Horn Player Research Articles

FUNGSI MUSIK KALASON OTO SEBAGAI HIBURAN DALAM BUDAYA TRANSPORTASI MASYARAKAT SUMATRA BARAT

In this research, the author uses the concept of music function from Alan P. Meriam. After understanding the problem of the function of music contained in oto kalason (literally: car horn), from this concept, it can be explained that oto kalason functioned as the only entertainment in West Sumatran society at that time (especially when traveling by bus), both inside traveling by oto-oto (buses) at that time, or in people's daily activities. The horns on public transport buses at that time could play songs, sing, even the profession of being a car horn player was quite promising at that time. This horn sound is what many people have been waiting for, a sound that is loved by many people. This is a genre that has long colored the lives of the people of West Sumatra and the transportation (buses) of that time.

How (not) to write a B♭ french horn beginners method book

Name: Isabelle Roelofs Main subject: Master Natural Horn Research supervisor: Daniel Salbert Title: How (not) to write a Bb French Horn beginners method book Research question: How (not) to write a Bb French Horn beginners method book Summary of the results: As a horn teacher, I realize that the existing Dutch method books seem not to be written from the perspective of a beginning, young horn player. They show little consideration for the specific physical abilities of children at a young age when learning to play the horn, probably because those methods are mostly not written by a horn player. Therefore, I have researched the do's and don'ts behind writing a method book. If playing the exercises in a method is not physically feasible, it can lead to frustration for the student, which, in my opinion, is detrimental to the learning process. I have always learned that moments of success are crucial for the development and maintenance of motivation. I find these moments of success lacking in existing Dutch-language horn methods. I also believe that they progress too quickly to emphasize reading notation. I notice that my own students often prioritize correctness over musicality. I have critically examined and compared the available Dutch horn method books. Additionally, I interviewed fellow horn teachers to gather their perspectives. Furthermore, I attended a lesson for young horn players at BASIS (Royal Conservatory of the Hague) where auditory learning takes precedence. I am not the first to consider writing my own method. Other horn teachers have embarked on this journey, each with their unique motivations. My research has revealed that I am not the only one who has critical thoughts about the existing horn method books. A significant part of the interviewed teachers also emphasized this same point. Based on the obtained results, I have outlined the initial steps that, in my opinion, are necessary for a starting young horn player, along with the corresponding range of tones. Biography: Isabelle Roelofs, an accomplished horn player and dedicated music teacher, earned degrees in French Horn and Music Education from Codarts University. Graduating with honors from the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, she is currently pursuing a Master's in Natural Horn at The Hague Conservatory with Teunis van der Zwart. Isabelle is the founder of Belle Musique (2018), where she imparts her musical knowledge through personalized horn lessons, shaping the future of horn players step by step.

La trompa de la salsa: the role of the French Horn in Afro-Cuban music

Discovering Afro-Cuban music as a classical musician was an outstanding moment in my career. Realizing how unusual it is for French Horns to be involved in this style inspired me to start this research and further develop my skills. Even though it is usual to find trombones and trumpets in Afro-Cuban music ensembles, it is challenging to find examples with French Horn players. Currently, the most successful horn player in this genre is Sarah Willis, who fell in love with Cuban rhythms and decided to share them by creating innovative albums. The methodology of this research includes a literature review of existing works related to Afro-Cuban music, interviews with experienced players in this field, and practical demonstrations in video form. The theoretical framework provides a brief review of Afro-Cuban music from its origins until today, paying special attention to the practically non-existent presence of French Horn players in this field. The practical framework collects data on the challenges that a classical French Horn player may encounter when playing this music and offers possible solutions. As a result of this study, I now have a better understanding of this style and why the horn is not usually included in it. Also, having the experience of playing Afro-Cuban music as a classical musician has clarified the differences and difficulties of approaching this music but more so how it can nourish my musical practice with new skills. The chosen format of presentation will be a public exposition of the results of the research.

Understanding the Wagner Tuba: a practical guide for horn players

Horn players have the duty to play the Wagner tuba when the repertoire demands it, but do they really know how to do it and how to adapt to the change of instrument? Mastering the Wagner tuba and feeling confident on stage can be a difficult task. Not having one's own instrument, nor subjects or teachers dedicated to the teaching of this instrument complicates its knowledge and preparation. Therefore, this research aims to facilitate and educate in this process, providing the most relevant information both intellectually and practically and offering a complete overview of it. Following an inductive methodology based on written sources, an exhaustive technical analysis and the experience of professional horn players, it tries to answer questions such as why Richard Wagner created this instrument, what role it plays in the orchestra and what demands its performance requires. For all this, if you are a horn player and have to play the Wagner tuba or have already played it but have had no previous education, the results of this research will guide you in the process and will make you obtain a higher level of interpretation and knowledge.

