Re: play testing


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Posted by Sean Chisham on March 02, 2004 at 18:38:26:

In Reply to: play testing posted by Kenneth Sloan on March 02, 2004 at 17:31:07:

I believe Matt Walters from Dillon Music gave a good play by play on this one day. Can't remember if it was here or at a conference. He had some good tips if I remember correctly.

First thing is first. Make sure your chops are in shape. Trying to buy a horn on vacation chops may not yield the best opinions on what works best for you. Next thing is bring a few different mouthpieces. Different horns works best for you with different mouthpieces frequently. Bring a tuner and a few tunes you are familiar with. Lastly bring a second set of objective ears if possible.

You would be surprised how much you can tell about a horn with just a few scales. Take a few minutes to adapt to the horns ergonomics and response. Be sure you are warmed up enough for your pitch to settle in. Pull out a tuner and check tendencies. Adjust slides as necessary and try again. I prefer a horn which plays resonably well in tune with no more than 1 or at most 2 "problem notes". All three of the horns I have sold were due mostly to pitch issues with the horns. One was flat all over, next had a couple of very difficult notes in the meat and potatoes range, and the other did not work for me pitchwise or responsewise.

Now that you have a horn which seems to respond resonably and has few pitch problems ask the friend to listen to some scales and especially melodies which you know. Try different dynamics, ranges, and speeds. Do back to backs between your current horn and a few of the contendors. Subjective ears out front will be the best judge of what the horn's product is like. Also have your friend try out the horn and you listen. This does not always work well between different model horns but works pretty well when comparing apples to apples such as 3 MW2000's and maybe a couple of 2155's back to back. If you try to compare a Rudy Meinl 4/4 to a Willson CC back to back, you might sound better on the Rudy while your buddy works magic best on the Willson.

My main point is that it is very tough to come to a conclusion without a reference point. You might see what appears to be a great deal on eBay. You try out the horn and love it only later to realize that it is not a terribly special example of that particular model on instrument. Compare horns, don't try one in solitude. That is my opinion though.

Lastly, if at all possible, get a satisfaction return policy of at least a few days if not a couple of weeks. What might sound great in a 10'x20' room might not sound so great in a 2000 seat hall when buried behind eight billion dollars worth violins, violas, cellos, double basses, woodwinds, percussion, trumpets, horns, trombones, and euphonium. (We can dream can't we?)

Hopefully safe from a bad case of buyer's remorse and having the second opinion of a friend or better yet friends should allow you to have peace of mind in that multi-thousand dollar purchase.



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