The 13th in a series on some of the roles of British army bandsmen as illustrated by Frederick Stansell c.1900 in the book “Bands of the British Army” by W.J. Gordon.
No.13: Clarionet (Clarinet)- The Suffolk Regiment
“In the modern infantry band there is generally but one oboe, the rest of the wood being a piccolo, two bassoons and a dozen or so clarionets. The clarionet, or clarinet, is a substitute for the ancient brass clarion and was so named by (Johann) Denner, in 1690, who is often given the credit of its invention. Since his time it has been greatly improved and is now the best of the wood instruments. It is of considerable compass owing to its having what are known as two registers with an interval of a twelfth between them, and the lower register is called the chalumeau; in fact, Denner developed it out of the old chalumeau which we read of as the shawm. Unlike the bassoon it has but one reed, which is really a reed, being a slip from Arundo Sativa. In a band, there are generally two E flat clarionets, two bass ones in B flat and perhaps ten an octave higher.”
The 12th in a series on some of the roles of British army bandsmen as illustrated by Frederick Stansell c.1900 in the book “Bands of the British Army” by W.J. Gordon.
No.12: The Bugle – Highland Light Infantry
“The bugle, which is in B flat, gives eight notes, but only five of them – C.G.C.E.G. – are used for calls. It is now adopted for what are known as military commands in all branches of the service, as well as in the navy by way of the Royal Marines… The calls are the same on both bugle and trumpet, those of the trumpet being lower. Many of these have been syllabised with some ingenuity, as the few following will show:
Drummers and buglers: “Drummers tall, buglers small, don’t you hear the bugle call?”
Guard: “Come and do your piquet, boys, come and do your guard”
Fall in: “Bugles sound, take your ground, fall in, fall in, don’t look around”
First Dinner Call: “Oh, come to the cookhouse door, boys, come to the cookhouse door”
Second Dinner Call: “Oh, pick’em up, pick’em up, hot potatoes, hot potatoes, pick’em up, pick’em up, hot potatoes. oh!”“
The 11th in a series on some of the roles of British army bandsmen as illustrated by Frederick Stansell c.1900 in the book “Bands of the British Army” by W.J. Gordon.
No.11: The Side Drum – Coldstream Guards
“Like the kettledrum [the side drum] came from the Arabs, who fitted it with the snares – that is the strings of gut across its lower head which cause it to rattle when struck… At funerals the drum is muffled by pads, or the rope, being inserted between the skin and the snares.
The drum is not in such request as it used to be. In the old days before it was replaced by the bugle it conveyed the signals of command, even the full platoon exercises being gone through to drum beats; and for this reason it was ‘put on the establishment’ as it is called, and remains there, the British infantry having sixteen drummers to each battalion.”
The 10th in a series on some of the roles of British army bandsmen as illustrated by Frederick Stansell c.1900 in the book “Bands of the British Army” by W.J. Gordon. #MakeMusicNotWar.
No.10: Saxhorn – The Grenadier Guards
“All (saxhorns) have a cupped mouthpiece and consist of a conical brass tube of easy curves opening out into a wide graceful bell, three pistons providing the intermediate tones and semitones… a saxhorn band includes a soprano, a contralto, a tenor or althorn, and a contrabass.“
The 9th in a series on some of the roles of British army bandsmen as illustrated by Frederick Stansell c.1900 in the book “Bands of the British Army” by W.J. Gordon.
No.9: French Horn – The Rifle Brigade
“Another instrument with a long pedigree is the French Horn which is a development of the old hunting-horn that had the tube curved widely enough to be carried over the shoulders. Throughout it has had a softer tone than any other brass instrument, this character being due to its mouthpiece being a funnel instead of a cup. In these days it has crooks for different keys and a tuning slide. About 1770, an ingenious player named Hampl put his hand into the bell and was able to complete the scale by thus lowering the pitch a semitone, but valves have now obviated the need of hand-stopping. The Horn is not easy to play and is seldom trusted alone, there being generally two or four in a band.”
With my recent series of posts on marching bandsmen as depicted by Fred Stansell, I’ve been wondering about turning my attention to painting a band myself. I thought of a group of bandsmen that I’ve had for some time buried in a trunk of unpainted figures – (yes, I have a whole trunk of them).
