Piccolo trumpet in A/Bb by Schilke

Armed with four valves, the modern piccolo trumpet has full chromatic capability.

Click here to hear a sample of Mark Bennett playing the opening of the 3rd movement of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.2

By contrast, the baroque trumpet has no valves, so in order to produce anything approaching a scale it must be played in the extreme high register (often referred to as "clarino") where the notes of the harmonic series become closer together.

Click here to hear a sample of Mark Bennett playing the same fragment as above on the baroque trumpet. You will observe that the tone is less bright, but more complex. (The sound is also lower as the instrument is at Baroque - A = 415hz - rather than modern - A = 440hz - pitch)

Baroque trumpet by Parker after Nuremburg original by Ehe circa 1700