“The Smith-Watkins fanfare trumpets are the best I have ever used. They are stable in all registers and tune so much better than any other makes I have played. We have had no tuning issues for the first time in twenty years, even with the tenors and basses!”
There are four sizes of fanfare trumpet in common use today. In a team of seven players, the British army uses four B-flat melody trumpets, two B-flat tenor fanfares (similar to tenor trombones) and a bass fanfare pitched in B-flat/F. The bands of the Royal Air Force and the Royal Marines use the addition of a soprano fanfare to give a brighter sound. Whatever their musical length, the physical length from mouthpiece rim to bell end is exactly the same for each instrument, as is the position of the banners, giving perfect symmetry when played together. Having several teams of players and sets of instruments, the sight and sound of these instruments is quite spectacular, whether on the parade ground or at a Royal celebration.
Before the 1930s, the British Army used one-valved ‘Aida’ trumpets made by Hawkes & Son. They were of limited musical use and were replaced by three-valved chromatic trumpets, sometimes called ‘Coronation’ trumpets, since they were designed and made by Boosey & Hawkes specifically for the Coronation of George VI in May 1937.
These instruments were sold under both the Boosey & Hawkes and Besson names until 1999. In 2000, the Royal Marines and Royal Air Force commissioned Smith-Watkins to create a new range of Fanfare Trumpets.
These instruments are used throughout the British Military and Police Forces, North and South America, the Middle East and Australasia.
