If you’ve never heard a trombone quartet, you’ve been missing a spectacular music experience. There’s nothing like four talented trombone-crazy musicians playing a classical or jazz piece together. It’s just – well, it’s wild and infectious.. And the pBone, the world’s first full-size trombone manufactured with ABS plastic, caught on so well that it became the world’s best selling trombone last year partly because Bones Apart, a British trombone quartet, took it up as their cause, giving educational tours in British schools with their pBones.
The pBone Trombone: one of many jazzy colors
pBone jazzes it up!: image via pBone.co.uk
Since its invention by Hugh Rashleigh, musical director and trombonist of Leamington’s Royal Spa Brass Band and an engineering design graduate, the pBone, a full-size B-flat tenor trombone, has surprised and thoroughly pleased brass musicians around the world, who have raved about the instrument’s sound, light weight, and easy slide. Made for beginners who might not be able to afford a quality sound from a brass trombone, hundreds of professional brass musicians have spread the word about pBone through their teaching practices. Many trombone sections of internationally famous orchestras have provided free publicity for the pBone, even playing the new instruments in recitals.
The Boston Symphony trombone section takes up the pBone for Boston Pops concert: Photo by Douglas Yeo, via Facebook.com/pBoneOfficial
Warwick Music, Rashleigh’s manufacturing partner recently won an innovation of the year title in Britain after selling 90,000 pBones in 2012, pBone’s first year. The company’s marketing has obviously been successful, encouraging young people throughout the world to learn and play music. And it doesn’t hurt that Jiggs Whigham, internationally reknowned trombonist, has endorsed the pBone; it’s even known as the Jiggs pBone!
And here is Jiggs Whigham himself showing off the versatility of this new plastic trombone… (This is a 6+ minute video, so cut it off when you want to, but I’ll tell you, it gets better and better….)
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Warwick Music has been so successful in sales of the pBone that it’s been able to set up charity programs, not just for children in Great Britain, but for those in several African countries through its Brass for Africa campaign.
Students in Kampala, Uganda play the pBone: photo via Facebook.com/pBoneOfficial
Don’t be surprised if you start seeing a rash of trombone trios, quartets and octets at your local schools. pBones have rejuvenated interest in the ‘brass’! Here in the U.S., you can purchase a pBone in a bunch of jazzy colors – RED, GREEN, PINK, YELLOW, BLACK, PURPLE, WHITE, BLUE, and PINK at Amazon.com for $150 to $160. Compare that to the beginner and intermediate brass trombones at $1200 and up.
Sources: Coventry Observer, B-Q Magazine, pBone, Metro
