Posted by Rick Denney on April 02, 2001 at 11:37:46:
In Reply to: 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4 posted by Bill Schultz on April 01, 2001 at 01:48:38:
This gets discussed at frequent intervals, so this repeat is a bit terse.
The terms are not standardized and don't mean much. 6/4 means "big" and 3/4 means "small". 4/4 is "normal" and 5/4 is "a bit bigger--maybe as big as what some call a 6/4." The terms have no more precision than that.
Some manufacturers use bell diameter to rate their horns, but their horns tend to be proportional, so that large bell = large horn. These days, large bells are finding their way on all sorts of horns, so that measure doesn't count for much. I think volume is a better measure of size, but volume isn't reported by the manufacturer.
Rick "becoming a 5/4 after a winter of sloth" Denney