French horns. what a sound

[Fran Haring]

Thank GOD!

Hey Joe.... Annapolis, 2012. How about you, me and Stan with a French horn trio at the DCA I&E show?

Then again.... perhaps the world won't be ready for that.

[MelloRick]

That's the plan, Leo.

Ray

Yeah, and Pepe was my hero !!! As a 10 year old, I used to tell my dad I wanted to shake his lip... I can't tell you how many times I played my Fleetwood album just to hear the rip at the end of is solo in Aquarius! I will also admit that when I was in his presence, I was always tongue tied, and stood there in awe.. Well, you know who I thought was the best!

[MelloRick]

I will further admit that while I did enjoy playing the french horn, and I still own my french horn I played from 1966-1971 with the Regal Crownsmen from Cranston, RI, I have never regretted the change to mellophone. I for one would NEVER want to go back. I know this goes against every other post here, but it is my personal opinion. I have come to love my mellophone and everything about it. I personally believe the player is capable of making it sound any way they want. Is it easier to play, well to get notes out, yes, but to do it correctly, no it's not. Intonation is still a bear on the mellophone, although I will admit the new ones in F are WAYYYY easier to play in tune. IMHO. This is not to sound like I didn't enjoy and am proud of my years on FH. My dad bought me my getzen from the Skylarks, one of the predecessors of the Matadors, and it is in perfect shape with the "magic slide". I take it out every now and then to clean it and play a few notes, including doing my best to emulate Pepe playing Aquarius! It belonged to Jackie Lopes, who was also one of my french horn hero's.

[Callawyn]

Well, technically, a bugle has no valves... those "G Bugles" were actually "G Trumpets".. and now they have switched to Bb trumpets.

Not true. There's more difference between a trumpet and a bugle than valves. Putting valves on a bugle does not make it a trumpet, not even a 'trumpet in G'. There are trumpets in various keys, Bb, C, D, etc, none of them are bugles. You could make a trumpet in G, but it wouldn't sound like a G Bugle.

The difference is the bore. Trumpets have a cylindrical bore, bugles have a conical bore (cornets do as well). This is why they produce a different sound. Its also why bugles project better in a stadium, while trumpets project like a laser beam.

Speaking of which, I've always felt that a lot of the sound problems with DCI corps using trumpets would be solved if they'd use cornets instead. You'd still be in Bb and have the tuning advantage over bugles but you'd have the conical bore to help with sound projection.

[Fran Haring]

I will further admit that while I did enjoy playing the french horn, and I still own my french horn I played from 1966-1971 with the Regal Crownsmen from Cranston, RI, I have never regretted the change to mellophone.

The Regal Crownsmen!!!!

My Sunriser French horn comrade Dennis Plante taught them for a while in the mid-to-late 1970s.

He brought a couple of us in the French horn line some Regal Crownsmen t-shirts... they had a really cool logo on those shirts. For my last few years with Sun, Dennis, Marty Roche and I wore those t-shirts under our uniforms at DCA Finals.... our own little tradition/superstition!

[The Oz]

<snip>, my Music Appreciation course professor in college made a point to tell us all that it's because the sound is a perfect sine wave. Not so much so with other instruments. <more snippage>

I've always thought it was a great sound in the hands of good players. BTW, blame my professor if the above is incorrect.

Scott Mescon

Brigadiers 1993-

I'm in with HornsUp, no brasswind ever produced a true sine wave. A plucked string can come a little close. Some bells pretty close.

For more, go to: http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/asymmetry/asym.html

And if you want to talk about Fourier representations of waveforms, bring it on!

[MelloRick]

The Regal Crownsmen!!!!

My Sunriser French horn comrade Dennis Plante taught them for a while in the mid-to-late 1970s.

He brought a couple of us in the French horn line some Regal Crownsmen t-shirts... they had a really cool logo on those shirts. For my last few years with Sun, Dennis, Marty Roche and I wore those t-shirts under our uniforms at DCA Finals.... our own little tradition/superstition!

