Brass band

A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularly in the context of New Orleans and Japan–style brass bands), but may be more correctly termed military bands, concert bands, or "brass and reed" bands.

Balkan-style Brass Bands (Serbian: Труба, trumpet) play a distinctive style of music originating in 19th century Balkans. The music's tradition stems from the First Serbian Uprising led by Karađorđe in 1804 when Serbs revolted against the occupying Ottoman Empire, eventually liberating Serbia. The trumpet was used as a military instrument to wake and gather soldiers and announce battles, the trumpet took on the role of entertainment during downtime, as soldiers used it to transpose popular folk songs. It is popular throughout the Balkans, especially Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria and Northern Greece. The tempos are usually fast and accompanied by kolo. The performers each have their instrument of the orchestra and are called trubači (трубачи). The best known examples of acclaimed music in this style are from Goran Bregović and Boban Marković Orkestar. The Serbian film maker Emir Kusturica has, through his films (Underground and Black Cat, White Cat), made the style popular in the international community outside the Balkans.

A brass band in the British tradition with a full complement of 28 players (including percussion) consists of:

With the exception of three trombones, all of the instruments have a conical bore, which gives the British-style brass band its distinctive warm timbre compared to the bright fanfare sound of an ensemble of cylindrical bore instruments (trumpets and trombones). All parts apart from the bass trombone and percussion are notated in treble clef. Despite its musical range, the alto horn in E♭ is traditionally called the tenor horn in British bands.

Brass bands have a long tradition of competition between bands, often based around local industry and communities. British-style brass bands are widespread throughout Great Britain, former British colonies especially Australia and New Zealand, Norway, parts of continental Europe and North America. Annual competitions are held in these countries to select champion bands at various levels of musical competence.

The Salvation Army has deployed brass bands since 1878 and they continue to be an integral part of its church. The most well-known Salvation Army brass band is the London-based International Staff Band. Salvation Army bands vary considerably in size and complement as they are based on the local personnel available, some being as small as 6–8 members. The cornet section of a Salvation Army band does not include a "repiano" and instead of 2nd & 3rd cornets there are 1st & 2nd cornets. A Salvation Army band may have 3–6 tenor horns, 2–4 baritones and 2–6 tenor trombones. Salvation Army bands have a local tradition of training children in brass playing from an early age (starting at 7–8 years old). In larger Salvation Army churches there will often be a junior band for children (7–18 years old) as well as a senior band for adults.

Fanfare orchestras are a type of brass band mainly found in Belgium and the Netherlands, while several ensembles exist in Germany, France and Luxembourg. Unlike British bands, they also sport saxophones. There are fanfares affiliated to the military and civil fanfare orchestras which are an important element of cultural tradition in some areas.

In the second part of the 20th century, many British-style brass bands have been founded in the Low Countries as well, often as part of a musical association also including a fanfare orchestra or a concert band.