Reputable sackbut resources

[Ratsmarinus]

Pretty much the title, I'm currently doing a research project on the sackbut and it's history in school and I haven't been able to find many resources that seem useful save for a book written by an amateur sackbuter (that I frankly do not have the time nor motivation to read through just for this assignment) and a short article analyzing different methods of holding the instrument, which had a general history of the instrument and it's origin. Thanks in advance.

[BGuttman]

Find the book and read the book. I hope nobody falls for doing your assignment for you.

There are a number of books of brass history that you could consult. Anthony Baines' is the most respected (something like "History of Brass Instruments").

One member of The Trombone Forum (I think it was WIll Kimball) published a book of pictures that can show you how painters interpreted how the sackbut was held, but I'd be leery of the accuracy of a painted representation.

Howard Weiner is a noted authority on early music. He is a member here and may have more suggestions of sources.

Good luck in your search.

[mbarbier]

Check out Adam Woolf. Excellent professional sackbut player who wrote a really great method book for it (sackbut solutions). There's also good resources on his website.

[HowardW]

Pretty much the title, I'm currently doing a research project on the sackbut and it's history in school and I haven't been able to find many resources that seem useful...

You will definitely find more information if you look for the right thing, namely for "trombone." To explain, here is the opening of the article on Sackbut (by Trevor Herbert) in the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Brass Instruments:

"Sackbut The name used to indicate an early trombone.
The term is based on words used in Britain to denote a trombone before the late eighteenth century. The instrument was always known as trombone in Italy and Posaune in German-speaking countries, both being augmentatives of words meaning trumpet.
'Sackbut' is used ubiquitously in modern times to describe any Renaissance or Baroque period-performance trombone, but it should be seen as no more than a word: a loose historical expression rather than a particular species of instrument."

For starters, I would recommend the following:

Trevor Herbert, The Trombone (Yale University Press, 2006)

Stewart Carter, The Trombone in the Renaissance: A History in Pictures and Documents (Pendragon Press, 2012)

There are also a number of articles on the early trombone in the Historic Brass Society Journal (1989-- )

Happy hunting!
Howard

[brassmedic]

Are you referring to:
The renaissance sackbut and its use today : Fischer, Henry George?

That book has a great deal of information. I don't understand why you wouldn't have the "motivation" to read it.

[HowardW]

Are you referring to:
The renaissance sackbut and its use today : Fischer, Henry George?

That book has a great deal of information. I don't understand why you wouldn't have the "motivation" to read it.

Fischer's book does contain a good deal of information, but is meanwhile rather dated, especially concerning current instrument makers and available instruments. Fischer was apparently working on a revised edition, which he however didn't manage to finish before he died.

The article alluded to was probably "The World of the Early Sackbut Player" by Keith McGown, which also contains some good information. It appeared in Early Music 22/3 (1994).

Howard

[BGuttman]

Ratsmarinus, I hope you have been following this thread. You have gotten more sources than you could have found in 2 days of searching. Now read some of these and prepare your report.

[brassmedic]

Are you referring to:
The renaissance sackbut and its use today : Fischer, Henry George?

That book has a great deal of information. I don't understand why you wouldn't have the "motivation" to read it.

Fischer's book does contain a good deal of information, but is meanwhile rather dated, especially concerning current instrument makers and available instruments. Fischer was apparently working on a revised edition, which he however didn't manage to finish before he died.

The article alluded to was probably "The World of the Early Sackbut Player" by Keith McGown, which also contains some good information. It appeared in Early Music 22/3 (1994).

Howard

He said the paper is on "the sackbut and its history". If it were about the current offerings available in sackbut reproductions, then that book wouldn't be as useful. I think it would be extremely useful in preparing a paper on the history of the sackbut, though.

[Posaunus]

What level "research paper" is this, and what are the expectations?

This is a school assignment. High school? College? Graduate school?
Any restrictions on the length of the paper and detail required?
For a music class, I presume - performance or music history?

In any case, the purpose of the assignment was to further your education.
So ... educate yourself, and show in the paper what you've learned.

You have been provided with lots of references. Now it's time to read, understand, digest, and summarize what you now know that you didn't know before you began your "research."