Posted by Richard Perry on November 23, 2003 at 00:36:17:
In Reply to: Jazz/Piston | Classic Concert/Rotary ? posted by Curious on November 22, 2003 at 15:43:28:
I don't think that analogy flies here in the US--most trumpet players I know play everything on piston valve trumpets. I know that's not true elsewhere, though. I have a 1957 recording of a semi-obscure jazz flugelhornist named Wilbur Harden, who played on a rotary valve flugelhorn. He handled it quite well, although he wasn't as strong a soloist as his front-line partner (one John Coltrane!).
Here's what some of the guys who have posted are getting at: with piston valves, there is a point during the depression of the valve when the airway is completely cut off, giving a "natural articulation" (can't think of a better term) to slurred notes. On rotary valves, the airway is never completely closed, so no such articulation. Jazz lines are essentially very clean slurred lines, and the pistons make that cleaner for most people. So in a sense, pistons do "feel" faster. It's one of those situations where the subjective and the objective differ. And the subjective typically rules in jazz performance, where you frequently fly by the seat of your pants.
Speaking as one of the "rotary guys," I will admit that if I found a piston horn that played the way I want it to for jazz, I'd get it. But I haven't yet. The horns that come closest to the sound I want (an EXTREMELY subjective thing) have had rotary valves. So that's what I play. Hope that helps...
Richard Perry