Zinc & Copper Works was formed in 2005 by Robin Hayward (tuba), together with Daniël Ploeger (trombone) and Dianna Gaetjens (horn). This trio is the basis for a brass ensemble of flexible instrumentation. The instruments are tuned unconventionally, used to produce noise, combined with current technology, as well as played conventionally.

Using distorted embouchure and experimental valve techniques, the instruments are transformed into acoustic noise generators. By tuning the valve slides in whole number proportions to one another, they are treated as harmonically related collections of individual tube lengths, a link to the time of natural horns and trumpets, when all pitches were produced using a single length of tubing. Attaching sensors to the valves allows the mechanism of the of the instruments to interact with current computer technology.

In the time of Giovanni Gabrieli, long before modern valved brass instruments were invented, the brass ensemble had equal standing to other chamber music ensembles. By exploring alternative ways of playing, Zinc & Copper Works aims to place brass chamber music once more at the forefront of contemporary music.