Acoustic Musical Instruments » brass instruments http://www.acousticmusicalinstruments.com Piano, Guitar, Bass, Strings, Songs, Chords, and Harmony Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:47:50 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Althorn 101 http://www.acousticmusicalinstruments.com/althorn-101/ http://www.acousticmusicalinstruments.com/althorn-101/#comments Sat, 28 Jan 2012 08:35:05 +0000 keira http://www.acousticmusicalinstruments.com/?p=672 althornKnown primarily as the althorn, the alto horn has a number of names and classifications. The althorn is also regularly known as the tenor horn or the althoorn, and it is classified as an aerophone as well as a brass instrument. There are a number of instruments that are related to the althorn, including the French horn, the Euphonium, the coronet and the baritone horn. This instrument is pitched in E flat and has a gradually widening conical bore. It typically uses a mouthpiece that is deep and resembles a coronet mouthpiece.

The althorn is most commonly used in brass bands, marching bands and other similar ensembles, where as the typical horn tends to take on the corresponding parts within symphonic groupings as well as classical brass-based ensembles. In the United States as well as Germany, the tenor horn name is identical to the baritone horn, the tuba and the euphonium. In order to avoid naming confusion, the instrument is also referred to occasionally as the E-flat horn.

The althorn in E-flat possesses a conical bore that is not unlike the orchestral French horn, played in F. This instrument uses deep cup shaped or funnel shaped mouthpieces depending on which model you are playing. This instrument is regularly used in British based brass bands, and it is also occasionally included in orchestras though its place is also regularly taken up by the orchestral horn instead. You will regularly find this alto horn being used in concert bands, as here it has a very similar status as the traditional horn.

The deep mouthpiece, as well as the conical bore is capable of producing a tone that is mellow and rounded, and therefore it is most often used to serve as a middle voice capable of supporting the trumpets, flugelhorns and cornets and the melodies that they produce. This instrument fills in the gap that is above the lower bass and tenor instruments such as the tuba, the baritone horn, the trombone and the tuba. There are only very occasional solo parts intended for the althorn, and they are usually taken instead by solo horns. Most althorns or alto horns are pitched in E-flat, and they are transposing instruments.

The typical range for this instrument is from the A one octave and a minor third just below the middle C up to the E-flat which is an octave along with a minor third above the middle A, which is A2 to E-flat5. The standard bell up style of horns comes in two different basic but distinctive shapes, one of which begins with the bell that loops up over the top of the valves, and the other which involves the bell looping down below the valves.

Although there is some naming confusion about this particular instrument, what always remains true is that this is an intriguing instrument with a popular sound that finds its way into many brass bands and orchestral arrangements.

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Originally posted 2009-08-11 03:58:39. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Online Stores ]]> http://www.acousticmusicalinstruments.com/althorn-101/feed/ 0 World Horns 101 pt 2 http://www.acousticmusicalinstruments.com/world-horns-101-pt-2/ http://www.acousticmusicalinstruments.com/world-horns-101-pt-2/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:24:46 +0000 keira http://www.acousticmusicalinstruments.com/?p=684 Didgeridoo... Continued from World Horns 101 pt 1

The best known example of the bark bound horn is the Alpine horn or Alphorn, which is the best known and the most engineered. It is a straight and a gradually expanding tube that can be as long as 13 feet or 4 meters long and it curves upwards just before the bell of the instrument. Modern styles of Alpine Horns or Alphorns are typically capable of being dismantled for the purposes of travel, and some of them are even made out of carbon fiber materials.

Didgeridoo

This is a famous instrument that comes from aboriginal Australia. It is made out of a long eucalyptus branch hat has been hollowed out naturally by termites. The end that you blow into is relatively wide and is typically smothered using a coating of beeswax. The player uses what is a relatively sophisticated technique with the use of slack embouchure in order to produce low droning notes, utilizing resonance of the mouth and pulsing his or her breath and adding in all kinds of unique vocal barks and yelps that are capable of intermodulating with the blown sound in order to create unique sounds all while the player is using continuously circular breathing.

Metal Horns

Metal horns are durable and widespread examples of horns that have managed to survive for many years, many of which have survived through an age of antiquity, in fact. Among these metal horns are the Lur, a Scandinavian instrument from the Bronze Age, which is an S-shaped horn that features a disc bell, as well as the Carnyx, which has a mouth piece and an animal headed bell of an otherwise wooden body which comes from the ancient Celts. There are a number of metal horns that are still being played today including ceremonial trumpet instruments that are ornate and straight and played in Tibet as well as Benin.

These horns are capable of ranging greatly in length up to the length of the Alphorn for example. Another example is the Kombu, which is quite similar in nature to the lur, but is C shaped instead. Another example of a Lur like instrument is the Narsiga from India, which is S shaped. The short signal horn that foxhunters use in England is another example, as is the coiled bugle used in military signaling. The entire range off brass covered instruments such as trumpets for example can also fall into this category as well, proving that world horns can evolve into some truly interesting shapes with time.

There are numerous other horn instruments that we will go into in the next entry in this series, including the Cornett from the Renaissance era in Europe and the Serpent, a conically bored instrument with a luscious baritone sound. There are horns to suit all sounds and purposes, crafted from an endless variety of materials including found objects as we touched on earlier.

Photo Credits: denn

Originally posted 2009-08-14 03:14:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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