question about harmony
hi
if a trumpet and a trombone play the same note, it sounds awful, or is it mandatory that the trombone or trumpet play a different note for harmonization ?
generic question for any ensemble (strings, brass, woodwind)
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Sounds awful in software, or real life? Normally they would be an octave apart. Rules of harmonization have little to do with what instruments are used.
What is it you are trying to do?
In reply to Sounds awful in software, or… by bobjp
I would like to place a short rhythm section with a trumpet and a trombone. Should I do it in harmony or in unison?
in live, do they play the same notes, or is it the different timbres of the instruments that give the illusion of harmony?
In reply to Sounds awful in software, or… by bobjp
My recollection (from 40 years ago :-) is that a trumpet is a transposing instrument and a trombone is not. So the instrument a trombone calls a C is the instrument a trumpet calls a Bb (or a D?). So not an octave apart. Is this not the case???
In reply to My recollection (from 40… by TheHutch
Trombones can also be written as transposing instruments, down a ninth and using treble clef - i.e. in Bb. This is the tradition in British (and some other locations') brass band scores.
In other contexts trombone is usually written in bass or tenor clef and sometimes in alto (Dvorak liked to do that) or more rarely in treble clef, all non-transposing. Switches between clefs within the part are common.
For a non-transposing trombone, the note written as a C would be written as a D for a Bb trumpet (other transpositions for trumpet are used in orchestral contexts).
Perhaps to help clarify, here is a score with four three measure trumpet and trombone examples.
1. an octave apart.
2. same pitch.
3. trumpet melody, trombone harmony (one example)
4. trombone melody, trumpet harmony (one example)
In reply to Perhaps to help clarify,… by bobjp
thanks
i will study this
It is important to understand where each instrument sounds. The trumpet is a soprano instrument, the trombone a tenor instrument. Their voices sound in a different part of the sound spectrum.