Musical training is not associated with spectral context effects in instrument sound categorization.

Musicians display a variety of auditory perceptual benefits relative to people with little or no musical training; these benefits are collectively referred to as the "musician advantage." Importantly, musicians consistently outperform nonmusicians for tasks relating to pitch, but there are mixed reports as to musicians outperforming nonmusicians for timbre-related tasks. Due to their experience manipulating the timbre of their instrument or voice in performance, we hypothesized that musicians would be more sensitive to acoustic context effects stemming from the spectral changes in timbre across a musical context passage (played by a string quintet then filtered) and a target instrument sound (French horn or tenor saxophone; Experiment 1). Additionally, we investigated the role of a musician's primary instrument of instruction by recruiting French horn and tenor saxophone players to also complete this task (Experiment 2). Consistent with the musician advantage literature, musicians exhibited superior pitch discrimination to nonmusicians. Contrary to our main hypothesis, there was no difference between musicians and nonmusicians in how spectral context effects shaped instrument sound categorization. Thus, musicians may only outperform nonmusicians for some auditory skills relevant to music (e.g., pitch perception) but not others (e.g., timbre perception via spectral differences).

The use of the horn in the late orchestral works by Robert Schumann

When I played a Schumann piece, Genoveva Overture, for the first time, I was wondering, because there were Ventilhorn and Waldhorn parts. I could not imagine what his idea was when he wrote for four horns, but still used two different kinds of the same instrument. Did he want to express something with this set-up? Beside this, I did not understand why he, and other romantic composers, use so much transposition when they had already a completely chromatic instrument. As I started to get to know and play the natural horn, it was getting clearer what his intention could have been. Why he used an ‘ancient’ instrument, though he could compose for four chromatic horns. This made me even more interested, and I also got more questions and hypotheses about the topic, for what I wanted to find an answer. In my research, I tried to get to know the use of the horn in the middle of the 19th century. I wanted to get familiar with the contemporaries’ imagination about the old and new instrument, and with the way how they used them. Then, with this knowledge, I analysed Schumann’s orchestral works, especially the horn parts, and tried to find out if the results are matching with the background research. My aim was too, show the horn players, that the romantic horn playing is not only about the ‘holy’ valve horn, but something more complex and colourful.

Movement patterns in tuba playing: comparison of an embouchure dystonia case with healthy professional tuba players using real-time MRI imaging.

Musculoskeletal problems in professional brass musicians are very common and often involve the muscles of the embouchure. In rare cases, embouchure dystonia (EmD), a task-specific movement disorder with a wide symptomatic and phenotypic variability, occurs. Following trumpeters and horn players, professional tuba players with and without EmD have now been studied using the latest real-time MRI technology to better understand the underlying pathophysiology. In the present study, the tongue movement patterns of 11 healthy professional artists and one subject suffering from EmD were compared. The tongue position in the anterior, intermediary and posterior oral cavity were converted into pixel positions based on seven previously generated profile lines, using the established software MATLAB. These data allow a structured comparison of tongue movement patterns between the patient and the healthy subjects, as well as between individual exercises. The main focus of the analysis was on an ascending 7-note harmonic series performed in different playing techniques (slurred, tongued, tenuto and staccato). Playing the ascending harmonics, a noticeable ascending tongue movement could be observed in the anterior part of the oral cavity in healthy tubists. In the posterior region, there was a slight decrease in oral cavity space. In the EmD patient, hardly any movement was observed at the tongue apex, but in the middle and posterior regions of the oral cavity there was an increase in size the higher the tone became. These distinct differences are relevant for the characterization and a better understanding of the clinical presentation of EmD. Concerning different playing techniques, it was apparent, that notes played slurred or staccato resulted in a larger oral cavity when compared to notes played tongued or tenuto, respectively. By using real-time MRI videos, the tongue movements of tuba players can be clearly observed and analyzed. The differences between healthy and diseased tuba players demonstrate the great effects of movement disorders in a small area of the tongue. In order to better understand the compensation of this motor control dysfunction, further studies should investigate further parameters of tone production in all brass players with a larger number of EmD patients additional to the observed movement patterns.

