sounds that get under your skin
With the latest release of Ableton Live 12, it is now possible to load tunings programmed in Scala directly and apply them to a variety of samplers and synthesizers. You can download tuning files for alphorns and Büchel here.
Continue reading
The complex tones used in Swiss ethnic music correspond to the harmonic sequence of waveguide resonance modes. These musical tones turn out to be a discrete logarithmic curve. The mapping of them onto positive integers produces a different way of counting scales as is usually used in western music.
Continue reading
What constitutes tradition in music? Lea Hagmann has not only dealt with this question as an ethnomusicologist at the University of Bern, but has also created the movie “Beyond Tradition” together with Rahel von Gunten. It is currently showing in cinemas in Switzerland.
Continue reading
Alphorn music is subject to copyright. Alphorn players should familiarize themselves with the basics. This is not primarily about legal problems, but about the question of respect and appreciation towards the composers.
Continue reading
Play-Alongs are very popular with alphorn players. Many scores are now available in electronic formats, and with the free software Musescore, rendering to audio is no problem. Here is a step-by-step guide for the technically inexperienced.
Continue reading
Alphorn playing is sometimes described in history as “blown yodeling”, as “yodeling on the instrument”, or as “yodeling on the alphorn”. What is meant by this? On the occasion of the publication the English translation of the book “Alpenstimmung” (“Alpine Vibes”), Yannick Wey and Andrea Kammermann comment on this question.
Continue reading
The opportunity for this portrait arose on the occasion of a performance of Frapepi at Uhuru Festival 2023. Unexpectedly, things got a bit chaotic: A storm on the Weissenstein shredded the tents of the festival visitors, and during the concert the area had to be evacuated. At least we found a reasonably quiet barn for the interview and alphorn trial. Franz Schüssele is an alphorn Jack of all trades. He began his musical career as a trombonist in classical music
Continue reading
Brandi and Lindsey Jones are, to my knowledge, the only alphorn making couple in the world. They have known each other since their school days. Musically, they went the way of the trombone to the French horn as an inseparable duo. Lindsey graduated early and dedicated himself to restoring brass instruments with his Nevada-based business, Silver & Brass Musical Instruments, beginning in 2013. Brandi joined the business full time when it began generating enough sales to cover the young couple’s
Continue reading
The first months on the alphorn are for beginners mainly a struggle with the lips. After just a few minutes of playing the alphorn, the muscles go slack – then it just croaks, high notes no longer come and the lips hurt. The usual advice is “be patient, it will come in time, just don’t push it…”. That may be. But isn’t there a shortcut? What was that again about bodybuilding for the lips? If you do some research on
Continue reading
At the age of 32, Romain Boulanger is currently probably the youngest alphorn maker. I met him on the sidelines of my visit to the Federal Yodeling Festival and tried out his alphorn. Romain has played the trumpet since early childhood and is still active in a harmony. Rather by chance he discovered the alphorn seven years ago. Via Alexandre Jous he came to the Sonneurs de Savoye . Besides this large formation, Romain also blows successfully with the Trio
Continue reading