vacchiano at the Juilliard School. Prior to his 25 years as principal of the BSO, he also held p ...

Scotty Barnhart William "Scotty" Barnhart (born October 27, 1964) is an American jazz trumpeter. A two-time Grammy winner, he has played since 1993 as a featured soloist with Count Basie Orchestra. In September 2013, Barnhart was announced as the new director of ...

Vince Jones Vincent Hugh Jones (born 24 March 1954) is an Australian jazz singer, songwriter, and trumpet, flugelhorn and flumpet player. His music includes both original material and new contemporary versions of jazz standards. His themes are often love ...

* Grandpa Flump

Recordings and performances

Made popular by the works of

and

The Art Farmer Septet ''The Art Farmer Septet'' is an album by trumpeter Art Farmer, featuring performances recorded in 1953 and 1954, arranged by Quincy Jones and Gigi Gryce, and released by Prestige Records in 1956. It is his earliest recorded full-length album, but ...

, the Flumpet can be heard on his record ''Silk Road''. At a 1997 performance by

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

played the Flumpet in place of the

post-horn The post horn (''also'' post-horn) is a valveless cylindrical brass instrument with a cupped mouthpiece. The instrument was used to signal the arrival or departure of a post rider or mail coach. It was used especially by postilions of the 18th ...

solo of

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

's Symphony No. 3. Farmer also used the instrument on

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

trumpet concerto A trumpet concerto is a concerto for solo trumpet and instrumental ensemble, customarily the orchestra. Such works have been written from the Baroque music, Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day ...

. Film composer and musician

Mark Isham Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician and film composer. A trumpeter and keyboardist, Isham works in a variety of genres, including jazz and electronic. He is also a film composer, having worked on numerous films and t ...

played Flumpet on the soundtrack for the 1997 film ''

Afterglow An afterglow in meteorology consists of several atmospheric optical phenomena, with a general definition as a broad arch of whitish or pinkish sunlight in the twilight sky, consisting of the bright segment and the purple light. Purple light mainl ...

''.

References

External links

Monette site

Example of flumpet playing
{{Authority control B-flat instruments Brass instruments Trumpets