Sackbut

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Audio: Sackbut

The sackbut is the Renaissance and Baroque ancestor of the trombone, with a softer, nobler sound. The voice of the church and courtly music of old eras.

The sackbut is a brass wind instrument of the 15th–17th centuries, the direct predecessor of the modern trombone. Like the trombone, it has a telescoping slide to change pitch, but a narrower bore and smaller bell, thanks to which its timbre is softer, warmer, and more delicate.

The sackbut blended ideally with human voices and other instruments, and so was indispensable in the church and courtly music of the Renaissance and early Baroque — in polyphonic works, solemn processions, and ensembles with cornetts. Its noble, “velvety” sound was prized for its ability to support a choir without drowning it. With the revival of authentic performance the sackbut has returned to the stage, and today its soft voice can again be heard in early-music ensembles.

Cultural Versus

Sackbut

Sub-category:: brass

The sackbut is the Renaissance and Baroque ancestor of the trombone, with a softer, nobler sound. The voice of the church and courtly music of old eras.

56%similarity

Didgeridoo

Sub-category:: brass

The didgeridoo is a traditional wind instrument of the Aboriginal peoples of northern Australia; the earliest rock-art depictions date from roughly the last 1,500 years. A long tube that produces a droning, meditative sound.