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Forum » Vintage Saxophones » Language assists Horn sound by (Selmer4fevr)


by TANGO SIX ONE
(255 posts)
19 years ago

Language assists Horn sound by (Selmer4fevr)

This is avery interesting thread brought up by (Selmer4evr) so the knights Templar took the liberty of posting it as a seperate thread. This was written by selmer4evr by selmer4evr on 5/15/2005 11:30:13 AM here is a thought,,,, is it possible that the horns we choose are not a function of just preference in sound or mechanism or even build. Could it be that the language we speak will determine our choices more than we think. Example: French is a very articulate language, could it be that the engineers at Selmer are affected in their designs by their speaking and pronunciations? Are French Selmers a product of the language more than we care to admit? Are those saxophonists that are looking for articulate horns due to their musical preferences inevitably going to choose a Selmer Paris? Can anyone envision using a vintage Conn to play La Musique Francaise!!!? Are the Italian horns and German horns different to the French simply because the languages differ. Is the heavy German pronunciation a contributing factor to the Kenilworth sound??? by selmer 4evr on 5/15/2005 11:30:13 AM here is a thought,,,, is it possible that the horns we choose are not a function of just preference in sound or mechanism or even build. Could it be that the language we speak will determine our choices more than we think. Example: French is a very articulate language, could it be that the engineers at Selmer are affected in their designs by their speaking and pronunciations? Are French Selmers a product of the language more than we care to admit? Are those saxophonists that are looking for articulate horns due to their musical preferences inevitably going to choose a Selmer Paris? Can anyone envision using a vintage Conn to play La Musique Francaise!!!? Are the Italian horns and German horns different to the French simply because the languages differ. Is the heavy German pronunciation a contributing factor to the Kenilworth sound???

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  2. by eman19
    (131 posts)
    19 years ago

    Re: Language assists Horn sound by (Selmer4fevr)

    and I'll just repost what I said regarding this Its an interesting idea, but I think the sound would come more from the player than the horn. I've played a good chunk of horns and my sound is always my sound [which is a lot like me - big, full, kinda chunky and doesn't like to get high=o)]. So the players original country may change his sound but I don't think the horns origin will effect it to too great of an extent. Their sound will come from THEM. I do note a difference in playbility on a horn sometimes, but that has more to do with the quality of the horn I think, not where it originated. I mean Bird is well known for playing 6Ms, but truthfully he was kind of a saxophone tart, playing whatever instrument came his way - yet it always sounded like him, you know what I mean? I think this line of questions American vs. french and vintage vs. new just needs to quit. Its preference really as to what fits you the best, and the same horn will not be right for two different people. This could be partly because of their culture, but I don't think the horn has anything to do with it. Too many people from all over the world play horns built from different places all over the world.

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    1. by sardonic_z
      (8 posts)
      19 years ago

      Re: Language assists Horn sound by (Selmer4fevr)

      Dude, if all these lines of questioning were to quit, what would people on this site have to talk about? Everything interesting to read here is an opinion, including mundane technical advice like what mouthpiece works with what horn or what's the best place in whatever city to get work done. (Some opinions may be more grounded in reality than others, but I'm not going to even get into that.) Anyways, what better way is there to get people to give subjective opinions by asking what is, in essence, a series of unanswerable questions? As for my subjective opinions, my main horn is a Chu Berry Tenor, which I love but am going to give up in a few months for a custom-made horn (inherently modern,) because yes I agree with you that it's pretty much the player, and I might as well have something with comfortable keys. Oh, and the mouthpiece is pretty damn important, too--I'm pretty sure Bird always played Brilharts. But yes everyone will have a unique tone, due to biological factors like the shape of their mouth cavity and lungs, where they voice with their tongue, the particular way they manipulate the airstream note to note and within the phrase...a kajillion factors. The sonic characteristics of the horn and the reed and the mouthpiece and the ligature are just four more factors. They definitely figure in, but are not the be-all and end-all of a player's sound. Okay I'm done now.

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      1. by TANGO SIX ONE
        (255 posts)
        19 years ago

        Re: Language assists Horn sound by (Selmer4fevr)

        Response to sardonic-z: your first paragraph is an excellent piece of writing .it should be standard issued orders on this site .Respect from The knights Templar.( Bird lives)

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        1. by selmer 4evr
          (309 posts)
          19 years ago

          Re: Language assists Horn sound by (Selmer4fevr)

          Ok I have to have my say as well here , my original statement still stands one's mother tounge surely has something to do with what we like to hear. . While it is true that a horn does not change one's sound all that much we are drawn to those horns which facilitate the production of the sound that we are searching for . Since this is all subjective we are the final authority on what works for us and what doesn't regardless of what the audience thinks. For instance Marcel Mule was a stickler for extra clean articulation so was Bonade. Was this due to their french roots? Also scandinavian sax players seem to be a little more nasal in their sound,, are they so because of language? It is true that with globilization, sounds are becoming homogenous. German Orchestras are sounding like the American counterparts and so on,, only because musicians are travelling more and so are cunductors.

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