Hans Hainlein, son of the famous instrument maker Sebastian Hainlein the elder of Nürnberg, took over the family business after the death of his father in 1631. Appointed as Master craftsmen in 1630, Hans had worked alongside his father and older brother, Sebastian the Younger, at their world renowned workshop in Nürnberg. 

One day in the year of Sebastian’s death, an order was placed with the workshop to fill a very interesting commission.

This commission, possibly the first completed by Hans in his new role as director, was ordered by the Nürnberg Stadtpfeife and called for a special design. In a worthy test for the new master, Hans was to produce a bass sackbut of the highest quality and greatest versatility, an instrument capable of performing the task normally achieved by four individual sackbuts.  

This instrument, known today as the 1631 is one of few surviving and the oldest work of Hans Hainlein, Master craftsman of Nürnberg.

To understand how Hainlein’s 1631 works and why it is an important innovative instrument, we first have to take a quick look at the history and development of early brass instruments.

Dating back to the 13th century the sackbut distinguished itself from other medieval brass through its ability to play chromatically across the whole instrument. This was made possible with the development of the movable slide, making it the only brass instrument capable of playing in all 12 keys. Other brass instruments of the time, such as the trumpet and the horn, which did not yet have valves like today, could only play using the harmonic series. This limited them to diatonic notes playable only in the high register and as such they were fixed to one key.

To play in other keys, builders made extensions called crooks to lengthen or shorten the instruments. The longer the instrument became the lower the key, the shorter the instrument the higher the key. The result, instruments with multiple crooks became the norm. Every time there was a change of key the instrumentalist had to change the crooks. The sackbut, not restricted by the use of these crooks was a more versatile instrument and as such could be used in musical settings normally reserved for more refined instruments and accompanying choral music was one setting where it truly excelled.

The Six Posaunen

Overtime sackbuts of various sizes and keys were developed to match the range and characteristics of the deferent choir sections. The sackbuts built to play low with the baritones and basses became more sonorous with a rounder sound. The smaller sackbuts for accompanying the altos and tenors developed a lighter characteristic with a bright singing sound.   

By the end of the 16th century six sackbuts had emerged as the standard.  We can see them illustrated by Michael Praetorius in his 1614        Syntagma Musicum. It is at this point where the full challenge set by the Nuremberg Stadtpfeife can appreciated. The commission from the Stadtpfeife was for one instrument that could function as the Sekund-posaune, the Quart-posaune, the Quint-posune and the Octav-posaune.

Hans’s task, to take these four very different instruments of varying keys and characteristics and roll them all into one bass sackbut, would be a challenge but one achievable by a creative Master. So how did Hans achieved this? Well, with a very cleaver design taking inspiration from the key changing extensions of the trumpet and horn; Crooks.

The design, simple; Hans developed a system in by which the adding and removing of crooks of different keys would change the instruments pitch, sound and characteristics. For this to work successfully however, it was imperative that the position of the slide and bell remain unchanged.

Starting with a Quint-posaune in D, Hans removed the looped neck section from the sackbut bell. Calculating the length the bell needed to be to sound in the key of G, he shortened the neck of the bell, repositioning the point where the bell and the slide connected. Hans now had a Sekund-posaune in G with a bass slide.

Taking the loop he had removed and adding the extra length, Hans fashioned a D crook. This D crook could be added to the instrument, attaching to the top of the slide, it would loop once before reconnecting to the Bell.This meant the instrument could now change pitch via a crook without the Bell position being disturbed.

Repeating this process, Hans created a crook smaller in length in the key of E. This crook could easily be interchanged with the D crook in the same fashion, creating a Quart-posaune in E. To these crooks Hans also added a movable fine tuning system or tuning slide. Found only in these low posaune, the tuning slides were used to adjust to other instruments which at the time often varied in their fixed tuning.

The final challenge of this design came from incorporating the Octav-posaune into the design. An Octave-posaune in A is 50% greater in size then a D Quint-posaune and would require a longer larger slide and bell. As a compromise, Hans chose to raise the pitch of the Octav-posaune from A to C. This change would let the bell and slide to remain the same while still achieving the associated characteristics and sound with a C crook attachment. Though this reduced the range of the Octave-posaune by three semitones, the new instrument now in C could still comfortably reach an A two octaves below the Rechte Gemeine-posaune thus fulfilling its role as an Octav-posaune.

This new instrument, comprised of one bass slide, one bell and three key crooks, was now complete, fulfilling all the requests the Stadtpfeife had demanded. Hans had succeeded at the Stadtpfeife’s great challenge and the Bass Sackbut of 1631 remains to this day an instrument of great significance and versatility.