The chromatic trumpet of Western tradition is a fairly recent invention, but primitive trumpets of one form or another have been in existence for millennia; some of the predecessors of the modern instrument are now known to date back to the Neolithic era. The earliest of these primordial trumpets were adapted from animal horns and sea shells, and were common throughout Europe, Africa, India and, to a lesser extent, the Middle East. Primitive trumpets eventually found their way to most parts of the globe, though even today indigenous varieties are quite rare in the Americas, the Far East and South-East Asia. Some species of primitive trumpets can still be found in remote places, where they have remained largely untouched by the passage of time.
For the most part, these primitive instruments were "natural trumpets": that is to say, they had none of those devices (fingerholes, keys, slides or valves) by which the pitch of an instrument might be altered. It is in fact quite exceptional to come across a chromatic trumpet – primitive or otherwise – which is not derived from the chromatic trumpet of Western tradition; the bās of Madhya Pradesh in India, which has fingerholes bored into the side of its tube, is one such exception.
Primitive trumpets The simplest – and presumably the earliest – type of trumpet was made from the hollowed-out horn or shell of an animal, into the end of which a hole was bored for the mouth. This "trumpet" had neither a mouthpiece nor a bell, and was not so much a musical instrument as a megaphone into which one spoke, sang, or shouted. Typically only one or two different pitches could be produced on such an instrument, though sometimes a small fingerhole was bored in the tip to provide the player with an extra pitch. Most of these early trumpets were end-blown, like the modern trumpet; side-blown varieties, however, were not unknown, and can still be found in Africa and other parts of the globe.
The strident sound and distinct forms afforded to them by the animal origins of these early trumpets made them suitable as audio-visual instruments for warfare and the chase with which they are often associated.
Animal-horn trumpets Animal-horn trumpets are still employed today, especially in Africa, though they are also found in Israel, Asia and Oceania. With the exception of African varieties, most are end-blown instruments from which the tip has been removed to provide a mouthhole. In the majority of cases the player's lips are applied directly to the mouthhole; sometimes, however, the instrument has a detachable mouthpiece. Cattle, sheep, goats and antelopes are among the animals whose horns are – or have been – most frequently used to make such trumpets. The following examples may be briefly noted:
The Sumerian si was the ordinary word for animal horn. Literary references show that as an instrument it was played in the streets by the herald who delivered public announcements. The Jewish shofar is perhaps the best-known animal-horn trumpet. It is usually made from a ram's horn, though the horn of any kosher animal other than a cow or calf may be used. The shofar, which is still employed in Jewish religious ceremonies today, is an ancient instrument; it is mentioned frequently in the Bible and rabbinic literature. It can generally produce only two pitches; theoretically, these should be a fifth apart (being the second and third partials of the instrument's harmonic series); the irregular bore of the instrument, however, can reduce this to as little as a fourth or increase it to as much as a sixth. These acoustical details apply to most animal-horn trumpets.
The Indian shringa, or ṣṛnga, (Sanskrit for "horn") was originally made from the horn of the buffalo, though the term was later applied to almost any kind of horn or trumpet, irrespective of its origin. In the south of the country the general name of the instrument is kombu, a Dravidian term which also means "horn". The shringa is an end-blown instrument, though one particular variety – the singha of Orissa – is side-blown. The shringa and its close relations are known by various names in different parts of India: singe (the shringa of the Bhils), sakna (a buffalo horn of the Santals), reli'ki (the Angami's buffalo horn, which has a bamboo mouthpiece), visan (a buffalo horn of Uttar Pradesh), singi (a deer horn of Uttar Pradesh), and kohuk (a horn of the Marias of Madhya Pradesh). India's national epic, the Mahābhārata, mentions the govishanika, which is thought to have been a cow's horn. Many species of shringa can still be found in India today. The Greek keras ("horn") and the Etrusco-Roman cornu (Latin for "horn") were originally simple animal-horn trumpets, though both were superseded by more advanced instruments to which they lent their names. The Germanic cowhorn, or Stierhorn, which was generally made from the horn of an aurochs or buffalo. The rwa-dun is a Tibetan ram's-horn trumpet similar to the Jewish shofar. It has been used for centuries in Buddhist ceremonies for the purposes of exorcism. The Latvian āžrag was made from a goat's horn, and was blown by young men in the summertime to announce their intention to take a wife. The engombe is a side-blown trumpet found in Uganda; it is usually made from a cow's horn and is blown by Bugandan huntsmen to ensure a successful hunt.
Conch-shell trumpets Conch shells have also been used as primitive instruments since Neolithic times, and must be numbered among the antecedents of the natural trumpet. The four shells most commonly used for this purpose are the triton or trumpet shell, the cassis or helmet shell, the fusus, and the strombus or true conch, though the term "conch-shell trumpet" is generally applied to all instruments of this type. The spiral interior of the shell acts as tubing, and a mouthhole is created either by breaking off the point of the shell (end-blown conch) or by boring a small hole in the body (side-blown conch). The cassis is an end-blown shell; the other three types are usually side-blown.
