sounds that get under your skin
For more than half a century Gérald Pot has been intensively involved with the alphorn. As a child, he was first captivated by the magical sound. At the age of nine, he started making music himself – his father was a bandmaster in the local brass band. The alphorn was added later. Through his contact with the mountain farmer Pierre Cochard, he also came to alphorn making. Cochard(here in a great documentary by TSR from 1976) didn’t teach him many
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In Lavey-Village, at the south-eastern tip of the canton of Vaud, François Morisod has been making his alphorns for over twenty years. Michel Gaugaz from Aigle(seen here in a TVRL video) had asked the carpenter and wood sculptor for assistance at the time and then initiated him into the basics of the alphorn. This opened up the world of music for François, which was completely new to him. The production of wooden sculptures, as well as general carpentry, has remained
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I have known Tobias Bärtschi for about twelve years. After first steps on an inexpensive entry-level instrument, I was looking for an upgrade at that time, and Tobias already had a reputation for producing virtuoso top horns. After all, no less a person than Joszef Molnar dedicated a “carte de visite” to him, and in it described him as the best alphorn maker in Switzerland. So I acquired an unwound Bärtschi horn (now his “Solist” model), with which I have
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For an article by Robert Scotton on the same topic (in French), see here. The question here is, “How do I find the alphorn mouthpiece that best suits me and my alphorn?” This is not a topic for beginners! At the beginning of the alphorn career, the mouthpiece feels unfamiliar, and there is a lack of reference to classify subjective impressions. For the first few years, you should therefore refrain from experimenting. Better to settle on an “average” mouthpiece from
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The alphorn maker near Eggiwil in Emmental is a Swiss alphorn making dynasty. Ernst Schüpbach had built his first alphorn here in 1925 and later introduced his son-in-law Hansruedi Bachmann to the craft. Walter Bachmann has been managing the family business in the third generation since 2008. This includes a farm with twelve happy cows, which today still contributes about a third of the income. When Walter speaks lovingly about his “Grossäti” (grandfather), he thus tells first-hand alphorn making history.
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Aldo Bugada is a trained master carpenter. Together with his brother, he runs a medium-sized family business in the fourth generation. Mainly they produce cabinets, tables, doors and windows. During my visit, I also saw a number of old pews that are being professionally restored at the Falegnameria Fratelli Bugada. Therefore, when he started blowing the alphorn with his wife in 2014, the question arose whether he should buy an alphorn or build one himself. He decided to give it
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From the very first contact with Bruno Cattaneo by e-mail, one senses his infectious enthusiasm and engaging cordiality. He connects alphorn blowing and the craft of alphorn making with a lot of positive emotions. Bruno is a trained carpenter. The company Cattaneo and Kunz – Bruno together with his business partner Gioel Kunz, occasionally supported by his father Claudio Cattaneo – carries out a wide variety of flooring, carpentry and joinery work. The production of alphorns has proved to be
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Simon Keller has been playing the alphorn for seven years. During this time, he happened to come across a picture of an Alpine sax on the Internet and was immediately fascinated. Soon he set about building his own instrument. He drew plans, a colleague helped him program the CNC files, and Roland Zahner milled the blanks. As a trained toolmaker, Simon took over the finish. After 120 hours of work, Model 1.0 was ready. Disillusionment followed: the instrument did not
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Anton “Toni” von Gunten began his musical career in early childhood. From the violin he moved on to the clarinet and brass band. He graduated in wind band conducting, later working as a clarinet and saxophone teacher. Besides, he always dealt with wood; he built original“urchrummi” furniture during several years. He owes his entry into the alphorn to the reputation of alphorn maker Tobias Bärtschi, whom he had known since recruit school in the army band – the brass band
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Since 1975 the ISO standard 16-1975 is valid (here you can buy it for 40 CHF). It sets the concert pitch a1 at a frequency of 440Hz. As early as 1939, this tuning was agreed upon at a conference in London and endorsed as a recommendation by the ISO in 1955. With its adoption as a standard, unification was sealed, promoting musical exchange, trade of musical instruments and audio equipment. Already in the 1980s some people rejected the standard and
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