Bugle

The bugle is a member of the brass (Hornbostel–Sachs 423.121.22). Listen to 3 recordings and learn how it makes its sound.

Listen to the bugle

Reveille on bugle

0:21Public domainby United States Army BandWikimedia Commons

0:21

Attention (Full bugle section)

0:07Public domainby USN BandWikimedia Commons

0:07

Bugle Call, 1st Bersaglieri Regiment (Italian Army)

0:05Public domainby Bandmaster of the 1st Bersaglieri Regiment…Wikimedia Commons

0:05

Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.

How the bugle makes its sound

In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the bugle belongs to the brass (lip-vibrated aerophones): the player's buzzing lips set the air column vibrating – trumpets, horns, trombones, tubas and the didgeridoo.

More broadly it is one of the aerophones (wind instruments), where sound comes from vibrating air.

Its timbre – the colour that lets you tell it apart from other instruments playing the same note – comes from the mix of overtones its body and resonator emphasise.

From Wikipedia

The bugle is a simple signaling brass instrument with a wide conical bore. It normally has no valves or other pitch-altering devices, and is thus limited to its natural harmonic notes, and pitch is controlled entirely by varying the air and embouchure.