Third set. Half past eleven, maybe later. You have been on stage since eight. Your lips are numb, your air is running thin, and the high C is still to come.
Anyone who plays long gigs knows this moment. The band wants one more tune. Your chops want to go home.
Almost everyone looks for the reason in themselves. Practise more, pace yourself better, try another mouthpiece. Hardly anyone asks how much of it comes from the horn.
Is it your chops or your trumpet?
Both. Your embouchure is something you build over years. On the instrument, one thing can change: how much of your energy gets lost in the bell.
No horn makes you a better player. It changes what a note costs you. That is exactly the question a trumpet player asked himself, who also happened to be a materials scientist.
How did a materials scientist end up making carbon trumpets?
Andi Keller, the founder of daCarbo, studied composite materials and spent seven years in research. After that he ran a development department that made loud machines quieter. The principle: composites damp vibrations.
Andi has played the trumpet since he was a child. So the question was close at hand: what happens if you apply the same principle to a trumpet?
He could not make an instrument himself. For a year he told his idea to anyone who would listen. Then he met Werner Spiri, one of the best-known wind instrument makers in Switzerland. After ten minutes Spiri said: let's do it. Two weeks later the two of them founded the company. daCarbo has made carbon wind instruments since 2009.
What did the Vienna institute measure?
With the first finished prototype, daCarbo went to Vienna, to the Institute for Musical Acoustics (Wiener Klangstil) at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Acousticians there have studied wind instruments for decades.
The acousticians Vereecke and Kausel compared the same trumpet once with a brass bell and once with a carbon bell. They measured how much energy the instrument needs for the same result. In 2012 the study appeared in the International Trumpet Guild Journal, the journal of the International Trumpet Guild.
How much energy does a carbon trumpet save?
About 10 percent less energy for the same result. Measured in the lab. That is the one number that is proven. Not a feeling, not a line from a brochure, but a measurement from Vienna.
10 percent sounds small. Until you play a night with three sets. Then it is the difference between a last tune you play through and one you only survive.
You have more left at the end of the night.
Why does a carbon bell take less energy?
Where a brass bell vibrates and loses energy, the carbon bell stays still.
Every vibration in the metal takes energy. That energy comes from your air and your lips, note after note, all night. The carbon bell is made so that the material itself hardly vibrates. What you put in goes into the note.
It was not simple. daCarbo first compared straight tubes made of glass fibre, carbon and brass. Carbon came closest to brass acoustically. Then came prototypes with different wall thicknesses and fibre directions, play tests with musicians and changes to the metal parts. The goal never changed: a trumpet that sounds like a trumpet and plays like a trumpet. Only with less effort.
What does a carbon trumpet feel like to play?
The note speaks faster. Andi describes it like this: you can start a little off the centre of the note, and there is still enough energy for the note to come. That builds trust. And a player who trusts the instrument plays more relaxed.
Many players do not notice it on day one. The independent reviewer TrumpetScout felt nothing special at first. After a few days, soft entries and high notes spoke more surely for him. So give it more than one evening.
Does a carbon trumpet sound different from brass?
No. Nobody hears the difference. In a blind test, listeners could not tell carbon from brass.
That was on purpose. A carbon trumpet that sounded different would have no place in an orchestra or a big band. What changes, you feel in your hands, not in the hall: the bell gives less feedback, because it does not vibrate.
Is a carbon trumpet lighter?
No, and that is not the point. Carbon, not because it is lighter. Because the bell stays still, warms up in seconds and does not dent or corrode.
daCarbo even had to add weight, for acoustic reasons. A Unica weighs about 1.03 kilograms, about as much as a brass trumpet. If low weight is what you need most, a daCarbo is not made for that.
Carbon or brass: the comparison
| Brass trumpet | daCarbo with carbon bell | |
|---|---|---|
| Sound | The sound you know | The same. Listeners could not tell them apart in a blind test |
| Energy | The bell vibrates | About 10 percent less, measured in the lab |
| Weight | About 1 kilogram, depending on the model | Unica about 1.03 kilograms |
| Dents and corrosion | The bell can dent and corrode | No dents, no corrosion on the bell. The metal parts like on any trumpet |
| Warming up | The metal takes time | Warm in seconds |
And does it last? Five times stronger than it needs to be. None has broken since 2009.
Who is a carbon trumpet for?
A daCarbo makes sense when endurance is your issue:
- You play long gigs. Big band, dance band, festivals, weddings, three sets a night. Your chops give out before the band does.
- You are coming back after a break. Your endurance is not what it used to be, and you do not want to fight for every note.
- You play lead or first part. High register, lots of entries, no room for mistakes.
A daCarbo is the wrong choice if low weight is what you want most, or a new sound. The sound stays the same.
Which daCarbo trumpet is right for you?
There are four trumpets, from bright to full. All of them have a carbon bell.
- ChangeMaker, from €2,990. The way in, bright. The most affordable way into a carbon instrument.
- Unica, from €3,990. The all-rounder, brilliant and balanced. If you only try one daCarbo, try this one.
- Toni Maier, from €6,590. Warm and open.
- Large, from €7,990. Full and very open.
The price includes tax, customs duty and shipping. Nothing is added when it arrives. Handmade in Switzerland. Andi assembles and tests every instrument in Lachen.
Can I try a daCarbo before I buy?
Yes, in two ways. First: 30 days to send it back from the day it arrives. Second: a call with Andi before you order.
The call takes 30 minutes on video. Andi hears how you play first. Then your instrument is chosen. If no daCarbo suits you, he tells you straight. The call costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Back to the third set
Half past eleven. The band counts in the last tune. You are not working less hard than the others. You just lose less on the way, about 10 percent, measured at the institute in Vienna.
You have more left at the end of the night.
Sources
- Vereecke, H. and Kausel, W.: "Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer, an Alternative to Brass?", International Trumpet Guild Journal, October 2012, pages 41 to 43
- Institut für musikalische Akustik (Wiener Klangstil), publication list of Wilfried Kausel
- TrumpetScout, independent review of the daCarbo Toni Maier and Unica (2017)
- daCarbo, instruments page (Unica weight, trumpet models)
- daCarbo, home page (the measured section, the blind test, the FAQ)
- daCarbo, carbon fiber trombones (the trombone limit on this study)