Ok guys this is my problem. I play the trumpet... and for you boners thats in Bb (treble cleff). I recieved a Jupiter Slide Trumpet or Soprano Trombone as a gift (also in Bb). Now what music book would i use to learn the notes. Could i use a trombone book to learn the slide positions? But since the instrument is in Bb, and i am use to the treble cleff... how do i work out the notes and such in the bass cleff (because the trombone book would be written in the bass cleff) Guys i know this is probably simple for you, but im confused off my rocker. Thanks for your help guys,

Philip

i recently sold my slide trumpet but all you have to know is that any open note on trumpet is played with the slide all the way in. the more you push out the flatter you get. around bell level with the slide is any 1-2 combination. the slide trumpet is very sensitive to pitch. Just out of curiosity what serial # is yours? i hope i helped a little
-weedy

My serial number is (Jupiter slide trumpet JST 314) F02968


why do you want to know that. can you give me info on it?

First off, the slide trumpet is a baroque instrument. The soprano trombone is the little thingie in Bb that looks just like the alto, tenor, bass and contrabass trombone.

Because the soprano trombone is pitched in Bb, as a trumpet or cornet player you`re going to be learning this horn one tone out of whack, because chances are your music will be for transposed Bb.

As far as that goes, C parts pop up all the time, so I suggest you learn the soprano trombone in both C and Bb.

Yes, you use regular trombone positions, and I strongly suggest you don`t get lazy and not learn your alternate slide positions. You`ll save yourself endless grief by learning the right way.

The 20th century repertoire for the soprano trombone is slow New Orlean`s jazz and hymn music. Both traditions date from the 1910`s and 1920`s. Both Louis Armstrong and Freddie Keppard played the soprano trombone, Louis when he played with Fate Marable on riverboats circa 1918, and later with Joe "King" Oliver`s Creole Jazz Band at the Lincoln Gardens in the early 1920`s.

Armstrong and Keppard would have used the soprano trombone to play big, slow, ballad-like passages, because this is what the instrument is suited for, and because the cornet and early fake trumpet (the modern trumpet is really a cornet designed to imitate the sound of a real trumpet) which emerged at this time were small-bore horns with small bells and a really tight backbore.

Parallel to this is Moravian trombone choir music which got its start circa 1922. Because this is hymn music, again the practice is to play slow, drawn out, expressive passages.

It must be remembered that the music of the Baptist church is one of the progenitors of New Orleans-style jazz, so that it is no coincidence that there are similarities between Moravian trombone choir music and New Orleans-style jazz.

What killed the soprano trombone circa 1930 was the emergence of large-bore horns capable of producing the big sound.

I was just making sure that you didn`t get ripped off on the price. Anything by Jupiter needs to start with a serial number after e. if it starts before than it is most likely a piece of crap

Phil. In reading for the soprano trombone, you`d read it either like a trumpet player or a trombone player. You know how baritone player either read TC or BC. Same thing here. If you`re a trumpet player, low C would be 1st position (all the way in) then the harmonics up would be G, C, E, G etc. Just like the trumpet. Learn to associate valve combinations with positions... (Open=1st, 2nd=2nd, 1st=3rd, 1+2=4th, 2+3=5th, 1+3=6th, and 1+2+3=7th) Good luck.

As I said, if you`re playing trumpet music, expect to play parts in either Bb or C- learn the slide positions both way. You are NOT going to get Bb parts if you`re playing certain arrangements for trombone choir- hence the reason I advise players to learn to play the horn in both Bb and C. If you learn the instrument in nothing but transposing Bb, you`re going to have a devil of a time surviving music in C.

As far as instruments go, the Jupiter is okay to noodle around on, but expect a sticky slide with poor response.

If you want a good instrument, find an old Getzen. I personally don`t recommend the Getzens because the bore-size is too small for my taste.

The Getzens came in two forms: one accepted a trumpet mouthpiece, the other accepted a cornet mouthpiece. Getzen incorrectly referred to these horns as a slide trumpet and slide cornet respectively. Those monickers are erronious fiction. Both are soprano trombones.

If you want a good new horn, there`s the Miraphone which costs under $1000. By far the top instrument out there is the Thein, but expect a hefty price-tag of nearly 2500 Euros, or

just over $3000 US.

actually jupiter has gotten to be quite nice. i likeit better than the miraphone. i agree about the thein though. it is the best

I just picked up one of the new Jupiters and had to eat a little crow in the bargain. You`re right, they`ve improved, yet they`re still very affordable.

yeah the older ones aren`t great but all Jupiter stuff has improved... they invested a whole lot of money recently into their instruments. they`re flugelhorns are exactly like the yamaha 631 now. i don`t know what they changed about the slide trumpet but the slide has improved. i just played an old one and i never will again

The slide trumpet is a baroque instrument. Here`s what one looks like:

http://www.cuc.claremont.edu/fiske/slide.htm

The soprano trombone, on the other hand, is a trombone because, well, it`s a trombone. It has no mouthpiece receiver, no lead-pipe, and no conical tubing except for the bell.

Yes, the early Jupiters were pretty bad. The lacquer was bad and used to come off everywhere you touched the instrument, and the brass was of such poor quality (too high a copper content) that it would quickly turn green.

My only complaint with this new soprano trombone is that the nickel has tarnished where my hand touches it, which it shouldn`t do.

I`m curious about one thing- do you use your regular trumpet mouthpiece? I sometimes use my Bach straight 1, but use my Eb tenor horn mouthpiece more often. It produces a big, dark sound at the expense of range, somewhat. I usually use a Yamaha 37C4. For some reason, the bigger mouthpiece makes for better flexibilities.

I just found out that Laetzsch makes a soprano trombone. Like the Theins, their horns are very good. They`re also very pricey.

I`m actually a Strings player, but I know enough about composing music to tell you that if you use the Trombone book, since your in the Treble Clef, take the notes and move them up `Two Whole Steps`, so if a note is in a space, move it to the space above it, likewise for lines, sharps, and flats.

There`s a surprising amount of repertoire out there that`s suited to the soprano trombone. This horn was popular in the 1910`s and 1920`s, and to this day is very well suited for playing the same material- Moravian music and New Orlean-style jazz.

I played the high parts on a G alto trombone that used an Eb tenor horn mouthpiece for many years, but was forced to put the horn away and sell it to a collector because it was falling apart. The metal was crystalising and flaking, the seams were splitting.

I`ve been very annoyed ever since because you never see those horns any more. Unlike the Bb soprano trombone, these horns sounded like a normal trombone, and did a better job in trombone choirs.

When I bought my horn back in the sixties it was sold as a G soprano, but I think a more proper name for it would have been a contralto or contra-alto.