What Makes a Cornet a Cornet?

   It’s an age old question and not an easy one to answer. What is the difference between the cornet and trumpet?   Part of the reason why it is so difficult to explain the differences is because the two instruments are so alike. They look almost alike, they are both high brass instruments and the same basic technique is used to make them make music. If we throw in the fact that they almost sound the same, we end up with a ball of tangled thread to unravel.

    The traditional way to explain their differences is to just say cornets are more conical than trumpets and because of this cornets are mellow and not as brilliant. Some claim that it’s the way the horns are shaped, also known as wrapped. The cornets nice curves will make it more mellow and agile than the trumpet. The newest way to explain the differences is to just say it’s the mouthpiece because manufactures are building cornets and trumpets so much alike. Oh and lets not forget about the sound. The British Bands have a cornet sound and we Americans have a different cornet sound. The Brits use allot of vibrato us Americans don’t. Brits where handed cornets when they came out of the womb and we Americans are loud and rowdy and that’s why we love trumpets

     I’m going to attempt to answer this question but this time in a different way. First let’s deal with the basic truths about both instruments. For examples I will use the shepherds crook cornet and the workhorse B flat trumpet as our subjects.

Without dealing with myths here are some facts.

1) The trumpet and cornet are keyed in B flat.  And when both horns unwrapped will be roughly six feet long made out of brass.

2) The cornet will be more conical than the trumpet and the trumpet more cylindrical than the cornet.

3)  The trumpet will have a C cup bowl shaped mouthpiece and the cornet will have a deep V cone shaped mouthpiece.

4) Cornets have a more compact wrap than trumpets and are better looking. The bell is closer to your ears so that it is easy to hear all that sweetness coming out of the business end. .(This is just my opinion)

5) Cornets usually have bigger bores than trumpets.

6) Everything that I mentioned when added up all together will make the cornets tone richer and mellower. It also affects the way  the two instrument s are played.

Fact number 1 takes care of itself. There is no confusion and  we can move on to fact number 2.

   

In fact 2,  if we assume that we have two tubes of equal length and set them side by side with one tube shaped more like a cone and the other one shaped liked a cylinder we will have the basic building blocks for a cornet and trumpet. Manufactures will play around with these basic shapes and use different ratios in order to optimize the tone of the instrument. In general cornets are not totally conical and trumpets are not totally cylindrical. The instrument with a more conical shape will be warmer, mellower and richer in tone than the instrument with a more cylindrical shape. The cylindrical shape leads to a brilliant, strident and cutting tone.

    In fact 3, the mouthpiece plays a significant role in the tone of the cornet and trumpet. The mouthpiece is also the route most musicians take in order find the quickest fix when it comes to playing a cornet versus the trumpet. Allot of trumpet players complain about cornets being too stuffy. Other complains include that they can’t play high notes as easy and have less projection and endurance. They like the nice warm sound coming out of the horn but they are too tired to stand up after five minutes of playing. The first thing they want to do is find a trumpet mouthpiece with a cornet shank and stick it in the front end of their cornet. In the process they loose some of the qualities of a cornet that makes it a cornet.

    Traditionally cornets used deep V shaped mouthpieces with narrow cookie cutter type rims and trumpets use C cup shaped mouthpieces with fat comfortable rims. Currently there are manufactures that make hybrid mouthpieces for both trumpet and cornet.  The V shaped cornet mouth piece has less resistance than trumpet C cup bowl shaped mouthpieces. Resistance is felt as backpressure. Each player needs a certain amount of backpressure in order to get the horn to make music. If there is not enough backpressure (resistance) the cornet/trumpet player will feel as if they are running out of air and will huff and puff until they become tired to blow down the house. If there is too much backpressure (allot of resistance) the cornet/trumpet player will feel like they are forcing the instrument to make music and become tired and their heads explode. Cornetist must compensate for the lack of resistance with their embouchure. An added benefit that we cornet players love is that we have more flexibility with dynamics, control over our sound, and more agility. The drawback is that if we don’t use proper technique, our chops and endurance will suffer.  Because of the resistance and fat rims built into trumpet mouthpieces there is less stress placed on the trumpet players embouchure. Their sound is more brilliant, and they can produce more volume and power with less effort. In the end it’s easier for them to play higher and have increased endurance.

   In fact number 4, cornets do have a tighter wrap than trumpets and to my eyes they look nicer than trumpets. But do they really effect the sound of the instrument? I would say yes but for me it has more to do with the closeness of the bell to my ears. I’m able to hear the subtle changes I make in my sound while I’m playing and there is more feedback.  I think realistically the crook in a shepherds crook cornet does have some effect on the shape of the bell and ultimately the sound. Every shepherds crook cornet I’ve heard sounds warmer and had more of a human quality in their sound than a trumpet or long model American cornet or trumpet.

  In fact number (5), there are just too many variables involved with bores. Back when trumpets first made their appearance on the jazz scene they were called peashooters. This was because they had smaller bores than cornets the bore is basically the diameter of the tubing on the instrument. Bores are usually measured at the second valve slide of a cornet or trumpet. There are many factors that a builder must consider when designing a cornet or trumpet and point (5) is not carved in stone. My getzen 3850 has a .462 bore. There are definitely trumpets that can be bought off the shelf today that have bores greater than .462. There are many trumpet and cornet models pushing .470. Generally peaking, bigger bores will open the horn up and make it have less resistance and freer blowing.

   Fact number (6) is perhaps the best answer of all. You can judge a tree by the fruit it bares. If horns where trees, their fruit will be their sound. There have been blind studies that demonstrate the cornet can be mistaken for a trumpet and most people can’t tell the difference, especially people who don’t play either horns. This is a problem because if both horns sound so similar, how are we going to be able to tell them apart and then explain the differences to the curious and uninformed. It’s easy for seasoned cornet and trumpet players to tell the differences because they know what to listen for. I would argue that a key factor missing is the way they are played. Additionally the way they are designed determines how they are to be played

      Today we hear trumpets  in every kind of music imagined. In the hands of a great players like Wynton Marsalis , Melvin Jones, and Joe Grandsden  it is an amazing instrument.  They can be screaming, loud and in your face or serene and gentle. One could easily argue that there is no need for a cornet I definitely disagree with this argument and again this boils down to how the instruments sound and how it is played. Just because you can play a trumpet in allot of situations, it doesn’t mean that they are ideal for everything.  Cornets are an intimate instrument and their unique abilities still make them relevant today. Their tone is ideal for lyrical and emotional music and with a deep V cornet mouthpiece it has a human-like quality. Their precision and agility allows them to play extremely fast passages and each note is clearly defined and clean and excellent example is Richard Marshall. Trumpet players can play clean and clearly defined too, but it is the subtle nature of the cornets tone that gives it an edge in area. When cornet players were ruling the roost, they would mimic the great violinist and vocalist of the day while trumpets were restricted to just playing fanfares and viewed as crude contraptions. It was the trumpets ability to cut through the amplified bands and loud night clubs during the big band era that eventually gave them a foothold. In the end, it was musical taste that determined the destinies of   the cornet and trumpet. Today cornets are making headway again in jazz and they are a mainstay in traditional Dixieland music. Even with C cup trumpet mouthpieces it’s easy to hear the lyrical nature of the horn. The Brass Band tradition in the UK helped to keep the cornets rich mellow tone, agility and lyrical ability alive and encouraged renewed curiosity in its abilities. All of this is because tastes in music are changing.

    The next time you’re asked why your cornet is different from a trumpet. Don’t try to explain it. Just show it and then the person that is asking the question will understand.