Conn: the Tri-C Story
Conn: the Tri-C Story
[This print is faded and scratched, but the original A and B rolls are fine] Fade in on CU horn of a trumpet (cornet); pull back and see the player, and opening titles super across the top of the screen. He is playing "Funiculi, funicula." Close in on his fingers at the valves. Don Jacoby, a famous cornetist, is the player. Pull back on Conn in a test setup. Cut to sound engineer. Cut to draftsman. Woker tests valves. Engineer plays a tune into the Stroboconn--an instrument invented and manufacured by Conn, which analyzes tones. Cut to CU valves. Conical damping is shown, the first of the 3 Cs. Ball bounces. Ball on pendulum bounces. Damped ball hits conical stop and does not bounce. Hand bounces ball on hard surface; bounces less on felt pad, and conical funnel stops the bounce. Dissolve to cutaway view of piston. Felt shown. CU spring. Full action is shown. Diss to two models, cutaway of valves. Cut to square valve. View of tone chambers, chopping the sound, with valve port mismatch. Recorder shows valve mismatch. Man plays trumpet with ordinary valves. Then the Conn Tri-C, with better sound, no bounce. Conmventional sound played back at half speed; then Tri-C playback at half speed. Cut to two horns clamped on test equipment, for high speed pictures. CU stopwatch. Valves are operated. At 1,000 frames/second, Conn TriC on right; competitive on left, still bouncing after the Conn stops. Cut to art work, records of the bouncing. Another similar setup, same test, pix of Conn vs standard bouncing, and Horn B test results. Conical damping, gives anti-bounce. Third Test, with Horn C. Clean Chamber is second of the Tri-Cs. Conical cork, rather than square felt with its particles. Cutawy shows clean. Third C is Crysteel pistons, camera shows CU zoom in on the clean metal. Diss to electronic plating thickness gauge, Life or wear test shows paddle repeating valve action over and over. Cut to group of jigged volves being brazed. Grinding wheel dresses a piston; a hand removes the piston. Electroplating bath as parts are removed. Valve casing bored in special boring machines, rough to finish, for perfect alignment. Case closesd on the trumpet, repeat 3 Cs, and Don Jacoby plays "Finiculi, funicul" to end the film. Final credits. 560' 16mm sound color print (scratched and faded, but original A&B rolls are NOT) on gray Compco 600' metal reel in gray metal Compco film can. Frink (FFV 5) has orig A&B rolls, orig overs, opt & mag tracks, ancillary materials.