How We Test Our New Plastic Instrument Designs
August 28th, 2020 | 1 min read
For pBone, innovating and developing new musical instruments is our passion. The needs and desires of modern children don't always meet the musical products, which were designed centuries ago and have changed little.
So when our company commits to a new product, we make sure that the whole team is involved in its journey and shares their insights, feedback and experience in the process: everyone has something valuable to contribute.
Looks can be deceiving
In many ways, the pBugle is our simplest product yet: a Bb trumpet without valves.
Instrument designer and educational expert Chris Fower talks about the why of pBugle in a separate blog. The translation of the requirements and specifications of the product from the design team to our manufacturing partners is always a huge leap of faith.
Making a large injection-moulding tool is expensive and can easily go wrong - which with musical instruments is a challenge because what is happening inside the part is as important as the outside of the part.
Your plastic-injected car bumper looks lovely on the outside, but the 'B' surface or non-customer-facing surface doesn't matter so much. In our case, every surface is an 'A' surface - and that is because the internal and unseen airflow and smoothness of the airstream are vital to maintaining good pitch and sound quality.
Art and science in perfect harmony
Pedagogy is defined as the art and science of teaching and something scholars across centuries have debated at length. In the same way, our instrument design process includes a mixture of art and science. It is the healthy conflict between these two states that brings the best out of our team and also the very best product for our customers.
That is why we use professional teachers and musicians through the process to make sure we are on the right track - having a pBugle that looked beautiful would be not much good if the instrument did not have good pitch at all the harmonics.
Meet the Two Jimmies!
Thankfully, we have the two Jimmies to help us. In Hong Kong, Jimmy Tung is a respected professional trumpet player and teacher who understands the needs of beginner students and in the UK, Jim Stretton has a long and established career as a professional trumpeter and performer.
We thought it would be fun to share some of their feedback videos - raw and unedited - from our pBugle testing process earlier this year.
Steven has over twenty years of experience working in the music industry. With degrees in Electrical Engineering and an MA in European Cultural Policy & Administration from the University of Warwick, where he now serves as a Course Tutor on their MA in Creative and Media Enterprises, Steven served as Executive Director of a non-profit international music association based in the United States from 2000 – 2007.
Steven is founder and CEO of Warwick Music Group now known as pBone Music, and started playing the trombone at the age of nine. Based in North Warwickshire, the company manufactures musical instruments that make the joy of music accessible. sustainable and fun including the world's first plastic trombone, pBone, which has sold over 250,000 units worldwide and won major international awards including the prestigious Queen's Award for Enterprise (Innovation) in 2019.
He was elected as a board director for the UK music industry trade body, the Music Industries Association, in 2019 becoming its chair in 2020, and is frequently interviewed or invited to present guest lectures on cultural entrepreneurship, music education, and the future of the music industry. At the request of the owner, Denis Wick, Steven joined the board of Denis Wick Products in 2021 subsequently being appointed their Chief Executive Officer in 2022, a role he performs alongside his role as CEO for pBone Music.
Steven lives in Warwickshire with his wife, Kate, their three young children, two ponies and a faithful labrador, and enjoys coaching his local youth rugby team.
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