Here is a very special and unique bass trombone built by Steve Shires when he worked at Osmun Music in the late 1980s. Most bass trombonists know the famous low B-natural to F glissando in the Bartók Concerto for Orchestra. This instrument is a specialist — ideal for flawless, perfect execution of that passage.
As a true F bass trombone with a double-wrapped slide, it offers the full range of the F slide without becoming an ultra-long instrument requiring a handle. The slide is built from two Bach 50 slides, and the bell section is custom-made. Mr. Osmun kept it in his store for years, often renting it out to orchestras performing the Bartók. It was famously used by Doug Yeo in the Boston Symphony (see photo below). Being a double slide, the positions are half length.
Now it’s on display at The Brass Ark museum — and it’s available for rent again for performances of the Bartók on a case-by-case basis. To rent it, please email me.
