When the tomb of King Tutankhamen, undisturbed for over three thousand years, was opened in 1922, countless treasures and riches were found buried with him. Among these was a pair of trumpets, one made of bronze, another of silver. Although their purpose cannot be known for certain, it is likely they were used in war to coordinate troop movements across a large battlefield. Indeed, this was one of the primary uses of brass instruments until the invention of radio in the twentieth century.
Despite the legend that sounding the pharoah's trumpet would herald the beginning of a great war, the instruments were played by a bugler in the British army. When he attempted to play the bronze trumpet, it shattered. The instrument was repaired and played for a BBC radio broadcast heard worldwide in the spring of 1939.
Nevertheless, the instruments follow the same fundamental design as a modern brass instrument. Air vibrates inside the tube, allowing the instrument to play a limited number of tones. A sound wave the length of the tube is called the fundamental. If there speed of the air is increased, sound waves can be produced with wavelengths at multiples of the tube's length. These pitches will all be related to each other through a harmonic series.
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