I’m thinking of Airfix’s classic Guards Band. As plastic soldiers go, these are pretty ancient, a miniature Australopithecus from Airfix to our modern Homo Sapiens from the likes of Strelets or RedBox. First released in 1961, this set has long been out of production and will spark off a wave of nostalgia for those old enough to remember it when freely available (which does not include me actually).
In an original box, the band consisted of:
x1 Drum-Major
x7 Side Drummers
x10 Flautists
x7 Tubists
x5 Saxophonists
x2 Cymbalists
x4 Trombonists
x7 Trumpeters
x1 Bass Drummer
My bandsmen were bought in an auction and so came in a ragtag, broken and half-painted fashion. I had plenty of some types but few of another. Of those in working order, I was a bit short on side drummers and trombonists (I have only two of each) but over-subscribed with saxophonists and tuba players.
I’ve evened things up a bit for the underrepresented trombonists at least with a bit surgery, making for three extra. The drummers will have to remain a trifle undermanned.
A two-man band. Half saxophonist – half flautist!
Having removed some paint and glued some limbs, I’m nearly ready to put some paint on them. Given the topic, and being such a very old set with details which are very slight indeed, I’m not sure they are suited to my usual painting style. I think they cry out more for a toy-solder style simple paint job, which I think is sort-of what I’m going to go for.
TubaCymbalsFluteTrumpetSaxaphone
I fancied having some oboists in my band and thought some of the damaged saxophonists might pass with the end of their instrument missing?
Clarinet player? Almost?
One of the saxophonists seems to have come out of the mould a little awry, leaning back and letting rip!
Normal BandsmanJazz Bandsman
Being an individualist has made him keen to express himself more freely than his other bandmates – a Guardsmen Charlie Parker or Guardsmen John Coltrane, perhaps?
I envisage embarking on a slow burn project with these, steadily adding some paint as and when I can.
Meanwhile, up for auction on eBay is another marching band of the Grenadier Guards, this lovely lithographed cardboard soldier set. Titled “Drum and Fife Band of the Grenadier Guards”, it is made out of cardboard and was manufactured by postcard company Tuck.
Delightfully illustrated, perhaps it can be considered a forerunner to the “Paperboys” paper soldiers range by Peter Dennis? Famous British army artist Harry Payne painted many military subjects around 1900 for Tuck postcards – so could this be his work? I couldn’t find any evidence of the artist’s name on the example shown.
The Grenadier “Cards” – postcard guardsmen.
A little bit out of my price range for this set but a very pleasing set, nonetheless.
The 8th in a series on some of the roles of British army bandsmen as illustrated by Frederick Stansell c.1900 in the book “Bands of the British Army” by W.J. Gordon. #MakeMusicNotWar
No.8: The Fife – The Irish Guards
“The Fife came to us from Switzerland by way of France, where it seems to have been introduced by Francis the First… The fife has a compass of about two octaves and, unlike the bugle, all its notes are used. Drums, fifes, bugles and trumpets, having originally been instruments of command, have all along been supplied to the army at the public expense… (fifer and drummer bandsmen) have still to play either instrument as required so that every fifer is a drummer and every drummer is a fifer.”
The 7th in a series on some of the roles of British army bandsmen as illustrated by Frederick Stansell c.1900 in the book “Bands of the British Army” by W.J. Gordon.#MakeMusicNotWar.
No.7: Cymbals – The Queen’s Own West Kent Regiment
The 6th in a series on some of the roles of British army bandsmen as illustrated by Frederick Stansell c.1900 in the book “Bands of the British Army” by W.J. Gordon. #MakeMusicNotWar
No.6: Ophicleide- The Black Watch
“In military bands there are always the baritone, generally known as the saxhorn, the euphonium, which took the place of the ophicleide, and the bass or bombardon; but a saxhorn band includes a soprano, a contralto, a tenor or althorn, and a contrabass. The whole family, as well as the saxophone series, are names after a Belgian, Adolphe Sax, who settled in Paris in the middle of the nineteenth century and invented and made them, and may be fairly described as the chief improver of our military bands.”
The 5th in a series on some of the roles of British army bandsmen as illustrated by Frederick Stansell c.1900 in the book “Bands of the British Army” by W.J. Gordon. #MakeMusicNotWar.
No.5: The Oboe – Royal Irish Rifles
“In the early days of the British Army the horse had trumpets, and the dragoons and infantry had hautboys, a word spelled in many ways, the latest form being oboe… Oboes were brought into the army in 1678 by the Horse Grenadier Guards, who served as foot as well as horse.“
Suburban Militarism 