The Development
The sackbut project started around 2009 – through his research Vairis soon realized that it was very hard to find relatively inexpensive, good quality instruments. Even the second hand market for early brass was poor. The only usual option for players was to buy new instruments, which were very expensive.
In 2010 Vairis and his team of craftsmenset about slowly, step-by-step, developing a new sackbut. They tested a lot of features, their ambition always being to get the best sound possible. Finally,earlier in 2012 the instrument was finished. The NARTISS team is happy to offer this first instrument on the International market.
The hope is to attract more and more performers – students as well as professionals. The competitive price is certainly something to attract many students, amateurs, teachers and music lovers who would like to play early brass music.
The Instrument
In the construction of the NARTISS Sackbut there are several innovations.
- No wire in the bell. It was a big challenge to construct a professional bell with a double layer on the bell but without the inside wire. Why? Essentially the process helps the player to achieve a more colourful sound.
- Mouthpiece. All the mouthpieces have a rounded lip and are gold plated, The balance between early design and thickness of the walls of the mouthpiece was also examined. The bore here is a little larger which helps to get a more powerful sound.
Specifications
Bell 111 mm
Bore 13.2 mm
Yellow Brass bell
Hard chrome-plated nickel silver inner slides
Double layer bell with no wire on inside edge of the bell
2 tuning slides - 442 Hz (can be tuned to440 Hz) and 415 Hz Gold plated mouthpiece with specially designed lip plate for more comfortable playing Slide:
7 positions on tuning 442Hz
6 positions on tuning 415Hz
The Nartiss tenor sackbut comes with mouthpiece, lubricant and 2 tuning slides for a=440 and a=415. It is supplied in a custom made hard case. There is a choice of lacquered finish or antique lacquered finish.