Conch-shell trumpets are found in almost every part of the globe, including inland areas like Tibet, Central Europe and the Andes. They are especially common throughout Oceania, where the conch-shell trumpet was once used on religious, ceremonial and military occasions. Today, however, the instrument is more often associated with mundane events like football matches; the Tongan football team is regularly encouraged by ensembles of up to nine kele'a. In the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, local fishermen use conch-shell trumpets known as tapáe to call for assistance when they are drawing in their nets. In Fiji, the davui conch-shell trumpet is still blown to invoke the gods.
End-blown conch-shell trumpets are still used as sacred ritual instruments in Asia. The Indian śańkh or śańkham is blown by Brahmins in Hindu temples throughout India and South Asia, and is also used today as an instrument of folk music and dance; formerly it was employed as a heraldic instrument to declare war or celebrate victory. According to Hindu mythology the śankh will be blown by Siva at the end of the current World Age as a sort of Last Trump.
The conch shell is also used as a signal in Buddhist ceremonies in the Far East. In Tibet it is known as the dun-dkar, or dung-dkar; in China it is the faluo or hai lo, and in Japan the horagai or hora.
Early manufactured trumpets
The earliest artificial trumpets appeared before the end of the Neolithic, and were adapted from the natural models provided by animal-horns and conch-shells. They were – and in some parts of the world are still – made from a variety of perishable and non-perishable materials, including bark, wood, gourds, bamboo, horn, bone, ivory, clay and, of course, metal. Early metallic trumpets were either hammered from sheets of a suitable metal (e.g. silver) or cast in bronze by the lost-wax method. Among these primitive trumpets the following may be noted:
The ancient Nordic lur was made of bronze and dates back to the Late Bronze Age (1000–500 BCE). This extraordinary instrument consisted of an elaborate S-shaped conical tube, usually about in length, with a slightly flared bell. It was an end-blown natural trumpet, and sounded rather like a modern trombone. To date, fifty-six lurs have been found: thirty-five in Denmark, eleven in Sweden, four in Norway, five in northern Germany, and one in Latvia. They have often been discovered in matching pairs, which suggests that they were used for ceremonial or religious purposes, rather than as instruments of war. The original name of the instrument is unknown. The Celtic carnyx was also made of bronze, and was used as an instrument of war during the Iron Age ( 300 BCE – 200 CE). It consisted of a cylindrical tube about long; the bell was elaborately carved to resemble a wild boar's head, with a movable tongue and jaw; the mouthpiece was curved. The carnyx was held vertically with the bell above the player's head. The instrument is most often associated with the Celts, but is now known to have been used also by the inhabitants of ancient Dacia. A similar S-shaped trumpet from the Iron Age has been found at Loughnashade in Ireland. Named the trumpa créda (archaic Irish for "bronze trumpet"), it consists of two curved tubes of bronze, each comprising a quarter circle, one of which is of conical bore and one of cylindrical bore, with a joint in the middle. The Loughnashade trumpet is generally displayed with the two halves joined together to make a semicircle, but it is now thought to have been played with the two parts bending in opposite directions to make an S-shaped trumpet not unlike the carnyx, to which it may have been related. In India the primitive shringa or kombu was adapted to make a great variety of metallic trumpets. The modern kombu is generally a C-shaped instrument made of brass or copper, with a conical bore and a detachable mouthpiece. It is still played at weddings and funerals, and during religious processions. There are two sizes of kombu: the small timiri kombu and the large bari kombu. Another type of brass kombu – known variously as turi, bānkiā, bargu, banke, ransingha, narsingha, narsĩgā and nagphani in different parts of the subcontinent – is S-shaped and looks remarkably like the trumpa créda of Ireland. Indigenous straight trumpets have been made in India since the Neolithic and are still found today in various guises and under various names: turahi, turya, tutari, tuttoori, bhongal, kahal, kahala, and bhenr. The booraga of Sanskrit literature was possibly also a straight trumpet made of brass or copper. The wooden lur of medieval Scandinavia (not to be confused with the much earlier bronze instrument to which it has lent its name) is referred to in the Icelandic sagas as an instrument of war, used to marshal troops and frighten the enemy. It is also mentioned by Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum. This particular species of lur was a straight, end-blown natural trumpet, with a cylindrical tube about long. It was made of wood – typically by cutting a thick branch in half lengthwise and hollowing it out, and then rejoining the two-halves, which are secured with tar and willow osiers. A similar instrument, but secured with birch, known as the birch trumpet, has been used in Nordic countries since the Middle Ages as a signalling instrument and to call cattle. The Lithuanian daudytė is a natural wooden trumpet similar to the wooden lur of Scandinavia; its sections are held together with putty and linen yarn.