>Date: Mon, 05 Jan 1998 10:29:46 -0500
>From: Howard Peirce <howard.peirce@sdrc.com>
>Subject: Re: discussion-l Digest - V01 #447
>Viva peckhorn!
Oy! It's the instrument of a thousand names:
Alto Horn, Eb Horn, Tenor Horn, Altonium, Peckhorn, and a really curious
one: the Blatweasel.
>I had the opportunity to mess around with jazz on the
>alto horn a bit when I was in college. What potential that instrument
>has--it sounds like a trombone in the upper register, but with the
>fluency of valves, and the sound gets punchier as you go higher (as
>opposed to the trombone, which can get flutey). I've been looking for
>one ever since, but without much success. They're hard to come by at a
>decent price in playable condition (at least around here), unless you
>have the bread and the means to order a Boosey from Britain.
I really like the tone.. I find it sounds a lot like the french horn at
the top, but a little less difficult to play generally. Unfortunately, the
horn I have currently is not wonderful. It's some no-name Japanese brand
(with a Yamaha Mouthpiece). The valves are really loud and unwieldy and not
very smooth (and they're bottom-springed.. I like the top springed valves
better). Overall, It's not horrible and for a beginner like myself, it's
pretty playable.
>I think you'll find that the alto sax range should be well within reach
>of the peckhorn, once you get your chops up. Also, you've got an extra
>third at the bottom of the horn (down to A concert) so you can take a
>lot of stuff down an octave that would fall off the bottom of the alto
>sax.
I find I can play most of the notes in the range of the Alto Sax, the
problem is mainly with endurance at the top (which is not a problem for sax
players). Most Jazz arrangers (I'm playing it in my school's Stage Band)
write for the sax range around C6 a lot, which can get pretty tiring. The
extra low range is nice, but I don't like the tone that much down there (It
doesn't hold up as well as the Trumpet's does). Also, as a beginner, I find
it hard to keep well intonated down there.
>BTW: I played in a British-style brass band for a while some years back,
>and picked up a Boosey Sovereign model cornet--a gorgeous horn. I've
>since abandoned the trumpet and flugelhorn entirely and play the cornet
>exclusively. A great jazz horn, terribly underused, and the Boosey has a
>unique sound that I love.
As far as I'm concerned, Nat Adderley makes a great case for the Cornet as
a jazz instrument, although I'm not sure what type of horn he's playing
(long or short).
Adam S. Fine | *Pretentious Music (Musiko Pretendema)
afine@interlog.com | http://www.interlog.com/~afine/
| *Couch 750
| http://www.interlog.com/~afine/couch.html