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Re: British Bb Bugle

Hi there Connie

I run a marching band here in the UK - it is part of the Church Lad's and
Church Girl's Brigade - and our setup is bugles and drums.  We also have a
number of marching glocks, that we call bell-lyres.  We have about 12
bugles that all date from various times and from various sources, but only
about four of them are servicable nowadays!!  As a consequence, I am
looking to purchase six new ones and have come across the ones that I think
are the best sounding and the best value for money (after having tried
about four different manufactures).  The ones I think are the best are made
by Earlham, and are supplied by Lewingtons here in the UK.  They come in
their own case (which believe me, is unusual!) and they have a mouthpiece
as part of the package.  The receiver pipe is the same bore as on the
trumpet, and for our purposes the supplied m'piece is fine.  If you want to
match it to pipe sounds,  I think you will have to do your own
experimentation.  You'll probably find that Vincent Bach trumpet
mouthpieces are the best.

On the music side of it - there is not that much "purist" bugle music
around.  I am lucky in the fact that the calls we play have been passed
down literally from mouth to mouth - originally from the Army in most
cases. I have managed to track a couple of them to their source (having
purchased them from various archive departments of the different
publishers) and am happy to say that they have not mutated too much over
the years!  I have resorted to transcribing old recordings of bugle/wind
bands on parade (for example from the Edinburgh Military Tattoo) on grotty
old records that are all scratched to anything and a sound quality you've
never heard before!!  If you want me to send you anything, please let me
know what kind of thing you are looking for - I am not that familiar with
pipe band/bugle music though.

Hope this helps!!

Regards

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----------
> From: Connie Varner <cvarner@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: brass-band@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: British Bb Bugle
> Date: 05 September 1997 15:12
> 
> Hello,
> 
> Strictly speaking, this may be slightly off the topic of our list,
> but the resources here for finding instruments are so deep
> that it seems the best place to bring this question.
> 
> My sister is looking for a British Bb Bugle.  This instrument
> is apparently used as a feature with bagpipe bands.  From her
> description of it, it sounds as if it is a conical-bore horn,
> although I'm not sure of that.  She lives in the United States
> (so do I) and, although she has seen the bugle in Highland gear
> catalogs, none of the companies she has called carry the horn 
> anymore.
> 
> I imagine it's much more likely that she can order this from a
> company known to those of you in Great Britain, so I'm looking
> for names, addresses, phone number, web pages, whatever.  Also,
> she would like a recommendation for what is the best mouthpiece
> to use on such a horn, and for some music that can be played
> on it (and which would typically be used in a bagpipe band
> setting).  Here in the US, most bugle calls are associated with
> our military -- "Revellie," "Taps," "Charge" and so forth.  We
> believe that there are probably other traditional calls more
> grounded in the British tradition, and she is hoping that they
> have been written down in a book somewhere.
> 
> Thanks for your help,
> 
> Connie Varner
> Triangle Brass Band
> North Carolina, USA
> 
> 
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