Posted by Doug on May 04, 2003 at 22:48:33:
In Reply to: horn intonation and button-pushing posted by pdq phelps on May 04, 2003 at 15:03:23:
I think certain hardware talk has some merit, especially valves and other significant tuning-related issues.
While it's possible to play just fine on a 4 valve horn, even a 3 valver, the job is made much easier for each valve. When you add a 4th valve you no longer have to pull your 3rd slide. When you add a fifth valve (flat whole step) you reduce the times you have to pull your first slide by about 50%. Add a 6th valve, flat half step, and it seems to me you eliminate most, if not all, tuning problems with a horn.
But pushing a button and hoping for the right pitch won't do the trick, even if you have 10 valves. As A. jacobs said, you must become a singer in your brain--knowing the pitch and buzzing the pitch. But having a horn that is acoustically friendly to that pitch makes the end result better and easier to achieve.
My humble $.02