Well, at age 58, having played Horn for the last 45+ years, I'm hardly a beginning student. I'm having a lot of fun trying out the possibilities of the 5-valve Bb......Here's another idea: replace the stopping valve slide with a first-valve slide from an F Horn. It should give you more notes with a "F" sound. Waddya think?
Paul ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "The Horn List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 2:53 PM Subject: Re: Re:[Hornlist] RE: YHR 668 > I've been considering adding a fifth valve to my King, but that might push it to the point of needing valve plating, which I could do if I stopped putting off setting up the equipment I already have. I found myself using the King so much, I jumped at the chance to pick up a Paxman 42M that Bob Osmun offered my at a price that made it a no brainer. The Paxman has the F attachment on the sixth valve (4th paddle). > > From your conversion of the stopping valve to a transposing valve, can I make the assumption you also find the stopping valve pretty useless? I liken the stopping valve to a fire extinguisher. It looks cool and 'responsible', but its only vital if I don't use my brain, and let an emergency come up. > > Hans has some strong, and valid, criticism for playing everything on the Bb side of a double horn, but the F attachment, and extra weight of my Paxman make it much more suitable as a full range horn for general playing. I bought a really beat up Reynolds Contempora single F with the idea of using it as a source of rebuilt valves for my King. Reynolds valves are a cut above other commercial rotors, and always respond well to just tightening the bearings. I wanted to find a second carcass and build a new four or five valve cluster for the King, with the lever on a 4th paddle, similar to the Paxman. However, with some dents removed the Contempora single F is a nice playing horn and my wife and I often play duets with the King Bb on first and the single F on second. Not only is it a good match, she's finally learning the reactions needed to play both F and Bb full range. > > One thing I find is that a high quality single F horn is completely different from the F side of a high quality double horn. Likewise, a good Bb is a totally different beast from either my Double Bb Paxman or my full double concert horn. I agree with Hans that the basis for correct tonality is the F horn, with its complex upper partials. I would never start a student on a single Bb, and would expect them to work to performance level on a piece at the difficulty of, say, movement 2 of Mozart 3, before switching them to a double. The question then becomes what is the basis of the F tonality you want to emulate. The simplest reasonable answer is to put the F standard on the horn your playing. Thus, my conclusion that the F attachment is much more essential than the stopping valve. I would add a further criterion that the Bb horn should be able to sound like a good F horn when played in open F tuning. > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > _______________________________________________ > post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/lotp%40comcast.net _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
