In this article, we will look at the “physiology of breathing”. I will invite you on a journey of discovery with the alphorn into the origin of the sound in your body.
Continue readingBreath support – a journey of discovery
Category: Technical topics
The Alexander Technique and the alphorn
The sound of the alphorn is calm, expansive and deep. Unfortunately, this calm and breadth can quickly turn into strain and narrowness when playing. The sound is not responsive, the pitch is lacking, the quick and clean change between notes is not successful or the sound does not carry as far as desired. Instead of remaining calm and meeting the challenge in a thoughtful way, we usually try harder and restrict our breathing in the process. At first, we may
Continue readingSound proof alphorn practice room
This summer I published an article about alphorn silencers here. If you have the space at home, you can of course build a soundproof practice room as an alternative. Here are a few photos of my latest project. Material costs approx. 1500 CHF, around 4-5 working days for a 12 square meter room. All walls / ceiling double in 15mm plywood; ventilation with sound labyrinth. Measured insulation approx. 33 db.
Continue readingAlphorn mutes
If you play the alphorn in your rented apartment, you risk getting into trouble with the neighbors. Mutes are a possible auxiliary solution. Which model works best?
Continue readingElectronic Alphorn Sounds – Update for Ableton Live 12
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 readingTowards a logarithmic theory of music
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 readingAlphorn Play-Alongs with Musescore
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 readingLip training
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 readingThe Alphorn and the Voice
The alphorn presents such a unique, timeless beauty in its natural production of the overtone series; a sound that captivates with its resonance and simplicity. However, the absence of any kind of keys or valves means that they player is entirely responsible for vividly hearing the correct pitch before playing it. Unlike a piano or a fretted guitar string, the alphorn will never inform the player what the correct pitch is. For this reason, it requires a very clear musical
Continue readingThe perfect alphorn mouthpiece
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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