Mark Kirschenmann - Tonics: 7 Melodies for Trumpet with Bamboo Mouthpipe (2025) [Hi-Res]

Mark Kirschenmann’s Tonics is a collection of seven melodies composed and performed on an acoustic trumpet vibrating with a bamboo mouthpipe, which replaces the traditional mouthpiece. The sound is quiet, flute-like, and delicate, opening new identities for the instrument. The curvaceous modal melodies are interwoven with improvisations that emerge from the melodic sources. The tunes unfold freely out of time and are enhanced by various ensembles of strings, percussion, voices, and prepared piano.

The release of Tonics correlates to Kirschenmann’s longstanding study of the bansuri and shakuhachi flute traditions. However, rather than making authentic connections to these illustrious musical traditions, Kirschenmann reimagines the often heroic, valorous, and even gendered roles commonly attributed to the trumpet while decentering Western conventions of virtuosity, timbre, and musical time.