Trippin' to the music(al instrument makers)

In early November the class took a two day trip to tour some band instrument manufacturers. It was quite interesting; here's a taste.
This shows various stages in the process; brass plate is cut into forms that are then shaped and brazed to form the bell of a trumpet.

Some trumpet and tuba (I think) pistons.

Plates of brass are cut to form the shape of a trumpet.

This lady is brazing piston casings. It takes a lot of experience and skill to do this.

Piston casings are plated, usually with nickel-silver, silver, or gold.
It took only a couple of seconds in the solution to plate the pieces.
Electricity does the work.

Silver plated casings.

The straight trumpet bells that are formed from flat pieces of brass are bent into the shape you see on the left. They are filled with a solution that freezes but remains malleable enough to allow the brass tube to bend without crimpting it. You can see bells in the freezer waiting their turn.

Finished trumpet bells before being shaped.

Here is a video of how a trombone bell is shaped.
And here is one of finishing a trumpet bell on a mandrel.
Finally, here is one of the wire being inserted into a trumpet bell.