I have found that a morning after pill is sometimes required when trying out horns. As in, after an afternoon of trying them out once at a workshop I thought some were so wonderful that I even considered swapping my horn for one or buying it straight away. However after sleeping on it, and practicing a few more hours in between on my own horn I went back to play on a few specimens that I played on earlier to find that it just was not the same anymore. I noticed more and more faults with each instrument that I didn't notice the day before and as a result decided to stick with my own horn and not change anything.
Although I'm still shopping for a descant perhaps down the line (maybe even a Bb/high Bb) the more I try different horns, strangely enough, the more I refuse to sell my own horn and swap it out. Nothing matches me as well, and as a Horn should be its individual to me and my tastes exactly where I want them to be. The funny thing was I played on a Holton 280 for 7 years as a student in High school and college and the change to a E. Schmid was drastic, but I noticed when I did change a lot of bad habits hidden on the Holton sang out on the Schmid requiring more but neccessary practice. I'm happy with the results. Try as hard as I could, there are certain plateaus on student model Horns to me that you cannot really work around because they aren't noticable until you get a more finely crafted instrument. Holton makes fine instruments and I was sad to have sold it, that's true, but it doesn't have the finesse of my '91 hotrod DOHC 4-valve Schmid. -William In a message dated 5/27/2003 5:39:45 PM Pacific Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > Subj: Re: [Hornlist] What I discovered on the horn hunt > Date: 5/27/2003 5:39:45 PM Pacific Daylight Time > From: <A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]">[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> > Reply-to: <A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]">[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> > To: <A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]">[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> > Sent from the Internet > > > > Darcy-- > Thank you for the narative. Actually, I understand your experience > perfectly well. I was a dedicated 8D player for nearly 20 years (most > of my playing career) and decided to look for a smaller bored horn to > have as a backup instrument. I tried a 667 at the Brasswind/Woodwind > last summer. To me, it felt like it played a bit on the high > side...but when I checked it with the meter, it was right on. I think > it was just the way that the notes centered that made it feel that > way...and I think you're right about it feeling kind of rigid on the > placement of the "slots". > > Later on in the summer, I tried a Conn 10D that someone was selling and > from the first moment with the instrument, I was able to sing through > it. The notes were pretty much where I expected them to be, and even > though it's a brighter sounding instrument, I still felt comfortable > with it. I bought the horn and later shipped it off to George > McCracken to have it customized (got the bell cut, and one of his > leadpipes). It's a beauty. I feel that for all those years I was > playing an 8D, I was fighting the horn to get the sound that's been in > my head all this time. With the 10D, I'm not fighting so hard to stay > out of the muddy land of darkness. Needless to say, this horn is now > my main axe and Alfred, the 8D, has been relegated to the status of > backup instrument. > > Thanks again for sharing your experiences with the list. It's good to > hear someone else's perspective on the subject. Best regards-- > > Jen Gesinski > Villa Park, IL > > P.S. See y'all in Bloomington! > > --- Darcy Beth Hamlin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >Hello hornets and hornettes. I very much have enjoyed the humorous > >and > >well-thought posts of late. I especially enjoyed the various metallic > >suggestions (esp. the sodium mouthpiece one). > > > >Okay, so I should probably clarify what I meant about 667's being > >"too > >perfect". The notes slipped into place easily, the high notes popped > >out > >well, and the notes were all pretty much in tune. But you were dead > >right - > >preference for a certain type of horn depends ENTIRELY on the player. > >So > >here's my highly biased, very individualist slant. (Hopefully those > >were > >sufficient disclaimers. ;D) > > > >When I played the 667, I felt like the horn took what I was trying to > >make > >it say, and then put out its own interpretation of what any given > >musical > >excerpt should sound like. It just didn't feel like my voice. Does > >that make > >any sense? I am not much of an equipment person, so I don't really > >know how > >to explain why I felt this in mechanical terms. (I'm as monogamous > >with > >horns as I am in relationships; I played my 8D from 1989 until last > >month, > >and I'm not selling it. So I haven't really done a lot of different > >horn > >"dating" to see what else was out there. I just wasn't interested > >until now, > >when I have to be to find a horn that will fit in Milwaukee.) > > > >Another image