Testing the role of primary musical instrument on context effects in music perception

Musicians display numerous perceptual benefits versus nonmusicians, such as better pitch and melody perception (the “musician advantage”). Recently, Shorey et al. (2021 ASA) investigated whether this musician advantage extended to spectral contrast effects (SCEs; categorization shifts produced by acoustic properties of surrounding sounds) in musical instrument recognition. Musicians and nonmusicians listened to a context sound (filtered string quartet passage highlighting frequencies of the horn or saxophone), then categorized a target sound (tone from a six-step series varying from horn to saxophone). Although musicians displayed superior pitch discrimination, their SCEs did not differ from those of nonmusicians. Importantly, separate research has reported that a musician’s instrument of training heavily influences musical perception, potentially improving frequency discrimination and rhythm perception/production. However, in the Shorey et al. study, musicians were recruited without respect to their primary instrument. This follow-up study uses the same methodology as Shorey et al. but recruits only musicians who play horn or saxophone (the instruments used as target sounds) as their primary instrument. It is predicted that horn and saxophone players will display larger SCEs than nonmusicians due to their intimate familiarity with the instrument timbres. Preliminary data are trending in the predicted direction; full results will be discussed.

Smears, Laughs, and Barnyard Hokum: Early Jazz Trombone and the Problem of Novelty

Smears, Laughs, and Barnyard Hokum: Early Jazz Trombone and the Problem of Novelty

Oral Cavity Movements of the Tongue During Large Interval Slurs in High-Level Horn Players: A Descriptive Study.

Recent publications describing lingual movement strategies within the oral cavity of brass players have established the existence of efficient and predictable movement patterns in healthy performers for a variety of performance tasks. In this study we extend the research to include the playing of large interval slurs in horn players. Real-time MRI films at 40-msec resolution were simultaneously obtained in the sagittal and coronal planes in 9 professional horn players as they performed 2 repetitions each of 3 slur sequences spanning 1 octave, 1 octave + 3rd, and 1 octave + 5th at a mezzo forte dynamic level. Nine profile lines were overlaid on the images allowing the measurement of dorsal tongue edge movement using a customized MATLAB toolkit. Movement along lines representing the anterior, middle, and posterior oral cavity in the sagittal plane, as well as the vertical height of an air channel observed in the coronal plane, are reported. Both sagittal and coronal views demonstrate patterned tongue movements that narrow and widen the air channel during ascending and descending slurs, respectively. The magnitude of these movements is greater during larger intervals, though not perfectly consistent within each slur sequence. Additionally, the tongue position during notes tends to drift in the direction of the subsequent note in each sequence. We suggest that the observed movements may help to modulate air speed through the lips, possible attenuating embouchure muscle tension changes by assisting changes in lip vibration frequency.

I, Jill Alexander, American Girl Revolutionary

Analyzing the insider-outsider continuum in Remembrance of the Sun (1986, 2011) by Kate Gilmore, the purpose of this paper is to reveal different levels of being a female outsider protagonist moving along the insider-outsider continuum, maintaining an outsider voice, and at the same time developing an insider perspective. Remembrance of the Sun is a historical fiction authored by an outsider and set in 1978, one year before the Islamic revolution in Iran. After moving from New England to Tehran, Jill, a seventeen-year-old American girl, struggles to adjust to an unfamiliar lifestyle. However, her experience becomes a story of love and fascination when she meets Shaheen, the charismatic Iranian boy who is the first French horn player in the high school band. Frequently, Jill as an outsider to Persian culture is aligning herself with Shaheen’s culture and their romance acts as a bridge, between two seemingly disparate cultures. Remembrance of the Sun reinforces that insider-outsider status is not fixed but situated within a continuum in a state of flux. The innocence of Jill and Shaheen’s romance moves “Jill Alexander, American girl revolutionary” (p. 170) toward the insider position. At the end, Jill, crosses American-Iranian cultural gap with her own pace.

7. Franz Joseph Strauss, a Joachim of the Horn

Abstract Franz Joseph Strauss was one of the brightest horns of the 19th century. He was born in Germany and worked all his life in Munich, being a first - horn player, composer, conductor and teacher. As a composer he wrote two concerts for horn and orchestra and several pieces for horn and piano, most of them, the author singing them in the first absolute audition. As a teacher, he participated in the creation of a German horn school, and his studies for natural horn are still valid today. Difficult and sometimes misunderstood by musicians of the time, Franz Strauss remains a landmark in the history of the horn and a legend in the art of horn performance.

