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The Reciprocating Binary Trombone Orchestra

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The Reciprocating Binary Trombone Orchestra is created by two players of the distinctive brass wind instrument, who face directly towards each other, and play connected trombones.

The reciprocating binary action is generated because the two trombones are physically attached to each other in such a way as when one musician pulls the note altering slide inwards, this simultaneously causes the slide of the opposing instrument to travel outwards, and vice versa of course.

This means that as each musician plays their joined trombones, they create a set of reciprocating movements, along with the resulting duet of “opposite” sounds. Sets of coordinated sheet music ensure that both musicians are playing the same unified composition.

The Reciprocating Binary Trombone Orchestra may eventually be part of a larger ensemble of shared instruments, and as a good friend is the Professor of the School of Music at my local University, my intention is to bring the idea into contact with actual composers and musicians.

xenzag, Nov 26 2017

Illustration https://www.tumblr....ombone?source=share
[xenzag, Oct 21 2024]

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       Ok, political differences aside, a good idea is a good idea. [+]
doctorremulac3, Nov 26 2017
  

       Very cool idea that captures my imagination. Thanks for sharing!
Treejuice, Nov 26 2017
  

       May require special trombones.
FlyingToaster, Nov 26 2017
  

       Can I suggest an addition to the orchestra? Have piano pairs wherein the hands of one player are held by rods at a fixed distance from those of another. If the pianos were angled rather than colinear, interesting (though probably not pleasant) combinations would arise. One could also use some interesting non-linear cams and levers for more complex relationships.
MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 26 2017
  

       You get a similar effect by putting a guitar pickup on either end of a guitar string. One note goes up the other goes down. I've played around with this and you get a spooky dissonant sound as you move the slide (as in slide guitar) from harmonious note pair to harmonious note pair.
doctorremulac3, Nov 26 2017
  

       So nothing like a pulse-width modulated trombone with only two notes then.
RayfordSteele, Nov 26 2017
  

       I have a large collection of minimalist and experimental music, but this would also be an act of choreographed visual impact, with the actual sounds being of complimentary importance.
xenzag, Nov 26 2017
  

       Just to add that the two trombones should not be the same as one another, but should be mirror images of each other. This will require some specialist musical instrument crafting, but is important
hippo, Nov 26 2017
  

       Does the mirror go on the inside or the outside?   

       A Klein-trombone could be interesting. Would it be able to play itself?
RayfordSteele, Nov 26 2017
  

       Posted pic I did some time ago and forgot to include - have tried to get made but not sure if it's actually possible and too busy to investigate further at moment.
xenzag, Oct 21 2024
  

       I used to play the trombone - not particularly well, but I tried at it for several years.   

       I have the following concerns about this concept:
1) Have you considered what sound this would make? You could tune it by changing the separation distance, but how often do you actually want this pitch mirroring effect?
2)Why? I mean, what benefit does this have over two unconnected instruments? In playing the instrument, there are two possibilities. a) One player is superior. They control the slide, and the other player just blows. b) Both players try to control the slide, and by the nature of things both end up working slightly harder than they otherwise would, and being slightly less in tune nevertheless. Both of these possibilities are bad for the players and the listeners.
3) In your image, one of these instruments is facing away from the audience. Unless the audience is standing between them, which is not a safe place to be. Also, the players will deafen each other.
4) In your image, as drawn, the two mouthpieces are connected, so blowing in one vents at the other, the rest of the tubing and sounding bells are unconnected. No sound of any significance will be generated, even if the players take turns, and moving the slide doesn't change anything. Blowing in both simultaneously will not generate more sound, but will be physically unpleasant for the participants. And they're inhaling each other's saliva.
  

       So it's an idea with no benefit, but many disadvantages.
But apart from that, sure.
Loris, Oct 21 2024
  

       Firstly I have little concern for generating any idea that has an advantage over anything. The problems presented by air passage can all be solved by internal tubing arrangements - I leave all of that sort of detail to the world of pneumatic geekery/sound experts. In that regard, one of the local Universities here has a sonic arts research facility and they are quite excited about the idea, so perhaps they will make it happen. This idea is not about making music - it's about creating a uniquely engineered instrument and making a performance spectacle of it being played. Having said all that, your input is greatly appreciated.
xenzag, Oct 21 2024
  

       You could start with the frequency of a note and tune the tubing so that the opposite side of the slide would play a certain desired note. That relationship is only good for that position; the other pairs of notes will not necessarily follow that interval. In fact they most certainly will not. That's where your colleagues in the math and music departments will be important.   

       If the sound is not important, or making music, then just have pairs of linked trombonists going through the motions. If the sound is important in any way to the presentation the interest will be in the details of tone, dissonance, timing, etc. as well as the visuals. If not, do anything. It doesn't matter.
minoradjustments, Oct 21 2024
  

       //You could tune it by changing the separation distance//   

       Actually no, you couldn't. I take that back.   

       On the assumption that the airways are intended to be separate, rather than the illustrated "I blow, you suck" spit exchanging silencer pipe -
I was wondering whether you could give a single reciprocating 'bonist a valved airway selector, connecting to opposing slide tubes. I think it's theoretically possible, but the mass and rotational moment of the instrument would be quite hard to cope with.
Loris, Oct 21 2024
  

       I think just 2 separate slide air passages joined by a bracket meets the spirit of the idea.
RayfordSteele, Oct 21 2024
  

       As per [Loris], I think it would be simpler to do as a single-person instrument. One mouthpiece splitting off to 2 trombones (over-under sort of alignment?), with the slides parallel & an idler roller between them (as a rack-pinion-rack). Initial set-up of the roller would determine how the 2 correlate You could even have a different sized roller for each trombone (on a common shaft) to get different interactions. If it's too heavy/cumbersome, just put a leg on the end of it.
neutrinos_shadow, Oct 21 2024
  

       Yeah, I thought of having a leg. But the issue with that for the trombone specifically is the end of the instrument moves, so where do you attach it?.
So you need more structure to support /that/, making it more of a kick-stand, at best. Perhaps at that point it would be easier to add wheels and a carry-handle to move the thing about.
Loris, Oct 22 2024
  


 

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