Re: Re: Conn 2XJ playing characteristics


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Posted by Rick Denney on December 24, 2002 at 14:37:35:

In Reply to: Re: Conn 2XJ playing characteristics posted by Frank on December 24, 2002 at 09:04:03:

No expert me! I have a 20J that I've owned for about six or eight months, and that's the sum of my experience. One of the key advantages to it is that you get a LOT of enjoyment for a relatively small investment. I bought it for fun, and I had lots of fun with it.

The tone is not at all dark, but by that term I mean lacking in upper harmonics. Big German horns like the Alexander are dark--some (not Alexanders) to the point of being tubby in the hands of the likes o' me. The American BATs are also not bright, in the sense of being edgy or cutting. They are just big and resonant. Dale Phelps described it best, saying they are more about foundation than focus. The sound spreads rather than pierces. They may not be that loud, but they are always heard or felt.

But they need the right sort of room to really understand them. The bigger and more resonant the room, the more their sound characteristics are allowed to blossom. In my old basement, my York Master and my Miraphone were surprisingly similar, with the Miraphone seeming bigger. But in a big rehearsal space or performance hall, the York Master has a fullness the Miraphone doesn't, and you can hear it in the sound coming back to you. The difference between the York Master and the Miraphone is more subtle. The difference between either and the Conn or the Holton is more profound.

The notion of "stuffy" is hard for me to pin down. Some horns require more air than I have to make them work, and they seem stuffy to me. Other horns provide too much resistance, and they also seem stuffy, but for the opposite reason. So, I define stuffy as a horn that seems to require more going in than what comes out. Anything that uncenters the sound can make it seem stuffy to me, even a leaky water key.

But Conns are actually pretty efficient, and respond better to slow air than fast air. It's not like a small German F, that has to be led rather than pushed. With a resonant BAT, it seems to me, you neither pull nor push. You relax and let the horn do the work, providing a good stream of slow air. It doesn't even take all that much air, but if you push too hard, the resonance will be lost. I push too hard always, and playing the big tubas has exposed that fault. I may be projecting my own weakness, so if that isn't it with you, ignore me.

Conns also work better with smaller mouthpieces, though they like the deep cup. I ended up using a Conn Helleberg on mine, which was smaller in all respects except depth to the Elliott mouthpiece I use on the York Master. And the Holton likewise. Yesterday, the mouthpieces that had worked the first day didn't seem to on unrecovered and overtaxed chops, and following Dale Phelps's example I pulled out the Miraphone Rose Orchestra that I hadn't played in years (this is why I don't sell unused mouthpieces--they are always more expensive the second time around). It was wonderful--yesterday. Who knows what will work today, or next month. It takes a while to understand a new horn, and I'm just starting that process. I never really finished that process with the 20J, but the Helleberg was where I was most recently. If the toilet bowl that works best on your Yamaha is what you are trying on the Conn, try something smaller.

Rick "exhausting his knowledge of the subject and then some" Denney


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