Korno Sanatçıları Örneklemi Üzerinden Müzik Performans Kaygısına Genel Bir Bakış

The aim of this study is to create an overview of the problem of musical performance anxiety, which is a situation that every musician experiences more or less, through the sample of horn players. Within the scope of this purpose, the symptoms related to music performance anxiety, its effects on the individual, external factors, internal/individual factors and ways of coping will be discussed. The findings of the research are intended to be both a source for future studies and a starting point for new studies. The participants in the study group of the research are limited to 19 horn performers who have been active or previously worked in State Symphony Orchestras, State Opera and Ballet Orchestras and orchestras abroad. In line with the purpose of the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants, and the data obtained from these interviews were written down as verbatim. Afterwards, coding on the written text was done with descriptive analysis and content analysis methods over MAXQDA qualitative research software.

She Put Her Foot In It

She Put Her Foot In It

The charming horn of Kumayri, conductor-researcher Shaliko‑dzhian (creative portrait of Shaliko Paltadzhian)

Background. Topicality, objectives, methodology and novelty of the research. The creative achievements of the Honored Art Worker of Ukraine, Professor Shaliko Harehinovych Paltadzhian (1941–2020) are a significant contribution to the history of the development of Ukrainian musical culture and, of course, deserve special attention and thorough in-depth research. However, there is not still any fundamental work about this talented musician, brilliant French horn player and wonderful conductor. The author of this article was lucky to study together with Sh. Paltadzhyan at the Kharkov Conservatory and to work with him until the end of life of this outstanding artist. This essay aims to capture some of the features of the creative portrait of Shaliko Paltadzhian, relying on the few existing reference sources and self-own memories about the artist, and also to emphasize his, in a sense, a unique role in the educational process at the Kharkiv National University of Arts and at Ukraine in general. Accordingly, touching upon the educational, methodological and sociological spheres, the study as a whole adheres to the chronological method of presenting events inherent in the genres of historical and biographical essays and portraits. The main results of the research. We traced the creative path of Shaliko Paltadzhian from his very appearance in Kharkiv in 1959 as an entrant at the Kharkiv Conservatory, where, despite the almost complete impossibility of communication due to the language barrier (the musician was born in Armenian city Gyumri, which was known as Kumayri from the period of the Kingdom of Urartu), he, nevertheless, charmed the examiners with the extra-ordinal expressive sound of his French horn, and until the last decade of fruitful work of this wonderful musician at Kharkiv National University of Arts and the “Slobozhansky” Youth Academic Symphony Orchestra . We consider Sh. Paltadzhian’s working with this orchestra as a new special stage in his conducting activities. Being, at the same time, the leader of the Student orchestra of the Kharkiv National University of Arts and the professional team of the “Slobozhansky” Orchestra, Sh. Paltadzhian, thus, makes the first in Ukrainian musical education sphere practical step in the implementation of a modern project on the introduction of so named “dual form” of vocational training, which joints the instructive process in an educational institution with the practice at the workplace. In addition, he does it long before the official directives (“Slobozhansky” Orchestra already exists 28 years). The example of the “Slobozhansky” Orchestra testifies that the organization of the educational process in a dual form gives a positive result and fully corresponds to modern educational methods: after graduating from the University, the musicians come to new teams as the very well prepared professionals, because they were passing through a “double” school as orchestra students. Shaliko Paltadzhian as a conductor proved this in practice. Conclusions. In perspective, the method of dual form of education can be adapted to any specialization. In our case, the practical bases for this are orchestras (symphony, wind), children’s music schools, music colleges, art faculties at other universities, and so on. “Slobozhansky” Orchestra partially solves the problem of mass moving abroad of the best domestic youth. The orchestra has an interesting creative atmosphere. World-famous conductors, soloists work with him; the collective tours in Denmark, Spain and Italy. Some graduates have already turned down foreign offers and stayed at home in Ukraine. Thus, Shaliko Paltadzhian played a key role in a landmark scientificeducation experiment conducted at the Kharkiv National University of Arts named after I. P. Kotlyarevsky. The weird and wonderful, versatile talent of this bright, charismatic musician is striking. As a Professor at the University, Sh. Paltadzhian taught various educational disciplines in the last decade of his life: opera and symphony conducting, musical instruments studies, arrangements, reading scores. He is also the author of scientific papers and manuals. His brilliant talent and clear human soul will forever remain in our memory.

