Mr. E.A. Couturier and his obsession with the conical bore

[Walter Webb]

I have been looking at tubas, cornets, euphoniums, trombones and tubas from Mr. Couturier. There is a very interesting history of his association with JW York and subsequent breakup and move to LaPorte, Ind. Here is a fascinating account of Mr. Couturier's life: http://www.rugs-n-relics.com/Brass/b...Couturier.html
Here is a tuba he made, with such a conical bore, that it neglects the normal removable slides: http://cgi.ebay.com/c-1921-E-A-Coutu...ht_9787wt_1141
He was so obsessed with conical bores that he even made a trombone with a conical slide. How, you may ask, is that possible? Well, try to understand: http://www.rugs-n-relics.com/Brass/t...urier-Tbn.html
And finally, another tuba from Couturier: http://www.rugs-n-relics.com/Brass/t...-EEb-Tuba.html

One account I read on Tubenet says that Couturier sold the business to Lyon and Healy because his eyesight failed: http://forums.chisham.com/viewtopic....363510#p363510

[thadnoland]

Thanks for the links!

[Walter Webb]

More details about conical design, and photos of some of his patents:
http://www.rjmartz.com/horns/Couturier_056/

[paulwl]

Couturier was a cornet virtuoso with bands such as Patrick Gilmore's.
Here is a solo record of his: A Dream, recorded for Edison in 1913.

The bio doesn't address this, but the Wikipedia entry on Couturier mentions that he went blind in 1923 - and that this was the reason he sold out to Lyon & Healy.