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FtValleyPS , That's a single loop trumpet , approximating to the old 18th century and earlier types, or the modern State trumpets.
It apparent from all these now intermingling threads that US usage is now to call a cavalry trumpet a Bugle , and for US infantry to use the same trumpet as well , but also calling it a bugle !The bugle has the conical bore and the slightly duller sound, though nowadays the tone colour of the two instruments is very close.
Which confuses a poor Brit like me , but no matter.
Someone observed further back that the trumpet is easier than the bugle : as a player of both , I would disagree.
Because a bugle is shorter, the notes are further apart , which makes it easier to land on the one you want to start with. It's basically more forgiving.
On the trumpet , the notes are closer together , especially towards the top of the range , meaning you can sometimes split notes, or start on the wrong one.. which is amusing for bystanders, but doesn't add much to the dignity of the occasion.

But the quality of the instrument also counts . Cheap bugles are a bit of a horror, and here in the UK we are flooded with nasty Indian-made bugles which people keep mistaking for historic instruments. If you are interested in collecting , always buy something with a maker's name.

For your delectation , a little burst of proper Bugles from the Light Infantry Band ( now "The Rifles " since amalgamation ) :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2flADan43nw

And the sound of the old State trumpets playing 17c fanfares :~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mlnx_pfKHQ

And a 19c version :~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzMBMRUNmRY

Thanks, Tony! I enjoyed that a lot and learned something, too. I don't know what my father and his people called the long trumpet, though I suspect they called it just that, and not a bugle - I imagine it is only lay folks like myself who today might make that mistake. He played in the Boy Scouts, the Phillips Crusader Marching Band, and in the U.S. Army before and at the start of the war, and I believe he played several kinds of trumpets and bugles.

To add some input to this interesting topic. I currently have 3 bugles/trumpets. (Well four if you count the silver, valved trumpet marked "USQMC" made by YORK). Anyway, I have a WW1, short triple loop, also made by YORK. I have a (relic) long double loop made by ROSA. The last one is painted green and is a long double loop made by BUGLECRAFT. At one time I had a green PLASTIC trumpet that I was told was WW2. I have had several over the years; long double loop marked US REGULATION. I consider them Boy Scout horns. Thanks. keith

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