Hey everyone, I just started playing the French Horn (that's instrument #5 for me), and I've only been able to use a horn borrowed from an old teacher of mine. I'd like to purchase my own in the coming months, and I was wondering what brands or models I should be looking into. I'm a music education major in my freshman year at the moment, and I've never played a brass instrument before. I'd like something that should be easy enough to learn on, but also something that would last, something that wouldn't become sub-par after I progressed a bit further. Any advice would be greatly appreciated
A conn 6d would be worth looking into. They seem to hold up well and a used one usually goes for under $1,000. I've got one (a used one through my school) and it's been rather good to me.
Yamaha student models are reliable and generally easy to live with. I know four people who play 567's and love them, one guy I know is still playing on a 567 in his 2nd year of a Music Degree at University!
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Forgot to add that all the ones I have played on have had good note centering which should mean (dare I say it?!) less splits!
Rona910 is very correct.
Both the Yamaha 5 series and the Holton 3 series are student models and they are built with the intention of making the notes easy to get and less on the best tone quality (which is not to say they don't sound good). But either the Holton or the Yamaha student models are very good for starting out.
I think the Yamaha might have a better "in tune" scale than the Holton.
Out of interest I've been speaking to a few people about student horns after reading this and the Yamahas are definitely a good choice. Another good bet might be a Paxman Series 3. I don't personally know anyone who plays them but an excellent horn tutor I know says that he has a pupil who has just bought one. They have lots of Paxman hallmarks - Geyer wrap, ML bell to give you that Paxman sound but it's a lighter horn. Apparently they're really nice and free-blowing and make a very good tone. And they're fairly reasonably priced too! Paxman's in London will ship to America - go to their website (www.paxman.co.uk) if you want a closer look.
Either a Silver King or a Holton Farkas. If you go for a Silver King, make sure you get one of the older models because they have better quality than the newer models. See if you can find one that doesn't use a detachable bell because they get really annoying. If you go for a Holton Farkas, it won't matter what model you get; they're all excellent quality. Make sure you buy a Farkas mouthpiece with the Holton horn. Whatever you do, don't get a MDC (medium deep cup. Instead, get a MC (medium cup), they are much better.
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