that might help understand the way the 667's felt is > >this. You > >know how each note on a horn has sort of a shelf, or a notch, where > >you > >place the notes? Some shelves are wider and more flexible than > >others, > >right? Well, the 667 - to ME, anyway - felt like the notches were > >little V's > >instead of nice wide U's like I'm used to feeling on my 8D. > > > >The horn sounded fine, all right, when I was playing it by myself; > >but my > >thought was, what if I get into an orchestral situation where I have > >to > >adjust the pitch? Would the horn go with me on those highly > >sensitive, > >highly spontaneous decisions that you can't make in advance of being > >within > >the live musical context? It just didn't feel - to ME - like it > >would. > > > >So, I ruled out the 667 and the 867. (Ironically I liked the 667 > >better than > >the 867 I was trying. It projected better and apparently that's an > >issue for > >the hall in Milwaukee, so I have been very vigilant in keeping that > >in > >mind.) > > > >I had an 11DS sent to me from Boston, which I liked very, very much. > >It was > >still a bright and very much a geyer brass horn sound, but it felt > >like the > >horn was much more of a true voice for me than the 667. > > > >On this past Friday, I took this 11DS to the Conn factory. I was > >really > >ready to buy this Boston 11DS, and just wanted to check out the other > >horns > >there to make sure it was The One. > > > >Imagine my surprise then, when I found another 11D that I liked > >better! > >(This one didn't have a cut bell.) I felt that the high range on the > >factory > >11D was just a little more open in the high range - very important to > >me. > > > >Just for the heck of it, the guy at the factory had set out two > >11DR's (with > >the rose brass bell and first branch). One had a cut bell (11DRS), > >one > >didn't (11DR). I instantly fell in love with the 11DRS; the uncut > >11DR was > >very tight and hard to play. > > > >Now, I had been cautioned against the rose brass, since I'd heard the > >darker > >sound didn't project as well. But I can't tell you how amazing it > >felt. I > >felt the rose brass bell allowed for a much larger color palette, > >especially > >during the slower more expressive excerpts. I was so impressed by > >this horn > >and it felt so much better than any other geyer horn I had tried - it > >felt > >so much better than the factory 11D I had liked. I picked up the > >factory 8D > >and compared it just to make sure it sounded different enough. (I was > >worried that my 8D past would bias me toward the darker sound.) But > >sure > >enough, it (of course) *did* sound very different. It just *felt* so > >much > >better to me. > > > >So then, the ultimate test: I made the two guys at the Conn factory > >who had > >been helping me take me into the warehouse. I did this because the > >acoustic > >is totally dead - big cement walls, and HUGE stacks of cardboard > >boxes for > >40 and 50 feet up all around you. If that isn't the perfect place to > >test > >whether or not a horn projects, I don't know what IS! I made the guys > >turn > >around and listen as I played Wagner, Strauss, Mozart, Shostakovitch > >- first > >on one horn, then the other, alternating which one was played first. > > > >And you want to know the most amazing thing? The Rose-brass horn came > >out ON > >TOP for projection, 9 times out of 10!! I guess it just depends on > >the > >player. Maybe I felt more free to crank it out on the rose brass > >horn, > >because I sensed it could take it better than the brass one. Who > >knows. But > >I ended up buying the 11DRS. I played it in Playhouse Square in > >downtown > >Cleveland for a Cleveland Pops concert this weekend, and it was so > >incredible; there was absolutely NO adjustment period. It was like > >this horn > >was meant for me. > > > >Yesterday I took the horn over to my best friend Karin's place. Karin > >is a > >pianist all over Cleveland for the ballet scene (classes, > >performances, > >etc.) and we sat down and read solo rep. (Weber Concertino, Mozart, > >Strauss, > >etc.) That was enlightening as to the challenges of the 8D to geyer > >adjustment. The one thing I'm really going to have to get used to is > >that I > >can't crank the big opaque volume like I could on my 8D (Duh - I knew > >that > >intellectually, but it's another thing to experience it musically). > >It sure > >zings in the high range, though! That's taking NO getting used to! ;) > > > >Anyway, thanks for reading all this. And thanks to all of you for > >your > >feedback; both informative and always highly entertaining. ;) > > > >Darcy Hamlin > > > > > >_______________________________________________ > >post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >set your options at > http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/jenstermeister%40yahoo.com > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. > http://search.yahoo.com > _______________________________________________ > post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > set your options at > http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/valkhorn%40aol.com > _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
