half-valveadj.n.
/ˌhɑːfˈvalv/, /ˈhɑːfvalv/, U.S. /ˈhæfˌvælv/ Music (chiefly Jazz).
A. adj. (in attributive use).
Designating a note, effect, etc., made on a valved brass instrument by depressing the piston or key to half of its full depth, thus opening the valve only partially, producing a sound of somewhat indeterminate pitch with a characteristic nasal quality; characterized by or employing such a technique or sounds.
ΘΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > sound of instruments > [adjective] > sound of wind instruments > produced in specific way
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1941 Stanford Daily (Stanford Univ., Calif.) 14 Nov. 1/5 Rex Stewart will undoubtedly display his hot half-valve trumpet on the famous ‘Boy Meets Horn’.
1956 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 18 Nov. b6/6 Such modernists as trumpeter Clark Terry, blowing his distinctive half-valve style.
1979 Musical Q. 65 248 The bumptious half-valve mutterings of the one and the great airy swoops of the other.
2015 E. Koehler Dict. Mod. Trumpet Player 61/1 Falls on shorter note durations may be performed with half-valve smears.
B. n.
The technique of playing a note on a valved brass instrument by depressing the piston or key to half of its full depth, thus opening the valve only partially, producing a sound of somewhat indeterminate pitch with a characteristic nasal quality; a note, effect, etc., thus produced.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > sound of instruments > [noun] > sound of wind instruments > sound of trumpet
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1962 A. Raph Dance Band Reading & Interpr. 30 Use half-valve; creating a smooth sound from one note to the other.
1973 Black World Nov. 25/2 Miles' use of inflection and dramaturgical devices, such as half valves, fall offs, split tones, etc. are calculated.
2008 Leicester Mercury (Nexis) 18 Jan. 30 Jonny Bruce is a very special trumpeter indeed—growls, half-valves, mutes, and invention aplenty.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2022).
> as lemmas
half-valve
half-valve n. Music (see quot. 1955).
ΚΠ
1946 M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe Really Blues i. 12 Yellow's half-valve inflections and slurs.
1955 L. Feather Encycl. Jazz vii. 292 Boy meets Horn, a showpiece displaying the novel style and tone he popularized using ‘half-valve’ effect (a squeezed tonal sound obtained by depressing the valve halfway).
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adj.n.1941as lemmas