Hi List, I usually try to avoid controversy or blatant advertising on the horn list but I feel I need to respond to the comments made by THE VOICE regarding cryogenic processing. His unsupported remarks are a direct attack on my integrity and have no place on this list.
If Mr. THE VOICE reads our promotional literature carefully he will notice that nowhere do we make specific claims for the results to be obtained by cryogenically processing. What we do say, and I reiterate here, is that we, and over 99% of the several hundred customers who have had instruments processed by us, feel that the instruments were improved and that the process was worth the time and the money. The effects of cryogenic processing are subtle and definitely fall into the last five per cent of horn modifications, for players looking to get as much as they can from their equipment. It's not for student instruments or for casual (I don't mean amateur) players. The tests recently undertaken at Tufts University by Selmer, utilizing a panel of high school students and weekend warriors are a case in point. You don't get smart answers by asking dumb questions. Since Mr. THE VOICE writes under a pseudonym we have no way of knowing what qualifications he has for making his attack. I have to suspect that he's an engineer or a science type who knows that the physical changes that take place in steel when cryogenically treated have no parallel in brass. Therefore he concludes that, since he hasn't measured any change, none has taken place. (Remember, these are the same guys who proved that the material or thickness of an instrument has no effect on the sound.) It seems to me that, when confronted by an unexplained phenomenon that has been confirmed by many experienced musicians, the thoughtful scientist would be looking for an experiment to explain it, not casually dismissing it as a scam. Those of us who have spent years working to improve instruments and the playing experience for our customers work in a subtle realm and deal in differences in instruments and playing qualities that are invisible and inaudible to the laymen, or even to many musicians. Indeed, a lot of the tonal differences we sweat over don't travel much past the podium. Lots of good players can't hear (or are indifferent to) loose valves, red brass, garlands, (pitch), etc., but that doesn't mean that everyone should ignore these qualities. Cryogenics is one more arrow in the quiver. A candidate for a job in a professional orchestra (not Chicago, New York, Boston, just a small regional orchestra) will have to audition against 100-200 people to win his job. That's just the number who the audition committee actually hears, not all the applicants. Those are pretty tough odds. Studies of stress have shown that being a principal horn player is one of the most stressful of jobs. These people need the best and most finely tuned equipment they can get. Don't ask me to throw away a valuable tool without a better supported analysis than the one presented here. Bob Osmun www.osmun.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of THE VOICE OF THE GUILD Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 11:16 PM To: hornlist Subject: [Hornlist] RE: Cryogenicall Frozen horn from: "Steve Freides" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> subject: [Hornlist] "Cryogenically Frozen" horn I was poking around looking at used horns on the Internet and found one that said the horn had been "cryogenically frozen" by Osmun - could anyone explain this process to me, please? (The horn wasn't for sale at Osmun, it was at Dillon Music in NJ.) Steve, Cryogenically freezing a horn is a proven method of removing money from your pocket. Enjoy the rest of the posts, but this is the truth. THE VOICE _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/rosmun%40osmun.com _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
