Getzen Cornet Serial Numbers

[Giuliana]

Sometimesthere are instruments in the ensemble other than those shown above. These are linked to their respective principal instruments with either a "d" if the same player doubles the instrument, or a "+" if an extra player is required. Whenever this occurs, we will separate the first four digits with commas for clarity. Thus a double reed quartet of 2 oboes, english horn and bassoon will look like this:

Thus, the Copland Fanfare shown above is for 3 Trumpets, 4 Horns, 3 Trombones, no Euphonium, 1 Tuba and Tympani. There is no separate number for Bass Trombone, but it can generally be assumed that if there are multiple Trombone parts, the lowest part can/should be performed on Bass Trombone.

These numbers tell you how many of each instrument are in the ensemble. The first number stands for Violin, the second for Viola, the third for Cello, and the fourth for Double Bass. Thus, this string quartet is for 2 Violas and 2 Cellos, rather than the usual 2110. Titles with no bracketed numbers are assumed to use "Standard Instrumentation." The following is considered to be Standard Instrumentation:

The bracketed numbers tell you the precise instrumentation of the ensemble. The system used above is standard in the orchestra music field. The first set of numbers (before the dash) represent the Woodwinds. The set of numbers after the dash represent the Brass. Percussion is abbreviated following the brass. Strings are represented with a series of five digits representing the quantity of each part (first violin, second violin, viola, cello, bass). Other Required and Solo parts follow the strings:

Principal auxilary instruments (piccolo, english horn, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, wagner tuba, cornet & euphonium) are linked to their respective instruments with either a "d" if the same player doubles the auxiliary instrument, or a "+" if an extra player is required. Instruments shown in parenthesis are optional and may be omitted.

The second example is common for a concert band or wind ensemble piece. This ficticious work is for 2 flutes (plus piccolo), 1 oboe, 3 clarinets plus alto and bass clarinets, 2 bassoons, 5 saxes (soprano, 2 altos, tenor & bari), 2 trumpets (plus 2 cornets), 3 trombones, euphonium, tuba, tympani, percussion and double bass. Note the inclusion of the saxes after bassoon for this band work. Note also that the separate euphonium part is attached to trombone with a plus sign. For orchestral music, saxes are at the end (see Saxophones below. It is highly typical of band sets to have multiple copies of parts, especially flute, clarinet, sax, trumpet, trombone & percussion. Multiples, if any, are not shown in this system. The numbers represent only distinct parts, not the number of copies of a part.

Note: This system lists Horn before Trumpet. This is standard orchestral nomenclature. Unless otherwise noted, we will use this system for both orchestra and band works (in most band scores, Trumpet precedes Horn, and sometimes Oboe & Bassoon follow Clarinet). Also, it should be noted that Euphonium can be doubled by either Trombone or Tuba. Typically, orchestra scores have the tuba linked to euphonium, but it does happen where Trombone is the principal instead.

Saxophones, when included in orchestral music (they rarely are) will be shown in the "other instrument" location after strings and before the soloist, if any. However for band music, they are commonly present and therefore will be indicated after bassoon as something similar to "SAATB" where S=soprano, A=alto, T=tenor and B=baritone. Letters that are duplicated (as in A in this example) indicate multiple parts.

If you are unsure that the kid is going to stick with the horn forat least a year, it might make sense to go with the local musicstore's rental program, preferably on a Yamaha student model, thoughthe other major makers (King, Getzen, Conn, Bach, Holton) makesimilar satisfactory horns. If you are confident that the kid isgoing to stick with it, here is what I recommend. I concede there area number of satisfactory ways to skin this cat, but here are a coupleof ideas. This is somewhat eccentric and highly opinionated, but i'vestarted a few hundred young trumpet players and it is the bestopinion I can come up with.

Cornets are similar to trumpets, but shorter. One could get into alengthy technical discussion about this subject, but not here notnow. Suffice it to say that especially with younger students orstudents of small stature, a cornet is somewhat easier to start withsince they are shorter and the cornet's center of gravity is closerto the player's body, making it easier to play. My attitude, machoman at age 12, when I was first starting was, "I don't want nostinkin' cornet--I want a trumpet!" left my parents little choice. Mydaughter, however, when she started at age 11, played a good usedGetzen cornet that I bought for $65 at a music store liquidationsale. It was a good decision.

