TromboneChat

I was wondering if it would damage my piccolo trombone if I were to use slide cream on the slide. My main concern is that it may be too thick, and could make the slide hard to move.

Any preparation for trombone hand slides will work on your piccolo trombone. Do not use tuning slide grease. Most common are Yamaha Slide Oil (sometimes referred to as "Yamasnot"), Trombotine cream, and Slide-O-Mix. Don't use too much -- that will make it gooey.

How's that ChatGBT working for you?

Doug Elliott wrote: ↑Sat Jul 01, 2023 5:45 pm How's that ChatGBT working for you?

Whenever I try to ask it stuff like this it just gives false information

I think lard is the recommended lubricant for piccolo trombone slides.
Or is it bacon grease?

The heck is a piccolo trombone? Soprano trombone pitched in A?

harrisonreed wrote: ↑Sat Jul 01, 2023 7:28 pm The heck is a piccolo trombone? Soprano trombone pitched in A?

Trombone an octave above soprano. A joke instrument, basically.

Ah. Get thee to the Trumpet Forum.

Does anybody make one besides Thein?

I know there's a chinese maker, maybe Wessex made some.

When I visited Larry Minick's shop in the 1980's he had an Eb that he'd made.

Thein also makes a piccolino trombone which is a 5th higher than the piccolo trombone in B-flat. Here are the pages on Thein's website:

Piccolo Trombone
https://thein-brass.de/en/instrument/piccolo-trombone/

Piccolino Trombone
https://thein-brass.de/en/instrument/pi ... -trombone/

BGuttman wrote: ↑Sat Jul 01, 2023 7:59 pm Does anybody make one besides Thein?

Wessex lists one on their site:
https://us.wessex-tubas.com/products/pi ... bone-pb300

There's a fun clip of the German Brass playing a tune that starts in a contra, and every time the tune comes up, it's in a higher trombone until it's finally played by a piccolo trombone (soprano and piccolo are both played by trumpet players). They sound good in that clip, played by good players who have learned one tune that is written to not have too many shifts. That's a one-off. Not really any other uses for an instrument with a slide that short - piccolo trumpet will be more in tune because it's almost impossible to master that slide, and no reason to do so with no music written for it.

JS

You need to use Trombotino!

CalgaryTbone wrote: ↑Sat Jul 01, 2023 9:30 pm There's a fun clip of the German Brass playing a tune that starts in a contra, and every time the tune comes up, it's in a higher trombone until it's finally played by a piccolo trombone (soprano and piccolo are both played by trumpet players). They sound good in that clip, played by good players who have learned one tune that is written to not have too many shifts. That's a one-off. Not really any other uses for an instrument with a slide that short - piccolo trumpet will be more in tune because it's almost impossible to master that slide, and no reason to do so with no music written for it.

JS

They are playing a song called "El Manisero", or "The Peanut Vendor". The oldest posting of the video on youtube I can find is this one:

There are also some other versions that are actual live recordings instead of a music video utilizing pre-recorded music.

Soprano trombone - 1 octave above tenor, close to useless but can have its niche uses here and there. Most don't sound nearly as trombone-like as that Thein, which really does have a high trombone sound. (So if you're looking to buy a cheap Chinese soprano, don't expect it to sound like that!)

Sopranino trombone - the rarest of them all, so rare that most people think they don't actually exist. As mentioned, Minick has made at least one in Eb, and there's a player in Montreal who has one (also in Eb). The Thein in that video is in F, and not offered on their website (but I'm sure they'd make one).

Piccolo trombone - 1 octave above soprano, same pitch as piccolo trumpet. 100% useless, and those German Brass trumpet players are the only ones who could make it sound like an actual instrument. It is a standard Chinese model, Wessex does indeed sell them. I guess it's a clone of the Thein??

Piccolino trombone - 5th above piccolo trombone. Made specifically as a joke for that German Brass bit and is not a fully functioning instrument. If I remember right it can only actually play the octave of notes it plays in the video.

To answer the question, they all work with normal Yamaha slide oil.

When Jeff Reynolds directed a trombone choir at Downey Moravian Church in California, his ensemble included the aforementioned Eb sopraninos, Bb sopranos, altos, tenors, basses, and F and BBb contras. The Downey group was recorded on the B side of the LA Phil Trombones' album of Moravian trombone music. The A side has Malcolm McNab making a good case for the soprano as a musical instrument (playing a Miraphone soprano).