TromboneChat

Hi all,

I was wondering if any of you out there use one of the following tuning slide options:

Sterling Silver
Nickel Silver
Silver plated

The reason I ask is I currently just use yellow brass on all my horns, but I have that on all the end slide crooks as well. I loved using a friends slide with a nickel silver hand slide end crook, and it has now sparked my curiosity as to what the other major bend being in another material might do to articulation, projection, tone, etc. I also know that a common recommendation for tuning slides is to use a material opposite of the bell material, I was just wondering what pushing it past yellow brass might do? For reference I have a Shires Bass with Bach taper Gold Brass bell, a Shires Tenor with Bach taper Gold Brass bell or Bach Taper Bronze bell, and a Bach 42 with Gold Brass Bell (hence the curiosity of some sort of silver tuning slide).

Thanks in advance and I hope everyone is well!

Well, silver plating you can rule out. It'll act the same as raw brass (whatever brass that is underneath).

The various materials used in instrument manufacture all have their own inherent acoustic qualities. (These have been discussed. The same effects are experienced, regardless of where on the instrument the material is changed) Changing a component will change the overall acoustics of the instrument, to a greater or lesser degree, based on how prominent the part is in the overall instrument "system". Changing the material in the bell will have more influence than changing the material of the handslide crook, for example.

I have to argue the idea of "balancing" a bell with the opposing material. ie a gold ts slide crook on a yellow bell. That ideology implies that a yellow bell in inherently "unbalanced", and needs to be "balanced" somehow. There are plenty of great playing/sounding all yellow horns out there. Bach had never offered different ts material choices until recently. In my opinion, the tuning slide is one of the least influential places for material choice to have big impact.

I agree with Matt concerning the 'balancing" ideology. I don't think a combination of metals is needed for a great playing horn. I own some great yellow brass bells that play better with a yellow brass tuning slide. Likewise, I have a trombone with a gold brass bell that plays best with a gold brass tuning slide.

Changing the alloy on certain parts of an instrument (slide crook, main tuning slide, tubing within the F-attachment) does make subtle changes in the response, timbre, articulations, etc.... I have found that changing the shape of the crooks (single radius, dual radius, etc...) has a more profound impact on playing characteristics of an instrument than the alloy. We live in a great age because a discerning artist can fine-tune the alloy and shape of many different parts of their instrument to their liking.

So maybe it is time for that King Silver Sonic 9.5 inch bell, or Shires BII 1SS bell...