At this point, with national markets available, I would buy anOlds Ambassadortrumpet or cornet oneBay(search for "Olds Ambassador trumpet") for around $100 - 125 to startmy kid on, unless I thought my kid would be significantly motivatedby how shiny the horn is.

Olds madeover a million brass instruments, but went out of business in 1979 orso. Their Ambassador line of student brass instruments was the bestever and there are many many of those horns still out there. Istarted on one myself and recently purchased one on eBay for my highschool age daughter to use for marching band. These are great playinghorns, often better than other companies' allegedly professionalmodels, built to withstand all the rigors of the school band room,marching field, and street. They were built to be played atArmegedon. But these horns are not the prettiest things around atthis point because even the newest ones are at least 20 years old andmost were finished in lacquered brass and the lacquer has often atleast partially worn away. Some of the more expensive (in thiscontext that means over $125) eBay examples can, however, look prettygood and nearly new. Others are worn and in need of some repair andthey often sell for under $50, but I wouldn't bother with those,unless you know pretty much what you are doing (which means youprobably aren't reading this page). Look at the more expensiveones--they are essentially ready to go and the comparable new hornwould be 3 to 4 times as expensive. But they may have some splotchylacquer.

If you think that your kid would likely be more successful, i.e.,more motivated to practice, on something that is newer and shiny(that is not a moral failing, it is just being a kid), I wouldbuy a used recent model Yamaha student horn. They have model numberslike YTR 2320 (probably the most common, they'd all be anywhere from4 to 12 years old), the current model, the YTR2325 would be newer, and the YTR 232 would be older. I'd stickwith the newer ones myself, but you might stumble on a good deal fora YTR 232 in unusually good condition (search on "Yamaha trumpet").You can get one that looks very close to new for anywhere between$200 and $350. The Yamaha student horns are the best ones available,in my opinion. A used one, with good care, can likely be sold fornearly what you paid for it (but it is wise to keep one's studenttrumpet for marching when he or she gets to high school).

Silver plating adds about $100 to the cost of a used studenttrumpet. The big kids (high schoolers) all have silver (pro quality)trumpets and so younger kids, slaves to fashion we all are, startcraving silver early. But hold out. Don't spend the extra money now.It is a great practice motivator when the kid gets to 8th or 9thgrade and is sufficiently serious about it for parents to startthinking about upgrading.

If you are a gambler, student models by Bach, Getzen, Holton, Connand King are also satisfactory, though not as playable in my opinionas the Yamaha. These things also cost from $200 to $350 or so,similar to the Yamaha student horn prices. Do not spend lessunless you really know what you are doing and know you are takingadvantage of an uninformed seller.

Do not--and I cannot emphasize this too much--buy analleged trumpet from Costco, Walmart, Sam's Club or any big boxdiscount retailer. Trumpets aren't vacuum cleaners. These are trulyterrible unplayable things and they are a complete waste of money. Itwould be like giving your fifth grader a twenty pound basketball andexpecting him to hit from the top of the key. Learning the trumpet isa difficult thing for almost everybody as it is. To saddle a studentwith one of these boxes of junk is guaranteeing failure.

The late Bobby DeNicola is the creator of the Puje, (pronounced pudgy). He devised a way to build a hybrid horn from stock trumpet and cornet parts. His horns were reasonably priced and played well, but retained a certain hand-built aesthetic. One unique feature of the Puje is a thumb-controlled tuning slide that tunes the whole horn.

There is no documentation on the horns Bobby built. They were built one at a time using mostly Blessing parts. I am not sure there are any two that are identical and the design was constantly evolving. No dates or serial numbers were recorded and there is no firm number as to how many were produced. He also issued a number of Puje 2 instruments. As with the Puje there is no recorded information about this horn.

I had always wanted a Puje, but they are hard to find in good original condition. I had begun designing my own horn in 2013, when I saw this horn for sale on eBay. It was listed as a new prototype. I purchased it. By chance I contacted the seller, Joe, after the sale and it turned out he had it built with the intention to resurrect the Puje. His plans had changed.

I have been refining my craft and always looking for improvements, but in the end, there are only two things that I feel are requirements when I create a Puje: first, it has to be pudgy, second it must have a whole horn tuning slide. After that, there really are no limits. Just like Bobby, I will continue to experiment with the Puje design to bring you a fun and innovative instrument.

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