I was backed by a french horn once, and now I NEED to learn

…that instrument OR tenor saxophone (as that’s been on my to-do list for ages).

I played a live set a couple months ago, and a new friend of mine agreed to play intro and outro. I’ve never heard this instrument in a context like this before.

To give you the image, I had a setup with the dark trinity mkI, a prophet 08, a Rhodes, a sub 37, and a jazz Ibanez, and I stood inside a small cottage(!) about the size of a walk-in closet, built into one of the rooms of a quite kinky club in Stockholm. You know, they had magic swings hung from the ceilings and other contraptions of sexually curious souls.

ANYWAY. We were quite unrehearsed so we did a quick sound check, and all of a sudden we had our que to go live! I was immediately struck by the tone of this French horn. It was the most beautiful thing. Surrounded by this magical crowd of -let’s stick to curious - people, and the introductory recorded rain of my first track, I was stunned by this dynamic gentle timbre - just a few simple notes, really - that floated into and elevating the primitive composition in to something else. I’ve been thinking about this ever since!

My friend just arrived to the drinking table I’m sitting at, so I have to cut short now: so, I want to start dabbling with either French horn, or a tenor sax! Any opinion on this, pros/cons and reasons?! Cheers fellow nauts!

PS. Whichever I choose to become moderately proficient in, it will be excellent OT mk4 (the iteration that will be around when this happens;) fodder, am I right?!

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Brass family (any member), all day

because sound

it’s obviously a personal thing, but it’s a timbre thing for me and brass is way cooler - there’s possibly more interesting extended technique palettes available from a sax, but you’d have to look at an instrument choice based on what you like the most and whether there’s a better chance it’ll fit with you (i.e. different approach to fingering) and upfront cost, complexity etc

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I actually play french horn — It’s a bit tough as the intervals for each note are rather close (it demands a good ear to hit correct pitches, etc). What models have you looked at?

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When I think of horns they don’t seem like my kind of instrument, but I absolutely love it when a band has a horn section. Something about a horn section in a band just ups the vibes, makes it really fun, and people tend to start dancing more… They seem to put people in a better mood. I’m sure one’s good too… :smiley:

Sounds like a fun show you had… :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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In my reply I referred to bands, it just crossed my mind that I haven’t really seen too many horns in electronic acts, seems like a good move. Always nice to have a sort of unique instrument selection to help define your sound…

I love wind instruments and been contemplating something similar for the longest time. Not sure wither to go with flute, trumpet, or a sax. Though a French horn would be really dope too.

French horn + sub 37 = steampunk? Maybe you will need a fancy hat with a monocle…
But in the end only you can decide which one you like more. I have heard that both aren’t easy to learn, but of course it’s doable. But in the beginning the breathing techniques can be hard.
Maybe it was the magic atmosphere from this interesting club you described. What brings me to the important part of this post: Tell us more from the club! Was it some kind of kinky fetish club? What kind of music was the set you played?

PS: Fell in love with the sound of the hang drum aka pan drum. Did my research. Would have cost me 3000€. Created a hang-drum Sound with my Virus ti2 fm functions, problem solved. And I can even sequence it per midi (OT) and i build in aftertouch and velocity modulations for more realism. Maybe consider the same first.

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Maybe the Crumhorn is what you’re after…

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i spent years as a sax player. my band teacher in school was a french horn player who’d had to learn all the other band instruments to the point of competence to get her job.

fwiw i heard her say on numerous occasions that the french horn was by far the most difficult of all these instruments to learn. i found her a ceaseless fount of wisdom on musical matters so i’d trust her judgment.

a sax will almost certainly be easier at first, as it’s simple to get a sound out of it. but in either case i’d say you will be heavily dependent on a teacher for awhile, especially if you’ve never played a horn. so whatever you choose, find a teacher and plan to take weekly lessons for at least several months.

The french horn would definitely be more of a challenge – i play the sax and my sister plays the french horn (really well). But not un-doably hard.

Listen to Tom Varner play the french horn! if you like jazz at all. I won’t recommend any one cut of his in particular. (Reminds me a little of the sound of the flugelhorn.)

A side thing from the sax, is it’s easy to double across the whole family. There’s also the Roland Aerophone, which you can just about pick-up and play if you play the sax. (OK the Aerophone takes a little to get used too, but not much.) And then with midi you can sound like anything.

Do it which ever you pick!

Added: Crumhorns are way fun too!

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Hahaha that video. Tanks for the chiming in guys. I played pretty wild across the board with genres, but here’s the first track that I played as intro:

Yes from what my friend is telling me it seems hard to learn the French. I will probably go for a tenor sax at some time, but yeah I get that I shouldn’t underestimate the time and effort to learn it. Will probably go to a teacher for basics for a while yea.

All the while, I encourage all ye French Hornists to get out there and collaborate with the experimental musicians of the world, because there is wonder to be heard! Have you guys heard Gidge by the way? This song has some kind of brass in it, maybe it’s the same French? Either way, an excellent sample of beauty, I’ll just leave it here:

:heart:

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Good wrap up Prinzabu! – so it seems like a safe time to wander off topic but only a little.

I play, more or less, a bunch of stuff and i love picking up new stuff (i even was volunteered to played the tuba for the first and only time live in front of an audience solo – not sure what the applause was for :clown_face:).

So besides the crumhorn (thanks Bob), i’ve always wanted to pick up the bass clarinet. I like the thick harmonic bass notes. It definitely would work in electronic music, and with effects and in experimental music.

Oh and i’d love to play the crwth.

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OK here’s Wynton Marsalis being thrown a French Horn to play!

How hard could it be? Find a video with Sarah Willis if you want.

ADDED: It just struck me the French Horn is left handed, he is playing with his left hand what he normally plays with his right! Pretty amazing.

I’d suggest grabbing a student clarinet off eBay (new) for less than $100. It’s a great way to learn the basic feel and functionality of a wind instrument, how to form your embouchure, etc.

saxophone is definitely a more complicated and rich -sounding instrument (though the same physics apply), it might be less accessible ($$ and otherwise)

something that’s fun to do (though it alters the timbre) is playing through effects (like pitch-shifting, distortion, delay etc.) - you can find cheap, small condenser mics that attach to the instrument or tape to the bell. I play a cheap clarinet, and it helps to beef up the sound, make it sound like a boat horn, baritone etc. - better-quality woodwinds/brass (baritone sax, French horn, etc.) often sound better unaffected.

I love octave down pedals! Takes my alto sax down to a bari.