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Brass Musical Instruments Made of Plastic, Yea or Nay?

The pTrumpet and its siblings have made things more affordable and durable for children's sake

By Rain Noe - January 7, 2020

in Object Culture

Imagine you're a new parent with a toddler crawling around on the kitchen floor. You accidentally drop a liquid-filled bottle. If made of glass, the bottle shatters; if plastic, it bounces. The benefit of the latter material seems obvious.

When that parent considers things like the Pacific Garbage Patch, which will continue to pollute the world that the crawling toddler will eventually walk around in, plastic's drawbacks seem obvious.

The conflict becomes murkier when plastic's penetration into different areas of life is considered. Case in point: Did you know that they can now make brass musical instruments out of plastic? British design engineer and musician Hugh Rashleigh teamed up with Steven Greenall, chairman of brass instrument company Warwick Music and Chris Fower, a professional brass instrument performer and teacher, to create a series of ABS instruments with professional-level sonic qualities. Here's Mike Lovatt, Professor of Trumpet at the Royal Academy of Music, demonstrating the pTrumpet:

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So why plastic? Again, we go back to children. For a parent seeking to provide their child with a classical education replete with musical instruction, brass instruments are a pricey proposition. A beginner trumpet costs between $400 and $1,100, according to instrument dealer Amro Music. The pTrumpet starts at around $100 to $150--and weighs less than half as much. And being made of ABS means the pTrumpet is less liable to get banged up.

The company producing the pTrumpet is actually called pBone, as their line-up started with a trombone. Today they make the trombone, a trumpet and a cornet, as well as a pTrumpet "hyTech" version that comes with aluminum valve caps, a brass mouthpiece, metal water keys and a convincing metallic finish to make it visually indistinguishable from the real thing:

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The pBone and its siblings are technically impressive feats of design and engineering. And on the plus side, reviews and case studies from educators are effusive on everything from cost to durability to ease of integration in lessons. On the negative side, it should be noted that the company's FAQ doesn't say anything about recycling. So what say you, yea or nay? Is this an overall positive, negative, or impossible to say?

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Clay Davis

4 years ago

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As a musician, anything that helps more kids try out an instrument for a significantly lower price of entry is a plus in my mind. My first trombone in 5th grade was something like $600 for a basic horn. That's a big investment that you HOPE a kid will continue. That eventually turned into a $13K Tuba and a difficult choice whether to major in design or music, but there are a lot of kids that are really into music for a year or two and then drop it. There are also a lot of families that can't afford to get their kids into music that this could help.

As far as tone, brass is always going to sound better than plastic, but I was impressed by the sound in the video. Kids don't need concert level instruments, and unless they're a virtuoso, they'll never have the skill to outplay the tone difference before they upgrade. I see this as a great win and I'm excited to see them branch out into more instruments.

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- Sean Horita
  
  Clay Davis
  
  4 years ago
  
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  I agree with all of this. Plus in regards to the potential for increased waste - well, these are not intended to be single-use, which is probably what most of our Pacific Pile is composed of. I don't see anything in the product architecture that would obviate the use of more recoverable materials.
  I'd like to know if they explored different form factors that leveraged plastic molding to create an instrument that sounded nearly as good as the brass original but looked quite different (aside from the interface parts).
  
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Ross Oliver

4 years ago

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I agree with Clay, lower cost of entry helps more students get started. But rentals are another option. Most band instruments can be had for $25-50 per month, sometimes with rent applied to the purchase price. A traditional brass instrument will hold its value well; I would wonder if there would be any resale market for such a low cost instrument.

Plastic instruments can be perfectly serviceable. There are plastic saxes, acrylic fiddles, polymer ukuleles Didn't we all play those odd-tasting black plastic recorders in the 3rd grade? But I also believe a quality instrument inspires me to play better. Don Norman said, "Beautiful things work better" and I believe that definitely applies to musical instruments.

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Nathan D.

4 years ago

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Yeah let's give a kid something called a "pBone" and send them off to school hoping for the best.

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Thom Edley

4 years ago

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I played a fiberglass tuba in marching band for 3 years. The differences are minimal.

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Chris Jamieson

4 years ago

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I could see a lot of advantages for marching bands in particular. A school or group could feasibly equip a full band with color-matched instruments that are less affected by cold outdoor temperatures and don't need as long to warm up.

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