Aproximación a los fundamentos técnicos de la interpretación actual de la trompa barroca del siglo XXI

Este artículo presenta una investigación acerca de los factores que inciden en el instrumentista de trompa barroca a la hora de utilizar una u otra determinada técnica interpretativa. Por una parte, se detallan las características de cada uno de los recursos técnicos, con el fin de introducir la investigación. Y por otra, se recogen las preferencias de los instrumentistas sobre las técnicas y sus opiniones sobre las mismas, a la vez que exponen sus percepciones alrededor de cada uno de los recursos. Además de esto, se define la prevalencia de las técnicas atendiendo a razones de tradición geográfica.

Acoustics of the French Horn

This study explored the French horn and its various properties that contribute to its unique timbre. With an emphasis on the role of the right hand, the variables studied were: type of material, manufacturer, right hand position with respect to the bell, the range of notes, and player. The project mainly included experiments at Loyola University Chicago and was supported using Northwestern University's anechoic chamber. Horns are cylindrical-conical hybrids and are able to produce many harmonics, creating a rich sound. The right hand in the bell can be used for quick intonation adjustments and its placement has large effects on the timbre. Our analysis determined the variable that most contributed to the unique sound was the right hand position, while the type of horn (a combination of material and manufacturer) and the range of notes played also had moderate effects on timbre. We will present the theory surrounding the horn's shape and various components, experimental procedure, and analysis of our results. The significance of the results to the horn player will be discussed.

Violists and Violinists Report More Intense Hand Pain on NRS Than Other Orchestra Musicians.

Among musicians, string players have the highest prevalence for musculoskeletal overuse. Playing a violin or viola requires rapid, repetitive, and complicated movements of the hands and fingers. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine whether violin/viola, violin/cello, and violin/French horn players experience more intense musculoskeletal pain than other instrumentalists. The study sample consisted of 590 orchestra musicians (354 male, 236 female, mean age 36 yrs). Self-administered questionnaires were used to assess pain of the back, neck, shoulder, face, jaw, and upper extremity. Pain intensity during the last 7 days was measured by an 11-point numeric rating scale (NRS) with a score from 0 to 10, as well as was disadvantage at work and leisure. Of the interviewed musicians, 20% presented playing-related musculoskeletal disorders at the time of the interview. Compared to other professional orchestra musicians, violin and viola players reported significantly more intense pain in the hand during the last week. Also, they had experienced more frequent neck pain ever and in 5 years than the others. During the past 30 days, violin and viola players had also perceived more harm in their upper limb joints. Violin/cello and violin/French horn players did not differ from the others. Our study showed that musicians playing the violin or viola have more intense hand pain and more frequent neck pain than other musicians, but these seem to disturb their daily tasks only a little.

A discourse on the basset horn between 1770 -1850 in Vienna and German-speaking countries

The basset horn is part of the clarinet family and its history begins in the late 18th century. It had at least seventy years lasting period of popularity in Germany and Austria but also in Bohemian countries, and England among other countries. Around 1850 to 1855 the basset horn began to disappear. This is the time period in the history of the basset horn this thesis explores. After an introduction, the beginning chapter will concentrate on different treatises or instructions written for this instrument like Albrechtsberger, Koch, Fröhlich or Mahon, bein compared to the main one, Backofen ’s Klarinett-Anweisung. Next, historical basset horn makers in Austria and other German-speaking countries will be listed and discussed. The fourth chapter deals with famous basset horn players of this era and tries to line up as many details known about them as possible. Also, the phenomenon of the basset clarinet as another additional low single-reed instrument will be investigated. A special focus lies in the following chapter: Mozart’s contribution to the repertoire of the basset horn. This complete list of his works highlights the role of the basset horn and also Mozart’s relationship with the famous player Anton Stadler. A detailed look on his Concerto in G (KV 621b) follows. At last but not least, a general overview of works including the basset horn will be presented. The thesis will finish with a conclusion to show what role the basset horn players had in the music world between 1770-1850 in Austria and other German-speaking countries.

Will the shepherd be able to play the alpine horn with that huge goiter (XVI century)?

There are many of the representations in iconography of individuals with goiters reported in the literature. The article describe a unique representation of goiter, as observed by the authors in a sculpture in Italy. In a Nativity, in the upper part of the altar of the Church of the Annunciata, Boccioleto (Val Sermenza, Piedmont, Italy), a horn player with a huge goiter, gladdens the Holy Family. Wooden work by Francesco Antonio d'Alberto, 1694. This is an appropriate example of the iconography of "real goiter," since in this case the sculptor had the aim of showing person with goiter.