Ascending Valves — Tiffany Johns

If you are curious about brass instruments, you may have come across something called an ascending valve in your Internet travels. If you’re not sure what that is, or you do but would like to read about all the different kinds of ascending valves out there, this article is for you.

The concept of an ascending valve is pretty simple. A normal valve is inactive when it is not pressed down (via piston finger button, rotor paddle, etc.), so the air goes straight through and doesn’t detour through the additional valve tubing. When you press down the valve mechanism, the valve activates, redirecting the air through the valve tubing and lowering the instrument’s pitch. An ascending valve is set up the opposite way - the valve is active when it is not pressed, so its default state is using the additional valve tubing. Then when you press down the valve, it becomes inactive, raising the pitch.

In fact, there is an ascending valve that is completely standard in the modern brass world: the change valve on a double horn. The instrument stands in F, and then when you depress the change valve with your thumb it shortens to B-flat. (That said, some players will modify the change valve to stand in B-flat, especially in Europe.)

The most complicated part of an ascending valve is really from a tuning perspective. Let’s say you have a tenor trombone with a normal descending F attachment. The trombone is in B-flat, and then the valve lowers it to F. Easy enough; you tune the whole horn with the main tuning slide (logical) and then tune the valve with the valve tuning slide. Now let’s say you that trombone has an ascending C valve rather than a descending F valve. The trombone’s open length (no active valves) is now C, but it still stands in B-flat. So to properly tune it you need to depress the valve and tune the open C horn via the main tuning slide first, and then lift off the valve so you can tune in B-flat via the valve’s tuning slide.

You may have noticed that even though this hypothetical trombone with an ascending valve is technically pitched in C, we still think of it in B-flat as that’s where it stands without depressing the valve, and how it is meant to be played. Thus we refer to it as a B-flat tenor trombone with an ascending C valve.

Ascending valves have a long history and have been used on various brass instruments in many different ways. They had the most widespread use in French piston-valve horns (that can properly be called French horns!) from the late 19th century until the middle of the 20th. Probably the most interesting type is the Chaussier horn, an instrument developed in the 1880s. The valved horn was still unpopular in France at the time, and the Chaussier horn was intended to be played essentially as a natural horn with built-in crook changes. The Chaussier horn had a valve system completely alien to modern brass players:

Stands in F
1st valve is a normal 1st valve (descending whole step, resulting in Eb)
2nd valve is an ascending half step (resulting in F#)
3rd valve is an ascending major 3rd (resulting in A)
Thumb (4th) valve is a normal 4th valve (descending perfect 4th, resulting in C basso)

The use of all these valves allows you to set the horn in any key from B basso to B-flat alto. As the highest possible standing pitch is achieved with both ascending valves (2 and 3) deactivated, B-flat alto is the true length of the open horn. But as it stands in F, it is thought of as an F horn with 2 ascending valves.

When the French fully adopted valve horns, they continued with the ascending valve idea, but in a more conventional way. On many French single and double horns, the 3rd valve is an ascending whole step, while all the other valves are in the typical configuration we are used to today. The result is an instrument that actually retains almost all standard fingerings, but with the added bonus of easier high notes using the (ascending) 3rd valve. It is still a compromise though; because you lose the descending minor 3rd of a typical 3rd valve, you lose a few notes in the low register.

A normal single F horn with descending 3rd valve can play chromatically down to sounding B1, while a single F horn with ascending 3rd valve cannot play lower than D2 (excluding pedal notes) and also can’t play Ab2. Because of these compromises (easier high notes in exchange for worse low notes in the ascending horn, and vice versa for the descending horn), it was common in France for high horn players (1st and 3rd) to play horns with ascending 3rd valves, while low horn players (2nd and 4th) to play horns with descending 3rd valves.

