Trombone bore size

[Schaarea]

Please help!

I love the Jet tone small shank mouthpiece, but I am needing a larger trombone for orchestral playing. I have found a Courtois medium bore instrument that I could buy and it should fit my small shank mouthpiece - but will it have as good a sound as the larger bore instruments?

Does anybody have experience with medium bore trombones in an orchestral setting? I could really use some advice as it's quite difficult to get instruments to take away and try in little old NZ and I really want to make an informed decision rather than spending a bunch of Money on an instrument that won't quite be right for the job..

Thanks!

 

[2nd tenor]

At one time even the Bass Trombone in an Orchestra was what we now call small bore but now, IMHO, some form of large bore is the norm for orchestral trombones. What is most important, after your ability to fill a large bore instrument, is how it will blend with the rest of the Trombone section.

A tmp member by the name, I think, of 'Nethers' lives in NZ and is an expert/ex-professional Trombone player. He might not be monitoring tmp at the moment but perhaps an email via the personal message facility might reach him. In the UK MoominDave is a great help, he posts here and on the USA based (but international) Trombone Forum site - that specialist forum might be a better place for your question.

 

[MoominDave]

Hi! It quite depends what level of tonal blend seriousness is going on with your section mates. Show up with a medium bore to a professional orchestral gig, and you won't be invited back unless you did it by special arrangement with the section to create a deliberate effect. Show up with one to a high standard amateur orchestra, and you may find the same. Or you may not, particularly if you blend as skilfully as your non-standard equipment will allow. Show up to a community group that has more musically to worry about than the trombone section blend, and you're golden.

There is more and more recognition at high level these days that there is more to life than just the large bore, but it is still the default. The Jet tone mouthpiece... Don't really know it - it's a jazz piece, yes, something quite small and shallow? To get an 'orchestral' kind of sound, that is likely to prove something of an obstacle, more so than the particular trombone that it's plugged into.

But I'm a world away... You know your playing context, and I don't.