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The first bugles were either single, double, or triple coiled instruments.
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Ancient Romans used the buccina - an instrument similar to the bugle, for military purposes.
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The first time a brass bugle was used for military purposes for signalling was in 1758 in Hanover. It was called the Halbmondblaser (half-moon bugle). It had a U shape design which is how it got its name.
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The half-moon bugle spread to England in the 1700s and began to be used in the military there as well.
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When used in the military the bugle can be an instrument for signalling, but it also associated with being sounded right before charging the enemy.
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A person who plays the bugle is referred to as a bugler.
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There are more than 20 military bugle calls in the U.S. Army.
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The U.S Army has 9 Sunday Sequence bugle calls including first call, reveille, assembly, mess call, first call (retreat), assembly, retreat, to the color, and taps.
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The U.S. Army daily sequence of bugle calls has a total of 25 bugle calls beginning with first call and ending with taps.
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While early bugles did not have valves the more modern bugles do have them. Without valves the bugler has to use their lips to change the pitch, and only the harmonic series of notes can be played.
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The first keyed bugles were invented in the early 1800s. A patent was granted for the Royal Kent bugle in 1811 to Joseph Halliday in England. This version was used often until the 1850s.
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The first bugle made in America is believed to be one by Nathan Adams in 1825 in Massachusetts. This bugle can be seen in the U.S.S. Constitution collection at the Boston Naval Shipyard.
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Taps, the most famous US Military bugle call, was composed in 1862 by General Daniel Butterfield in Harrison's Landing, Virginia.
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During the Civil War in the United States the bugle was very commonly used for music as well as for battle and other military purposes. The bugle is mentioned in many of the letters that were sent home from soldiers.
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The first time the bugle was used for signalling purposes in the American Army was during the American Revolution.
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Bugle pitches include the high pitch (soprano bugle), medium pitch (alto bugle), tenor pitch (baritone bugle), and bass pitch (contrabass bugle).
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The bugle's limitations have resulted in it not being a common instrument in orchestras or other forms of music and it is most commonly associated with military use and Boy Scouts.
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