Wrapped Up!

by Andrew Lane

How does someone describe the “sound” of the French horn? If you are not a horn player, you might say the horn has a mellow, a rich, or a brassy tone; but if you are a horn player, you might say it has a New York, a Chicago, a Berlin, or a Vienna sound.

In 1990, I joined the horn section of the Florida Symphony Orchestra. The horn section was made up of excellent players who had a clear idea of the sound they wanted to produce. Prior to my audition for the orchestra, I played a Paxman model 20. I liked the instrument very much, but I knew if I wanted a job in the Florida Symphony, I had better change to a Conn 8D because that was the sound they would be looking for in the audition. I had always liked the sound of an 8D, having listened to the great players who used them, but I was never really “wrapped up” in the horn being the deciding factor of the sound I wanted to produce. The FSO section was an established 8D section, so I didn't even consider showing up for the audition without one. Luckily for me, I won the job! Playing in that group really opened my eyes to how a horn section, with a common concept of playing, could work together to create a unity of sound that was very inspiring.

Florida Symphony Orchestra horns - Excerpts from Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4

But is it necessary for all players in a section to use the same instrument to create a unified sound? We tend to make assumptions about how a horn plays based on how it looks: if it's a Geyer wrap, it will produce a certain sound; if it's a Kruspe wrap, it will sound another way. Horns have many parts, and, when considering all the variables, it’s impossible to narrow down to just one that creates a certain sound.

These days, horn sections appear very different from sections of the past. Many have replaced their nickel horns with brass ones, and we also see a triple horn leading a section now and then. The players in the Philadelphia Orchestra might play their brass horns one week but bring out their 8Ds the next if this works better for the program. The instrument of choice in the New York Philharmonic is now a brass Schmid, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra players favor horns made by Patterson. So what has changed? Perhaps we have become more open-minded about the sound we want and less fixated on having a certain instrument to produce it.

Since I have been building horns, I have often been asked how the “wrap” of the instrument affects the sound and feel. Does a more open wrap, like a Geyer, feel more open? Does a Kruspe wrap, like a Conn 8D, feel tighter? The answers are yes and no to both questions. The rate of taper through the lead pipe, first branch, and bell tail, plays a crucial role in how the instrument feels and plays. The wrap of an instrument is not the deciding factor in giving it an “open” blow, a “tighter” feel, or a bright or dark sound; the tapers which make up the design are crucial to determining sound and feel.       

Of course, the bell flare is very important too. Spun or hand-hammered? Large, medium, or small? Certainly, a larger bell throat can give the horn a more open sound with the “edge” coming at higher volumes, whereas with a smaller bell, the player might realize that edge at lower dynamics. A spun bell tends to yield a darker sound while a hand hammered bell, with its complicated harmonics, tends to result in a brighter sound.

But all these variables considered, sound is impacted most by a player’s natural tendencies; so don't get too “wrapped up” in the “wrap” of a particular horn. When we think of all the great horn players, past and present, we may attribute a certain type of sound to the instrument they play. However, the sound they create is unique to them and very much depends on their approach and style. The most important variable to creating a desired sound is the person playing the instrument and how their instrument of choice fits their concept of playing. 

Andrew Lane is the craftsman-owner of Lanstro Horns.