D.C. Hall Orchestra Cornet
This cornet was made between 1862 and 1865, which were the years
that the shop was solely owned by David Culver Hall. Hall was a very
successful soloist on the Eb keyed bugle and was not likely ever directly
involved in the manufacturing of his instruments. In his excellent AMIS
Journal article on Hall and the Quinby brothers (who actually made the
instruments), Bob Eliason reports how Hall's performing schedule would
have left little time for work in the shop. He was, however, sufficiently
enamored with this new model that it is illustrated on his business card.
This model seems to have been made only during these years and only
one other example is known to exist. Fortunately, that other cornet is
even better preserved than this one and I had the opportunity to work
on it about 15 years ago. It retained all it's original parts including
original leather covered wood case, C and Bb slides, Bb and A shanks,
crooks for Ab and G, mouthpiece and lyre. Mine only had the Bb slide
and the mouthpiece pictured here. I was able to reproduce all the other
parts based on the originals. The mouthpiece is not likely original with
this cornet, but came with it and looks remarkably similar to the original.
Another fascinating feature retained with the more original cornet is it's
history. It belonged to the grandson of the original owner, who also has
the diary written by his grandfather while on campaign, in 1864, in the
south with the 102nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. I was able to read the
entry in which he stated that he received his new D.C. Hall orchestra
cornet. He knew that it was important enough to mention the maker
and model of his new possession and he obviously took great care of it
during his lifetime.
This is quite a good playing cornet in either C or Bb and while
possessing a French cornet style bell, it is lacking the long tapered
mouthpipe that we normally think of as being an acoustical necessity.
The last photo is a close up of the first and third slides that show the
scratches that the original player indicated where to tune each for the
various keys. As can be seen in the photographs, it has Allen rotary
valves which have flattened windways, allowing for very fast action
with a short stroke of the levers. Judging by the fact that brass
instruments featuring this valve design made by Allen, Hall and Quinby
are some of the best from that time, the flat windways are not a
deterrent to acoustical efficiency. It is made entirely of German silver.
The overall length with shank removed is 12 1/8", the bell diameter is 4
9/16" and the bore measures .432".
that the shop was solely owned by David Culver Hall. Hall was a very
successful soloist on the Eb keyed bugle and was not likely ever directly
involved in the manufacturing of his instruments. In his excellent AMIS
Journal article on Hall and the Quinby brothers (who actually made the
instruments), Bob Eliason reports how Hall's performing schedule would
have left little time for work in the shop. He was, however, sufficiently
enamored with this new model that it is illustrated on his business card.
This model seems to have been made only during these years and only
one other example is known to exist. Fortunately, that other cornet is
even better preserved than this one and I had the opportunity to work
on it about 15 years ago. It retained all it's original parts including
original leather covered wood case, C and Bb slides, Bb and A shanks,
crooks for Ab and G, mouthpiece and lyre. Mine only had the Bb slide
and the mouthpiece pictured here. I was able to reproduce all the other
parts based on the originals. The mouthpiece is not likely original with
this cornet, but came with it and looks remarkably similar to the original.
Another fascinating feature retained with the more original cornet is it's
history. It belonged to the grandson of the original owner, who also has
the diary written by his grandfather while on campaign, in 1864, in the
south with the 102nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. I was able to read the
entry in which he stated that he received his new D.C. Hall orchestra
cornet. He knew that it was important enough to mention the maker
and model of his new possession and he obviously took great care of it
during his lifetime.
This is quite a good playing cornet in either C or Bb and while
possessing a French cornet style bell, it is lacking the long tapered
mouthpipe that we normally think of as being an acoustical necessity.
The last photo is a close up of the first and third slides that show the
scratches that the original player indicated where to tune each for the
various keys. As can be seen in the photographs, it has Allen rotary
valves which have flattened windways, allowing for very fast action
with a short stroke of the levers. Judging by the fact that brass
instruments featuring this valve design made by Allen, Hall and Quinby
are some of the best from that time, the flat windways are not a
deterrent to acoustical efficiency. It is made entirely of German silver.
The overall length with shank removed is 12 1/8", the bell diameter is 4
9/16" and the bore measures .432".
