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Focustyle Studio FSB-500 Bass Sackbut (Baroque Trombone)
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$735.00 USD
Regular price
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$735.00 USD
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Incl. delivery cost (about 3-4 weeks to arrive)
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- Key: F
- Bell: 6" (150mm)
- Bore: 0.493" (12.5mm)
- Gold brass bell
- Nickel silver inner & outer slide
- Special wooden slide handle
- Button type water key
The sackbut is an early form of the trombone, prominent in Europe from the late Middle Ages through the Renaissance and Baroque periods (roughly the 15th to early 18th centuries). Its name comes from Old French—"saqueboute," meaning "push-pull"—describing its slide mechanism, a defining feature that sets it apart from other brass instruments of its time. It’s essentially the ancestor of the modern trombone, though with distinct characteristics suited to the music and performance practices of its era.
The sackbut’s tone is softer, more mellow, and less brassy than a modern trombone’s, blending seamlessly with voices and other period instruments like cornetts, viols, or early organs. Its dynamic range was narrower, suited to the intimate settings of churches, courts, or small ensembles rather than large concert halls. It could play chromatically thanks to the slide, offering flexibility rare among Renaissance brass, though players often stayed within diatonic or modal frameworks typical of the era’s music.
If you’re imagining it, picture a slender, elegant brass horn with a modest bell and a slide that looks almost delicate—a time capsule of sound from 500 years ago. For a listen, check out recordings of Gabrieli’s Canzoni or Praetorius’s Terpsichore, where sackbuts weave through rich, polyphonic textures.
