History of the Association

Founding

The Association was founded in 1997, in the year following the Trombone Incident.

On 23 August 1996, two municipal brass bands shared an engagement at a covered venue in the Rhône valley. A communal meal was served beforehand. The wine was local, white, and provided without charge to players and audience alike.

The first releases were attributed to the instruments. By the fourth movement that explanation was no longer available to anyone present.

The solo E♭ Horn continued alone for a further eleven bars.

The performance was abandoned after forty minutes. Evacuation took a further twenty, the exits being on the affected side.

The material recovered from the bandstand was of a single consistency and could not be separated into discrete specimens. Asked independently to characterise it, the two bands returned findings three types apart. Neither could substantiate its position, and few of those present retained a clear account of the evening. The venue's insurer declined both submissions.

The cantonal authority found itself unable to rule. No applicable standard existed, and the question of how many specimens the bandstand held admitted of no answer. That finding is regarded as the founding document of the Association.

Type 7 was written first. The remaining six were derived from it over the following four years.

Both bands were dissolved. Neither reformed. The venue was demolished in 1998.

The trombone was not recovered.

Subsequent development

1997 — Constitution

The Association was constituted in Vaduz on 4 November 1997 by eleven founding members, of whom four had been present on 23 August 1996. The founding members are not named in this account, at their request.

Six of the eleven played the E♭ Horn. The Association regards this as material and has never pretended otherwise. The instruments implicated in the events of 23 August 1996 were, without exception, of the lower register, and the acoustic resemblance between certain of them and the phenomena this standard exists to classify has never been a matter on which the Association felt able to remain silent.

1999 — The odour question

A proposal to admit odour as a surface characteristic was defeated at the General Assembly. The proposer withdrew from the Association. The question is regarded as settled and the Secretariat does not correspond on it.

2001 — First edition

STD-7 was published in its first edition, four years after the founding. The delay is attributed to the drafting of Types 1 and 2, which were the last to be agreed and which the Standards Committee has described as the least interesting.

2004 — Passage and movement

The distinction between passage and movement was introduced. It has since been the subject of eleven errata, more than any other provision of the standard.

2008 — Annex C

The veterinary application was adopted by the General Assembly on a proposal from three member organisations. The Association was not consulted on its drafting. This is recorded in every edition and will continue to be.

2011 — The Terminology Dispute

A disagreement over the musical sense of the word movement occupied two sessions of the Standards Committee and one extraordinary General Assembly. The proceedings ran to 340 pages and were not conclusive.

Three outcomes followed: the Working Group on Terminology was established, the minutes of the Standards Committee ceased to be published, and the term attack was withdrawn without replacement.

2019 — Withdrawals

Following four years of preparatory work, the Working Group withdrew presentation and water key from the standard. No new terms have been adopted since 2004.

2020 — Remote examination

A remote examination session was trialled and discontinued before it concluded. No findings have been published. The Board has resolved that none will be.

2026 — Fourth edition

The fourth edition entered into force on 1 January 2026. It carries one erratum to date.