Re: Concert Pitch (a second try)

[Cameron Horsburgh]

On Mon, Apr 06, 2009 at 11:23:51AM +0100, Anthony W. Youngman wrote:
>
> What do you mean by an "open" valve? To me it means the valve is  
> depressed and the associated tubing is brought into play, which it  
> shouldn't be. It's probably best said as something like "with the  
> instrument in its shortest configuration, eg the slide in 1st position  
> or the valves not depressed".

This is a wise idea.

I frequently use (and hear) 'open' to mean 'not depressed', although
as you rightly point out depressing the valves actually opens it.

To further confuse matters, it's not uncommon (in my circles, at
least) to refer to the first position on a trombone as 'closed.' This
corresponds to 'fully open' on a valve instrument.

If this thread has proven anything, it's that brass instruments do not
make sense and their players should be treated with the utmost respect
and suspicion.

-- 

Cameron Horsburgh

Blog: http://spiritcry.wordpress.com/