Can someone tell me the difference between G and Bb bugles please?

[Littlehendrix]

Correct me If I am wrong....but the key of an instrument is the lowest note in its harmonic series....I may be confused but it is something like that..........

[Elmo Blatch]

I think the real difference to individuals is taste. We get accustomed to the sound of B-flat horns because we hear them all the time. See, I would take the sound of a cornet line over a trumpet line every day, but that is just me.

To me, the G bugles blew a little louder, but, I do remember there being tuning nightmares within the horn.

Moral to the story: Any good hornline with good musicians can make even the worst built instrument in the most undesirable key sound good.

Elmo Blatch

[Elmo Blatch]

Correct me If I am wrong....but the key of an instrument is the lowest note in its harmonic series....I may be confused but it is something like that..........

In theory, yes. It is the lowest OPEN or 1st position note in the harmonic series.

Elmo Blatch

[usmpiano]

I guess even more stupid of me, I don't understand why a note wouldn't just be the note. I mean, take middle c on a piano. That to me would be a C. Why would you call that note something different if you are playing on a different keyed instrument. It is still the same note, regardless of what you call it. So why all the confusion on the different names of the note, on different keyed instruments?

I hope i can help you clear some confusion up Melissa.

That's correct Littlehendrix. The open partials on a brass instrument follow the overtone series exactly:

1st partial - fundamental/pedal (not normally used, and non existant on soprano voiced (trumpets/soprano) instruments)

2nd partial - an octave above that (Low C)

3rd partial - a fifth above that (G)

4th partial - a fourth above that (middle C)

5th partial - a major third above that (E)

6th partial - a minor third above that (G)

7th partial - a minor third above that (Bb - but horribly flat and not used)

8th partial - a Major second above that (High C)

So the instrument's transposition (and hence it's name) is derived from the fundamental note that it plays. The transposition makes it easier to read music on any brass instrument.

For instance, I saw a trumpet piece in college that was done with three different instruments: first movement on C trumpet, second on Bb flugelhorn, and the third on A piccolo.

The reason that G bugles sound louder are twofold:

1) The instruments themselves are pitched lower, so you can hear more of the upper overtones in the harmonic series. Those are the notes that really give the IMPACT to the sound. Also, to me, the G horns, because they are conical, are quite a bit darker and less nasal than Bb (though that is not to say that you cannot play nasally on a G)

2) Because of the intonation tendencies less well made bugles (i.e. Dynastys and DEGs from the 70s, 80s and early 90s, the horns were quite erratic. For instance until recently I was playing on one where partials that should be sharp were flat and ones that should be flat were sharp) most arrangers chose concert keys with sharps in them, putting the bugles in F, C, G, D and A. These "bright" keys have more power than darker keys like Eb and Ab.

Though I love the sound of a good G hornline, I've come to accept for various reasons that the Bbs are going to be the way now and forward.

[Elmo Blatch]

Well said.

Elmo Blatch