A standard F/Bb double horn with descending 3rd valve is entirely chromatic all the way down. If you exclude the F-side pedals (which most horn players can’t reach), it can play chromatically down to E1. If you do include the F-side pedals, the lowest real note is B0. (With false tones you could play even lower, into the double pedals.) Meanwhile, an F/Bb double horn with ascending 3rd valve cannot play Db2 (or Db1, a pedal), and without F-side pedals bottoms out at G1. Thus, French horn makers continued to make both ascending and descending models when double horns became standard.

Speaking of French ascending double horns, they are some of the most aesthetically beautiful instruments ever designed. Feast your eyes upon this Selmer Thevet Ascendant:

They sound beautiful, too. Much like Vienna horns, true French horns are much closer to natural horns in construction than the rotary valved German-style horns we are used to (including in France now, sadly).

Ascending 3rd valves didn’t catch on outside of France, but there are a few horns with ascending valves that you can buy today. The only double I know of is the Alexander 203ST, which also has a half step/stop valve (meaning you can play that missing Db2!). It is a full double as well, unlike the French piston horns which were all compensating doubles. Otherwise, there are a few Bb single horns with an ascending C 5th valve in addition to the standard 3 descending valves and a stop valve, such as the Ricco Kühn W125/C.

Personally, I think there is untapped potential with combining the ascending and descending 3rd valves into one instrument. If you can make a double horn where the 3rd valve is ascending on the Bb side but descending on the F side, you would get the best of both worlds. The only disadvantage would be that the only possible fingering for sounding Gb2 would be 123 (not ideal), and Gb1 (a note which is not present in any standard repertoire) would not be possible.

Outside of horns, the primary place for ascending valve use and experimentation has been in trombones. Today, one of Yamaha’s more unique products is the Yamaha YSL-350C, a student-level tenor trombone with a dual bore slide with 6 positions and an ascending C valve. It was originally meant for young players whose arms can’t reach 7th position and can’t hold up a heavy F-attachment trombone, but a few advanced players (Doug Yeo for instance) have bought one and used it as a travel instrument as it is significantly smaller than a normal tenor trombone. Interestingly, this instrument has also been cloned by Jin Bao and is sold by John Packer, Schiller, Thomann, and others for a much cheaper price than the Yamaha.

But while the YSL-350C (and clones) is the only mass-produced ascending valve trombone in history (I think), it is not the only ascending valve trombone. Jürgen Voigt made an extremely cool tenor trombone for Günter Frost with dependent F and ascending C valves:

The F valve is inset in the ascending C valve’s tubing, which interestingly means that you can use either valve on their own, but not both together (as when you press down the C valve, it closes, leaving the F valve unconnected to the airflow). Personally, I think this is an absolutely genius configuration for a large tenor trombone. You get a standard trombone with F-attachment, plus low C and B as pedal notes and easier high notes. Imagine the 1st trombone excerpt from Symphonie Fantastique with the fortissimo high Eb, or the one from Also Sprach Zarathustra with the octave jump to fortissimo high D - much more secure on the C valve! But when playing solo rep, pit work, or contemporary classical music that is much more liberal with the tenor trombone’s low register, you also have easy access to low C and B.

Günter Frost experimented with this idea a lot more than just this one Voigt trombone - he had a website (still accessible via the Wayback Machine) that detailed six different trombone models, all with ascending C valves. Thein also used to offer a tenor trombone with ascending C valve and optional F valve on their website. Pete Edwards took the concept a step further and built a bass trombone with independent F and ascending C valves:

It was also given a screw bell, making it incredibly convenient for travel. With the two valves independent, you also have access to flat G positions with both valves pressed, so it has a ton of slide position choices. (Thread with more information and pictures here.) As if that wasn’t enough, Andrew Elms has built a trombone in Bb/G/ascending Eb!

Finally, there are a few trumpets and cornets with ascending valves, including the Blackburn Hickman 5-valve C trumpet (with ascending D valve), Jaeger Brass Bb/C and C/D trumpets, and this Richardson circular cornet from 1855.

I think there is more to be done with ascending valves. It would certainly benefit the Conn 16E mellophonium, whose main tuning slide has room to be cut to G to then have an ascending whole step valve added.