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US Civil War Era Band Instruments This
category includes
brass instruments which were made and used before and during the US
Civil War-
1860 through 1865. A common valve configuration was the string operated
rotary valve - top action -TARV, or side action -SARV. Other valve
configurations used during this period included "Berliner Pumpen"
valves - foreunners to the Perinet piston valves
used today on modern brass
instruments. (please note that some
of these instruments also appear on pages in their own categories)
The Keyed Bugle was a design which pre-dated the Civil War, but was still in use during the 1860's. These instruments employed 6 to 12 saxophone -like keys to open and close holes spaced along the length of a copper or brass conical bore bugle. Another earlier design - the Cornopean which pre-dated the Civil War was also found in use in CW bands Of special interest are the
"Over The
Shoulder" saxhorns which were
unique to this period in US history. OTS horns
were
used in both Union and Confederate Bands and were configured so that
the
music
would waft backwards towards marching troops following the band.
The OTS configuration fell out of favor after
the
war as someone finally figured out that the troops march to the
drum beat
anyway - and that the music would be better heard by the admiring
crowds
with
bell-front and bell-up configurations! The variety of
OTS horns
can be seen in photos courtesy of the Olde Town Brass.
It should be noted that brass instruments constructed during (and
after) the US Civil War were "high pitch" horns where A=454 Hz.
Click here for a paper explaining the "Diapason Normal"Listen to the 10th Illinois Cavalry Band playing "Gary Owens" Click on Thumbnail photos below and enjoy browsing!! |
