Which French horn is perfect for YOU?
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- Опубликовано: 28 авг 2024
- A guide to choosing which French horn is perfect for you
Chapter 8: Choosing a French horn
00:21 Different types of French horn
00:48 The full double
01:11 Serious music students
01:39 Starter horns (mini horns)
02:09 Young learners
02:27 Single horn
02:35 Compensating double horn
03:11 B-flat single horn
03:38 Double descant (alto) horn
03:58 Triple horn
04:23 F single horn
04:35 Piston horn
04:48 Vienna horn
"Don't Fear the Horn: A comprehensive guide to the French horn for brass players and teachers"
To buy your copy go to:
www.richardsteggall.co.uk
There's another type, which is very rare but very useful for high repertoire - the single Bb soprano descant. Same octave as a trumpet. Useful if you don't like triples.
Only two extant makers still build them - Alexander (Model 99) and Takao Nakagawa. I personally use a Kalison for that rep and love it.
French Cors a Pistons (piston horns) are also very useful for chamber music and solos when their unique timbre is desired, and historically-informed performance of 19th century French repertoire.
One added benefit of using Vienna horns or 19th century rotary or piston horns for solo work are their interchangeable terminal crooks. If you're doing a recital with, say, Mozart 4, Haydn 1 and Strauss 1, you can readily change from Eb to D to F effortlessly without having to worry about transposing fingerings.
5 classic makes/models:
Alexander 103
Conn 8D
Paxman 20
Holton H179
Yamaha 667 (discontinued)
We learn on Hans Hoyer F horns (HH-700L) at our local music school. In small for the kids and regular size for adults. Pricey but have good mechanics and a nice sound. I'd like to have a Vienna Horn (for its rich sound) but I am turned down by the price :-D
Yes, I’ve heard good things about Hans Hoyers but the small horns particularly seem expensive. Probably worth it if they last a long time though. Hope you get your Vienna horn one day 🤞🏻📯😀
As a bassoonist, I'll take the english variant please
🤣You’re welcome to it
F mini singles:
Paxman Primo
John Packer JP162
Thomann HR101
What is exactly a vienna horn ? I always wonder about the way people speak of it without describing WHAT it is in fact, what is so special about it ! I therefore would appreciate very much an explanatory video about this mysterious thing... Thank you.
Good question! I afraid I can’t do a video at the moment as I don’t own one. The shape of it (bore size etc) is more like a natural horn, or the piston horn pictured in my video. The real difference is the valves: it uses the “pumpenvalve” which is a kind of piston valve. They don’t work as cleanly as piston or rotary valves, so fast playing is trickier but you can play beautiful slurs.
@@dontfearthehorn Thank you very much. At least I have a provisory answer !
Some less expensive full doubles:
Paxman Academy
Yamaha 567
Verus V
Briz A980
Jupiter JHR1100
B-flat mini singles:
Briz 3/4 B-flat single
Thomann HR100 Junior
J. Michael 3/4
John Packer Jp161
Compensating doubles:
Paxman Academy
John Packer JP263 RATH
Thomann makes great singles. Don’t forget about the goofy Schiller Elite G Key Student French Horn
Yep, the Thomann singles are really solidly built for the price. Never heard of the Schiller horn, I’m intrigued. Tell me more…
Apparently schiller makes bad horns, theirs probably better brands than it which is why it’s not as good
@@jli8418 they’re just another Chinese cutout horn brand, but I’ve heard they are definitely better than Jin Bao and Sia. On par with Mendini. Not as good as Thomman or Wessex which are good horns
Do you have any ideas about the best way to purchase horns. Are there any rent to buy schemes? I find this is the real draw back for some people and to be able to buy a good quality horn without the huge financial hit would be beneficial. I play on a work provided horn but I will be leaving soon and need to get my own, my hope is to buy a good quality second hand Alex 103 but even these are expensive. If there are different options out there, I'd love for you to do a video on it.
Jokes on you the "perfect" horn for me isn't on the list. (I play altonium)
Ah, wonderful! Is it one of the King ones? In Eb or F? I’ve never seen one IRL. Probably a bit too obscure for my channel!
@@dontfearthehorn NGL I am very shocked you even know what that is. Mine is a Cleveland 648 in Eb only, also the name "Altonium" only applies to H.N. White manufactured instruments starting around the late 50s early 60s (after the trombonium was created). Anything else, such as the ones made by Conn or Olds, are just bell-front alto horns, not altoniums.
@@dontfearthehorn I've played an F Altonium. It's tiny and takes a Horn mouthpiece. Probably the most flexible instrument I've ever played. Like many alto-register piston instruments, written 2nd line G is out of tune and should be played with 1+3 instead of open.
I think the main thing that separates it from Tenor Horns is the horn mouthpiece, and the fact that many were pitched in F instead of Eb.