Editing Sackbut (section)

== Performance practice ==

In musical traditions that continued into the [[baroque music|baroque]] from earlier practice, musicians were expected to give expression to the written music by [[Ornament (music)|ornamenting]] with a mixture of one-note "graces" and whole passage "divisions" (also known as "diminutions"). The suggestions for producing effective ornaments without disrupting the line and harmony are discussed alongside countless examples in the 16th and early 17th century Italian division tutors. Graces such as the accento, portar della voce, tremolo, groppo, trillo, esclamationo and intonatio <!-- is this long list really necessary? --> are all to be considered by performers of any music in this period.

"Cornetts and trombones...play divisions that are neither scrappy, nor so wild and involved that they spoil the underlying melody and the composer's design: but are introduced at such moments and with such vivacity and charm that they give the music the greatest beauty and spirit"
Bottrigari, Venice 1594<ref>Bottrigari, Il desiderio, overo de' concerti di varii strumenti musicali, Venice 1594</ref>

Along with the [[improvisation]], many of these tutors discuss [[Articulation (music)|articulation]]. [[Francesco Rognoni Taeggio|Francesco Rognoni]] in 1620 describes the [[tonguing]] as the most important part of producing "a good and beautiful effect in playing wind instruments, and principally the cornett"<ref>Francesco Rognoni Taeggio, {{IMSLP|work=Selva de varii passaggi (Rognoni Taeggio, Francesco)|cname=''Selva de varii passaggi''}} (Milan: Filippo Lomazzo, 1620): {{Page needed|date=June 2017}}</ref> (which of course had a very similar role to the trombone).{{Citation needed|date=August 2015}}<!--No "of course" about it.--> The treatises discuss the various strengths of [[consonant]]s from "le" through "de" to "te". But the focus of the text is for playing rapid notes "similar to the gorgia of the human voice" with "soft and smooth" double tonguing ("lingua riversa") using "le re le re". This is opposed to using "te che te che", which is described as "harsh, barbarous and displeasing". The natural 'pairing' of notes these articulations provide is similar to the instructions for string players who are instructed to slur ("lireggiar") pairs of eighth notes with one bow stroke per quarter beat.

Another integral part of the early music sound-world is the musical temperament. Music in the middle-ages favours intervals of the fourth and fifth, which is why [[Pythagorean tuning]] was used. The interval of a third was used as a [[Consonance and dissonance|clash]] until the Renaissance, when it became [[Consonance and dissonance|consonant]] in compositions, which went hand-in-hand with the widespread use of [[meantone]] temperament.{{Citation needed|date=August 2015}} During the 17th century, [[Well temperament]] began to become more and more popular as the range of keys increased. Temperament affects the [[Timbre|colour]] of a [[Musical composition|composition]], and therefore modern performances, typically employing [[equal temperament]], may not be true representations of the composers' intentions.

{{see also|Just intonation}}
These old [[Musical tuning|tunings]] are the result of the natural [[harmonic series (music)|harmonic series]] of a brass instrument such as the sackbut. 
[[File:Harmonics to 32.png|thumb|500px|center|Natural harmonic series on C, 1 to 32, showing the F slightly sharp by 16.5 [[Just intonation#Staff notation|cents]] {{audio|Harmonics to 32.mid|Play}}]]

As the bell is smaller than a modern trombone, the harmonic series is closer to a perfect harmonic series, which is the basis for just tuning. Without adjusting the slide, the first to second harmonic is a perfect octave, second to third harmonic is a fifth slightly wider than equal temperament and fourth to fifth harmonic is a major third slightly narrower than in equal temperament. These adjusted intervals make chords ring and are the basis of meantone.{{Citation needed|date=August 2015}}<!--Meantone fifths are a long way from just ones, and in fact are farther out of tune than in equal temperament. Who claims that "adjusted" (i.e., tempered) intervals "make chords ring"?.--> In fact, Daniel Speer says "Once you have found a good C (third position), this is also the place you will find your F{{music|#}}.”{{cite quote|date=July 2012}}<!-- I can find no reference to this particular phrase in his "Grund-richtiger", Trombone section pp. 108 ff, tho'  I may have missed it, or it may come from somewhere else. [[User:Minor Prophet]] 1 Oct 2017. --> Playing a sounding C and F{{music|#}} in exactly the same position on a modern [[orchestra]] sounds out of tune, but it tunes perfectly well on in a sackbut choir if everyone plays natural harmonics.

[[File:Picchi canzon decima terza - trombone.png|thumb|400px|center|Excerpt from a trombone part from a Picchi canzon (1625). The [[Clef (music)|baritone clef]] seen here is very common for trombone parts of this era.<!--this image is displayed at more than standard width (400px specified) given its width to allow visibility and prevent the display of extreme image narrowness-->]]

Plenty of musical understanding can be gathered from reading the original music print. Publishers such as SPES<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.spes-editore.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010307064929/http://www.spes-editore.com/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=7 March 2001|title=StackPath|website=Spes-editore.com|access-date=22 April 2021}}</ref> and Arnaldo Forni Edition provide facsimile copies of plenty of music for trombone from this era. To read these it one needs to become familiar with the old [[clef]]s, [[time signature]]s, [[Ligature (music)|ligatures]] and notational conventions of the era.