Posted by Sean Chisham on March 07, 2001 at 01:44:48:
In Reply to: Re: Testing and evaluating horns posted by Michael Russo on March 06, 2001 at 22:44:24:
Exactly.
My wife is thinking about buying another horn. Every horn she plays gets the same basic comments from me or anyone else who listens. "I like the way you sound on that one." or "That one sounds dull compared to your Paxman." or "That one has a brighter sound than the other one and might work well for solos."
The player is concerned with how easy it is to play, but the person listening has no real concept of that. All they care about is if the horn sounds good. Turning a phrase, expressing contrasts, and technique come from the player.
Intonation, response, and projection are also components of sound and should be considered. If the horn has an entire partial somewhere in the 2 octave money range that is way wacked out of tune, then you might want to consider another alternative. You shouldn't have to yank slides all over the place in order to have some symbol of good intonation.
My perfect horn would be one which easily allows a quick, even, intune response over all partials and has the efficiency to project at all dynamics, including the soft ones. This ideal horn would also be one which has reasonably high production quality so as to not fall apart after only a few years, and is not so light that it dents when breathed on. The horn will also hopefully be of respectable enough reputation that if I change my mind later, I can sell it at not too much of a loss. This perfect horn horn would have a sound which is interesting to listen to and flexible enough to easily allow me to alter it for the occasion. It would need to sound alive when played. I don't like kicking dead horses. There are some masters out there who can do wonders with dead horses, but I prefer the easier route.
This perfect horn would be enjoyable and easy to play and more importantly enjoyable and easy to listen to.
If possible take along a companion whom you trust musically. You should have little difficulty figuring out which instruments are the most satisfying to play, but it is nearly impossible to figure out which horn is the most satisfying to listen to. Also, if you feel a horn has some wacky player issues such as response or challenging intonation, then have the other person(s) try it and get their input while you listen.
Many horns, which blow differently than what you are used to, will feel strange. Sometimes we confuse strange with bad. Strange is not always bad, but it is always different than the usual. You have the capability to grow into any horn you purchase. So a Rudy Meinl may feel wrong after having played a bunch of Yamahas. Remember, you can adjust to weird if the sound is there. It is much easier to work out playability issues on a horn with a great sound, then it is to work out sound issues on a horn which is easy to play.
sean