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 an ...

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 standar ...

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, doubl ...

by David Monette 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. Wh ...

s. The mouthpiece 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 David Monette 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 * Scotty Barnhart *

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 lov ...

* Grandpa Flump

Recordings and performances

Made popular by the works of

and The Art Farmer Septet, 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 1 ...

, Charles Schlueter played the Flumpet in place of the post-horn 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 o ...

'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 le ...

's trumpet concerto. 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 ma ...

''.

References

External links

Monette site

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