Baritone tromba marina (2018)—10’’ x 12” x 60”

½’’ plywood, oak, maple, pine, poplar, piano pin, zither pins, screws, polyurethane, piano wire

The tromba marina (Fr. trompette marine, Ger. marientrompete, nonnengeige) is a Renaissance-era Western European monochord. The name nonnengeige translates to “nun’s violin”, and comes from their use in German convents by nuns who wanted to perform pieces written for brass instruments, but were not allowed to use their lips to play. This instrument features an unbalanced wishbone-shaped bridge, which rattles against the soundboard and is the source of the tromba’s brassy timbre. Trombas are played by depressing the partials of the sounding string, and are traditionally bowed above the fingers.

This tromba is larger than the tenor, and approximately proportionate. It uses one sounding string, and a set of twelve sympathetic strings mounted underneath the soundboard. The soundboard, back and sides are ½” plywood with a pine face, the neck is oak, and the neck bracing is pine. The ribs are poplar, the pinblock for the sympathetic strings is maple, and the bridge for the sounding string is maple.