A term for an instrument, played by one performer, which embodies the characteristics of two different instruments: the performer chooses which of the two to use. Most duplex instruments have been brass. The earliest known was a flugelhorn/cornet by Gisborne of Birmingham in 1851. In 1855 Pelitti of Milan made a family of gemelli (It.: ‘twins’) of which the euphonium/valve trombone was the most popular. Such instruments were still found in makers' catalogues of the 1960s. In the 1990s there began something of a revival of the manufacture of these instruments. See also Euphonium.
P. Bate: The Trumpet and Trombone (London, 1966, 2/1972)
C. Bevan: The Tuba Family (London, 1978)
CLIFFORD BEVAN