Electronic recorder adds realism to bugle playing

  • Published
  • By Crystal Toenjes
  • Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AFPN) --  The Tinker Air Force Base Honor Guard recently received three ceremonial bugles which play a high-quality recording of “Taps,” helping to show the nation’s deepest gratitude at the funerals of those who have served their country.

The Department of Defense worked with a private company to create the small device which fits inside the bell of a real bugle and plays a performance of “Taps” recorded at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day 1999.

Using digital-audio technology, it is designed to be virtually indistinguishable from a live performance.

Airmen on the honor guard have been trained to operate and hold the horn so families do not notice when the device is activated or see the speaker in the bell.

There is a five-second delay from the time the start button is pressed to when the music begins playing to allow time for the horn to be brought into proper playing position.

The ceremonial bugle is cared for in the same way as any other instrument except for the added precaution of avoiding moisture building up behind the speaker. Each horn costs $550 and requires two 9-volt batteries.

The new ceremonial bugles have been used for every funeral the honor guard has attended since the new instruments arrived, said Senior Airman Eric Young, an honor guard supply technician and bugler.

“When I first heard about them I didn’t care for them too much, but after hearing them, it’s a lot better than a boom box,” Airman Young said. “The only thing I don’t like about them is they sound too perfect.”

The ceremonial bugle is intended to be a dignified alternative to playing prerecorded “Taps” on a compact disc or cassette player. A prerecorded presentation is only offered when a military musician is unavailable, and families will be given the choice of the ceremonial bugle or using the stereo.

Some families do not want to have a CD or cassette when a live performance is not possible, and the new horns give them a more favorable option, said Staff Sgt. Douglas Picard, assistant noncommissioned officer in charge of the honor guard.

“These get pretty loud,” Sergeant Picard said. “The boom boxes are sometimes hard to hear because they can only go up so loud, and they are an eyesore.”

He said most families cannot tell the difference between the ceremonial bugle and a live performance. The sound is so realistic, one family complimented the bugler for “the finest rendition of ‘Taps’ they had ever heard,” he said.

Airman Young said the workload for the three buglers here has been tough at times, especially when one or two of them are called away on other duty assignments. Now with each person trained to use the ceremonial bugles, the honor guard has 166 Airmen available.

Airman Young said one of the nicer aspects of the instrument is that it is a real bugle which can be played when the device is removed from the bell.