By Nelson E. Harrison, Ph. D.

[This article is accompanied by photographs. A link to the Image Gallery is at the end of the article]

What is ten inches long, weighs five pounds, vibrates a full six octaves and is known as the horniest little horn in existence?  It is a one-of-a-kind brass instrument custom-made for me from several components and spare parts by brass technician, Ted Weir.  I named this instrument "The Trombetto from the Ghetto" and it is well on its way to becoming the most famous horn in the world.

Its journey began in December, 1980 in the window of Gelman Loan Company in Pittsburgh's East Liberty area on Frankstown Avenue at Lincoln.  This block is historic in that it once hosted Johnny Brown's lounge and Local 471 of the American Federation of Musicians on the east and the Tree-Inn Chicken Shack that Stanley Turrentine canonized in his tune, "Take me back to the Chicken Shack," on the west.  In the adjacent block due east is Lincoln Elementary School where you can see a Historical Marker placed in honor of its most famous student Mary Lou Williams.  During Pittsburgh's reign as a capital city of jazz music in the 1940s and 50s, some of the best jazz and legendary jam sessions took place within a two-block area of Gelman Loan, the last standing business in the block from that era.  It might accurately be said that the TFTG was discovered in a "Pawn shop on a corner in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania."

A former trumpet and baritone horn player-turned-trombonist, I was looking for a gimmick to augment my combo presentations when the horn in the window caught my eye.  It turned out to be a pocket cornet made by Amati, equipped with two extension lead pipes and a cornet mouthpiece.  The sound had a tin-horn timbre that would not be taken seriously in musical circles.  The second time I removed it from its case the breakthrough discovery occurred.  I wondered if my trombone mouthpiece would fit the lead pipe where the extension tubes go.  It worked.  Not only was it in tune but the timbre was velvety-rich like a French horn-fluglehorn combination.  The sound was delightful and I knew I had discovered much more than a gimmick.  It rapidly garnered attention at gigs and jam sessions everywhere I went.

There was a slight problem, however.  Using the trombone mouthpiece I was only able to play two octaves in chromatic sequence upwards from E concert in the bass clef.   The horn, on the other hand,  could be played higher than the normal range for the mouthpiece.  Nevertheless, playing in a limited two-octave range was interesting and challenging.  It helped to strengthen my high register on the trombone, up to high F... sometimes G. However, the horn could not play the complete lower register where the mouthpiece was better suited to play.  I thought to myself, "One day I'll add something to enable chromatic access to the lower register."

In 1990 I consulted Ted Weir, master brass technician of the Brass & Woodwind Shop in Carnegie, PA.  We discussed the possibility of adding a fourth valve and additional tubing for the purpose of completing the horn's lower registry capability.  The rest of the story is all due to the genius of Ted Weir, who accomplished the task with some carefully selected spare parts that he hand-crafted to solve the problem.  Six months later he called me and said to come get my horn.

The result is the trombetto, a name I chose in 1980.  People are fascinated by the horn and have suggested that I patent it and reproduce it.  Mr. Weir assured me that patents are not applicable to brass instruments today since everything imaginable was done in the evolution of modern brass instruments in the 1700s and 1800s only to wind up, through the process of elimination, with the instruments of our standard symphony orchestra.  Even the elevated bell of Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet had been tried by someone circa 1850. They even have wooden trumpets in Africa.

Naming it the trombetto is a bit problematic since people consistently mispronounce it, calling it the "trumpetta, trumpito, trombetta, trumbino, etc."  Others have suggested I call it the "NelsonE" (pronounced "Nelsown") since it is my own, one-of-a-kind and my middle initial added to my first name.  A recent suggestion to call it the "Trombetto from the Ghetto" so that people could better pronounce it has resulted in the title of this article.

The trombetto has been a delight to play and it has many yet to be discovered possibilities. Exploring those possibilities has been both a challenge and enjoyment.  Having the bell only fourteen inches from my ear makes me want to cuddle it when I play.  The fourth valve allows me to fill the chromatic gaps in the lower octaves very similarly to the way an F-attachment on a bass trombone works.  In the middle octaves the fourth valve lets me trill on any note since it barely changes the pitch at all.  It also allows me to simplify the most difficult trill of all for a trumpet – concert A ~ B -  below the treble staff.  In the highest registers the valves are not so important.   Using the same mouthpiece on the trombetto as I do on the trombone has kept me from having to build an entirely new embouchure in order to switch easily from one to another while strengthening my trombone chops.  The diaphragmatic strength needed to play the trombone is an aid in playing the trombetto.  The rest is up to the embouchure.  It took me another eight years to develop the embouchure to explore the highest trumpet registers but I have now succeeded in being able to play melodies in the highest octave (up to concert F two octaves above the treble staff and chromatically down to concert Eb, one octave and one-third below the bass staff.  The next challenge is working on my diaphragm for more pedal power and on my embouchure for breadth of timbre in the highest octaves.

So far I have demonstrated it for Clark Terry, Jon Faddis, Bill Steinmeyer, Earl May, Keter Betts, Freddy Cole, Slide Hampton, Dennis Wilson, John Clayton, Jr., Dr. David Baker, Winston Byrd, Stanley Turrentine, Thelonius Monk, Jr., Jimmy Owens, Maynard Ferguson, Kim Richmond, Mike Vax and Bob Flanigan to name a few.

What started out as a search for a gimmick has resulted in the creation of a serious instrument that is also a curiousity.  It blends well in harmony with other horns and it adapts well to the application of mutes and plungers for expressive effects.  Electrified or played into a microphone it can produce an amazing range of color and dynamics.  My claim that I can play six octaves chromatically often results in skepticism to which I gladly reply, "Allow me to demonstrate."  For those of you who may not meet me in person the "Trombetto from the Ghetto" will be making its recording debut in 2001.  Keep your ears open.

Note: Ted Weir presently works in the instrument repair department of Volkwein's Music in Pittsburgh, PA.

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Author Copyright © 2001 by Nelson E. Harrison, Ph. D.
All rights Reserved without Prejudice
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