I left the Crownsmen in 73 and went to the Valley Airs. My dad was one of the first instructors, and instrumental in getting it going with Walter "Smitty" Smith, Bill Nadeau, and a few others... We had some talented instructors in our time, like Rick Connor (I believe it was one of his first teaching gigs), Paul Flaherty...to name a couple... Rick was my first instructor and my last in junior corps when I went to North Star in 78, and I am still playing for him today with the Boston Crusaders Sr. corps... :)

Check this out, I still have a Stetson Ricmond recording of the Crownsmen from I think 1970 at (13 years old) World Open class B championships. I will have to try and digitize that! I played a french horn duet with my buddy Johnny Menna...haven't seen him in years.

BTW, I still have my Crownsmen tshirt, and an ascot. Of course neither would come close to fitting me today ! Still kind of neat to take out and look at once in a while.

[HornsUp]

Not true. There's more difference between a trumpet and a bugle than valves. Putting valves on a bugle does not make it a trumpet, not even a 'trumpet in G'. There are trumpets in various keys, Bb, C, D, etc, none of them are bugles. You could make a trumpet in G, but it wouldn't sound like a G Bugle.

The difference is the bore. Trumpets have a cylindrical bore, bugles have a conical bore (cornets do as well). This is why they produce a different sound. Its also why bugles project better in a stadium, while trumpets project like a laser beam.

Speaking of which, I've always felt that a lot of the sound problems with DCI corps using trumpets would be solved if they'd use cornets instead. You'd still be in Bb and have the tuning advantage over bugles but you'd have the conical bore to help with sound projection.

Well ..... you have the right idea, but you have the facts backward. All the G bugles in this activity are/were more cylindrical than their Bb counterparts. Here's why:

G bugles have always been a specialty item for the manufacturers. Ever since the legalization of the single-piston horn in 1930, the bugles in our activity have been built out of the major components of existing band instruments. Cylindrical tubing was added to bring the pitch down.

Examine a number of corps bugles from any era, and you will see that the bells and branches are Bb components. The one or two valve clusters are also made from pre-existing tooling. These components might be bent into different forms to produce the G bugle. The block used to bend a tube is not expensive to produce, an Italian manufacturer in the 50s used to make their bends around a tree in the back yard of the factory!

One notable exception is the various versions of the Gezen French Horn bugle. These utilized bells from a T.I.S. trombone.

Edited October 27, 2010 by HornsUp

[rayfallon]

Well ..... you have the right idea, but you have the facts backward. All the G bugles in this activity are/were more cylindrical than their Bb counterparts. Here's why:

G bugles have always been a specialty item for the manufacturers. Ever since the legalization of the single-piston horn in 1930, the bugles in our activity have been built out of the major components of existing band instruments. Cylindrical tubing was added to bring the pitch down.

Examine a number of corps bugles from any era, and you will see that the bells and branches are Bb components. The one or two valve clusters are also made from pre-existing tooling. These components might be bent into different forms to produce the G bugle. The block used to bend a tube is not expensive to produce, an Italian manufacturer in the 50s used to make their bends around a tree in the back yard of the factory!

One notable exception is the various versions of the Gezen French Horn bugle. These utilized bells from a T.I.S. trombone.

I was going to say that the Conn French Horn from the late 50s, early 60s was more conical than most of the "mass produced" G bugles.

No? BTW - all the Getzens I saw were pretty much poop.

[cvayda]

Yeah, and Pepe was my hero !!! ... I can't tell you how many times I played my Fleetwood album just to hear the rip at the end of is solo in Aquarius!

And we in SKY Alumni are having SO MUCH FUN attempting to recreate that sound at the end of the Aquarius solo now that we are using it as our 2011 OTL !!

Just wait until you hear it

We got to do this to perfection or we will hear about it !!!

Darth