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Read below for complete documentation up to the “slide bugle” iteration — check out Crafting a Soprano Trombone to see how I bent the tubes and assembled the slide to complete my trombone!
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As you can see over there 👉, I’m a saxophone player by trade, but I’ve always been drawn to the sound of trombones (no matter how much spit my bandmates have dropped on my head from their slides 😅).
Rocking out on the tenor sax
LEGO trombone!
While I was sitting pretty in 4th grade band class pressing down keys and blowing some air to manage a saxophone-like sound out of my instrument, my trombone-playing bandmates had the much grander challenge of vibrating their lips in just the right position while moving their proportionally-large slides to precisely the right distance to finally land on the note they were looking for. How could my complicated saxophone make it so easy to make a sound, while a seemingly simple trombone has so much more variability?
My interest in trombones has only grown over the years, from playing songs in jazz band that feature the trombone’s beautiful gliss and “in-your-face” sound (like Sunny Side of the Street), to programming that robotic LEGO trombone over there 👈 to play just like a real one.
Not only did the build seem simpler (in theory) than the many-parted saxophone, but I knew, as a perfectionist, I’d be more willing to take risks on a less familiar instrument.
And really, my goal for this semester was to make myself uncomfortable (yeah, I know it’s senior spring. I’m still not taking the easy way out). What better way to do that than make an instrument I don’t know how to play, with advanced fabrication techniques I’ve never done before, which required asking for help from people I don’t know, and planning travel to and from Boston on top of an already strict schedule?
To make this project more approachable (and fit within the $100 budget), I opted for the high-pitched “baby” of the trombone family — the soprano trombone. This trumpet-sized & sounding slide instrument is not commonly made, but still masterfully played by some, including jazz giant Wycliffe Gordon. This 👉particular rendition of “Swing that Music” gives me the goosebumps every. single. time.
<aside> 🚫 NOT 3D printing! (that was rule #1 for myself) — although material doesn’t affect the sound much, I wanted to learn a new, challenging fabrication method - metalworking it is!
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In short, I transformed a flat, floppy sheet of brass into the sturdy bell you see here 👉 with a whole bunch of annealing, forming, and soldering, all done in the small metals shop at the SMFA. Huge thanks to Vicky Rodriguez (the studio manager), the professors, and all the students there whose patience and willingness to answer my many, completely novice questions helped me immeasurably.
I also made the mandrel you see over there 👉 from scratch, which allowed me to hammer the bell into the same shape I had modeled in CAD (and save the thousands of dollars they usually cost to buy 🙂).
Left: hand-hammered bell (brass) | Right: mandrel (oak and steel)
<aside> ➡️ Check out my page on how I designed my instrument, including CAD drawings, materials sourcing, fabrication plan, and more! Designing a Soprano Trombone
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The basic steps I followed are below — click each toggle to see photos & more details!
Rough sketch of trombone design
Bring design to life in CAD
Create the bell mandrel
Form the bell flat pattern
Metalwork the bell
Bend tubing & assemble!
🚧 work in progress! 🚧