The "Stereophonic" Story

In the early 1950s, Kauko Kahila began correspondence with F.A. Reynolds Co. on more effective ways of extending and playing the low-register range of the bass trombone. With a standard one-valve change to F, the lowest playable chromatic is the low C, leaving a half-step gap to the pedal B♭ — bass trombonists typically had to either "lip down" the C to approximate the B or pull tuning slides out, extending the instrument's length to get close to the desired B, but leaving the horn ill-tuned for other notes until the slides could be readjusted. 

Like other manufacturers at the time, Reynolds had accommodated the latter approach by providing an F attachment with an extra-long tuning slide to E on their original Contempora "Symphony" model (1949). However, Kahila (and many others) wanted to more accurately and more easily play passages such as the low B glissando in Bartok’s “Concerto for Orchestra” (written in 1944 and premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, it was a standard piece in the orchestra's repertoire and a recurring challenge for Kahila, having joined Boston in 1952).

In 1955-56, Reynolds introduced a new Contempora bass trombone, the “Philharmonic” model, with a modified F attachment that had two tuning slides: the main F tuning slide for conventional use and a second slide that could pulled to achieve E tuning, then pushed in to return to F. This was an advantage over the conventional “Symphony” model with its single tuning slide, but still required a player to manually adjust a tuning slide while playing. 

The "Philharmonic" model proved to be popular with orchestral bass trombonists. Kahila had joined the BSO playing the Schmidt bass trombone originally owned and played by his teacher, Lillebach; he switched to the "Philharmonic" bass trombone as a lighter and more responsive alternative for Boston Pops concerts. Even after the double-valve Reynolds model was available, Kahila preferred to play the single-valve Reynolds or Schmidt as his "regular" horn.

Kahila, Allen Ostrander (New York Philharmonic Orchestra) and Louis Counihan (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra) all endorsed the model. Counihan appears in 1956 print ads praising the new model and all three are featured in late 1950s Reynolds catalogs. According to records in the NYPO digital archives, Ostrander switched from a Conn 70H to the "Philharmonic" model in early 1957, taking it on the orchestra's spring tour that April. His instrument is recorded as serial number 45190, which matches an early 1957 date, and is valued at $395, the same list price in the 1958 catalog.

Whereas Kahila ultimately preferred the single-valve "Philharmonic" bass trombone for daily playing, Allen Ostrander quickly championed the advantages of the “Stereophonic” double-valve design for his NYPO playing and teaching methods. An image of the Reynolds double-valve section appears on the front of my copy of Ostrander’s “Double-Valve Bass Trombone Low Tone Studies” method book. Ostrander also appears to have been somewhat of a gearhead, ordering a second Reynolds horn and mixing and matching bells and valve sections from different manufacturers to see how they played. Reportedly, he attached an old Conn 9½" yellow brass bell and .547/.562" dual-bore slide for the majority of his NYPO playing.

The "Stereophonic" originally featured attachments that provided F and flat E tuning as this was the simplest way to add the chromatic low C and B notes to the end of the slide. As more double-valve models entered the marketplace in the 1960s, players began to express a preference for F and D attachments, as the latter made it more efficient to play in the low register by placing the B closer in on the slide. Finally, in response to the increasing number of customer requests, Zig Kanstul, the factory superintendent in charge of Engineering and Design at Olds' Fullerton plant (where Reynolds instruments were then made), designed an extension that fit into the existing E attachment tuning slides, lowering the double-valve pitch to D.