Stansell’s Bandsmen #12: The Bugle

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!”“

W.J. Gordon

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Stansell’s Bandsmen #11: The Side Drum

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.”

W.J. Gordon

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Stansell’s Bandsmen #10: The Saxhorn

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.“

W.J. Gordon

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Stansell’s Bandsmen #9: The French Horn

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.”

W.J. Gordon

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Stansell’s Bandsmen #8: The Fife

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.”

W.J. Gordon

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Stansell’s Bandsmen #5: The Oboe

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.“

W.J. Gordon

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Stansell’s Bandsmen #4: The Bombardon

The 4th 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.4: Bombardon – The Connaught Rangers

“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. 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.”

W.J. Gordon

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Looking much like the military bombardon illustrated by Fred Stansell, here the modern sousaphone appears capable of being mastered by even the smallest band member.

Edrich Siebert’s “Bombastic Bombardon” being performed. Self-taught Siebert began his musical career in 1917 as a boy musician in the Cheshire Regiment in which he served until 1929. Recalled to the army during the Second World War he travelled more than ten thousand miles with the regimental band, entertaining troops in Sicily, Italy and later Austria. Compositions included many marches and solos for various instruments including some not often accorded solo status, like The Bombastic Bombardon.