Uploaded May 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The "Martinshorn" is a German free-reed wind instrument invented in 1880 by Max Bernhardt Martin, who was also the main manufacturer of the instruments; these are also commonly called "Schalmei" (shal-my), the German name for a "shawm".
It was intended to be a loud, outdoor instrument that could be played by people without training in the playing of musical instruments. Some Martinshorns are "chordal" and can only play two chords, with a single valve selecting which chord to play. Others are "melodic" and by the use of three valves can play the eight notes of a diatonic (sometimes called a 'white notes' only) scale.
Martinshorns come in several sizes, from soprano to bass.
Some of the larger ones might have four valves, which allows playing more pitches, and some of these are "chromatic".
Martinshorns first became popular in small bands formed by members of the German Communist Party. They were often used in parades by bands formed from the ranks of the local police departments, fire brigades, coal miners, factory workers, etc; anywhere where a band was needed but the players were not musically adept and needed a simple instrument to play.
Before World War II, bands formed by the Hitler Youth famously used Martinshorns. After the war, many bands in the German Democratic Republic (aka "East Germany") used Martinshorns, and even today many school bands in eastern German towns also use these for special occasions because of their well-known traditions in town bands.
While Martinshorns have piston valves, they work differently from valves on a brass instrument. Rather than changing the length of the vibrating air column, they simply route air from player's mouth to one of the 'horns', and each horn has a 'free-reed' at its base, much like a harmonica reed, and this produces the associated pitch. The lengths of the horns are designed to
help resonate at the reed's pitch, to produce the best volume.
With eight reeds/horns on a typical "melodic" Martinshorn, the three valves are used in a series of binary patterns (000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, 111), each pattern producing a different note.
The Martinshorn in this video is one of two that I own (the other one is the same size but is "chordal"), and both were purchased from individuals in towns in eastern Germany. This one is a 'baritone' size, three-valve "melodic" model which can play a diatonic 'C' scale from g to g' (the B
in the middle of the scale is natural, which in German is indicated as 'h', because a 'b' means B-flat).
This video shows my first attempt to play it after it was restored.
I picked "Happy Birthday" because in the key of C its notes exactly fall within the capabilities of this instrument.
The "Martinshorn" is a German free-reed wind instrument invented in 1880 by Max Bernhardt Martin, who was also the main manufacturer of the instruments; these are also commonly called "Schalmei" (shal-my), the German name for a "shawm".
It was intended to be a loud, outdoor instrument that could be played by people without training in the playing of musical instruments. Some Martinshorns are "chordal" and can only play two chords, with a single valve selecting which chord to play. Others are "melodic" and by the use of three valves can play the eight notes of a diatonic (sometimes called a 'white notes' only) scale.
Martinshorns come in several sizes, from soprano to bass.
Some of the larger ones might have four valves, which allows playing more pitches, and some of these are "chromatic".
Martinshorns first became popular in small bands formed by members of the German Communist Party. They were often used in parades by bands formed from the ranks of the local police departments, fire brigades, coal miners, factory workers, etc; anywhere where a band was needed but the players were not musically adept and needed a simple instrument to play.
Before World War II, bands formed by the Hitler Youth famously used Martinshorns. After the war, many bands in the German Democratic Republic (aka "East Germany") used Martinshorns, and even today many school bands in eastern German towns also use these for special occasions because of their well-known traditions in town bands.
While Martinshorns have piston valves, they work differently from valves on a brass instrument. Rather than changing the length of the vibrating air column, they simply route air from player's mouth to one of the 'horns', and each horn has a 'free-reed' at its base, much like a harmonica reed, and this produces the associated pitch. The lengths of the horns are designed to
help resonate at the reed's pitch, to produce the best volume.
With eight reeds/horns on a typical "melodic" Martinshorn, the three valves are used in a series of binary patterns (000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, 111), each pattern producing a different note.
The Martinshorn in this video is one of two that I own (the other one is the same size but is "chordal"), and both were purchased from individuals in towns in eastern Germany. This one is a 'baritone' size, three-valve "melodic" model which can play a diatonic 'C' scale from g to g' (the B
in the middle of the scale is natural, which in German is indicated as 'h', because a 'b' means B-flat).
This video shows my first attempt to play it after it was restored.
I picked "Happy Birthday" because in the key of C its notes exactly fall within the capabilities of this instrument.
