Trombone

The trombone is a member of the brass (Hornbostel–Sachs 423.22). Listen to 3 recordings and learn how it makes its sound.

Listen to the trombone

110,1 Drikkevise spillet på basun

2:07CC0 1.0by Gottfried Ruben, Ruben-samlingen…Wikimedia Commons

2:07

RakeoianAnthem (trombone solo)

1:00CC BY-SA 4.0by MrSpode42Wikimedia Commons

1:00

Sheherazade opening, trombone bass

0:12CC BY-SA 4.0by Mathieu PrevotWikimedia Commons

0:12

Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.

How the trombone makes its sound

In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the trombone belongs to the brass (lip-vibrated aerophones): the player's buzzing lips set the air column vibrating – trumpets, horns, trombones, tubas and the didgeridoo.

More broadly it is one of the aerophones (wind instruments), where sound comes from vibrating air.

Press play above and watch the spectrum: the evenly spaced peaks are harmonics, and their relative strength is what gives the instrument its character.

Range of the trombone

The typical range of the trombone runs from E2 (82.4 Hz) to F5 (698 Hz) – about 3.1 octaves. Harmonics extend its sound far higher.

From Wikipedia

The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the air column inside the instrument to vibrate. Nearly all trombones use a telescoping slide mechanism to alter the pitch instead of the valves used by other brass instruments. The valve trombone is an exception, using three valves similar to those on a trumpet, and the superbone has valves and a slide.