Cornetto Muto; a modern reproduction.

The cornetto is one of the most obscure baroque instruments. Of the Conical bore instruments it is a hybrid of sorts, played as a trumpet, the lips providing the reed.
During its peak, Cornetto virtuoso were the most highly payed instrumentalists.

The late sixteenth century was the cornett's golden age, particularly in Venice where the leading player was the Udinese master, Girolamo dalla Casa.
In his division manual he explains that the superiority of this instrument lies in its ability to imitate the human voice:

Of all the wind instruments, the most excellent is the cornett for it imitates the human voice more than the others. This instrument is played piano and forte and in every sort of tonality, just like the voice.

So why did the Cornetto die out? There are no real good reasons for the cornetto to have died out, there was no other superior instrument that supplanted it. Cornetti are notoriously difficult to play, and during their height of popularity were played exclusively by professionals who underwent lengthy and vigorous training.
One theory is that almost all of the virtuoso players died during the great plague, the art was not passed down and soon fell into obsolescence.

This startling description of the cornetto comes from a book on musical instruments from the 1930’s. Though there were certainly better informed voices about at the time, Schwarz’ trashing of the cornetto perfectly illustrates the effect that obsolescence has on an instrument’s reputation. http://www.concertopalatino.com/Decline_of_Cornetto.html




Ok the pics aren't the greatest, a few were taken by someone else. I didn't think about documenting the process until late anyway, here's where I'm at with my cornetto.
I'll be happy to answer any questions so don't be shy, I love talking about
building and playing acoustic musical instruments!

 

Please upload a sound file when this is finished!