I preach and agree with you liking the sound of the insrument you pick to play. However, I am not so convinced about the "personality" of the instrument matching. I used to believe that way, but I find that the supposed "personality" of many instruments is either A) stereo typed, or B)not necessarily true.

Yes, some people will pick an instrument based on sound and some cutting edge sounds will result in instruments that get more solos and what not and therefore you need a personality able to play in front of people. However, not always the case. Lots of personality association is with what we recall from high school and middle school. And many instrument choices were made for othe reasons.

Examples: In school the oboe player was often quiet and shy.I often find this is a result of the band teacher wanting an oboe player but doesn't have one so he or she takes a 2nd or 3rd clarinet player and puts them on oboe. Lessor players often tend to be shy. In the professional world their are shy oboe players, but most of the ones I have met are in your face opinionated individuals.

This example can pertain to Bassoonists, French Horn, Bass Clarinet, and Bari sax.

I think too many people in the large sections (clarinet, flute) are shy. They are in a large section and can hide. I was very very shy as a young person and playing Horn helped me to come out of my shell. So in that case chossing an instrument whose personality I did not fit into actually helped me to become a better, more well rounded person.

And since we are on the topic, different positions in the same instrument section have different personalities. Big example is French horn. The principal chair of the Horn section needs to have a very different personality than any of the other horns. I will leave it at that for now.

But you must like the sound your instrument makes - that is an absolute.

John also has a very valid point pertaining to large groups. People who play the instruments that aren't so played are willing to be out on the edge! I play bassoon becuase I ain't scared of being noticed, and I will be the principal bassoon in the orchestra next year, so I'm excited, I guess I just conseider instruments to have different personalities in general, and usually that will showin groups. For instance, the trumpet players are usually loud and fun, while the flutists usually stick together, and the bassoonist is just plain awesome ()! I find the alto saxes to not be intimidated to talk about ANYTHING, lol.


And since we are on the topic, different positions in the same instrument section have different personalities. Big example is French horn. The principal chair of the Horn section needs to have a very different personality than any of the other horns. I will leave it at that for now

what do you mean John, I love learning about the orchestra, so I just really want to know what you mean by that. I once saw the principal hornist of the NY Philharmonic, and he seemed to have a very mature and important stature. Should I act diffirent (except by practicing more and nore maturity) than the other bassoonists?
thanks

lastly, sorry john for talking bad about your instrument

guys, Guys, GUYS! Please! ALL musical instruments are important.

I believe the horn is needed more in a symphony.

I'm sorry, Tenorsaxist, that apparently you haven't met many decent horn players. The french horn has is proven many more difficulties to play then the basson and oboe.

I don't play the french horn, but I do understand its importance and I greatly respect it.

In the symphony, the clarinet will not always have as many lryical parts (depending on the music). It tends to stick out a little bit more then the french horn, so playing in a symphony will help you develope better intonation but it will also require a good intonation.

Tell me what you choose!

I'm sorry, Tenorsaxist, that apparently you haven't met many decent horn players.

It is true, I have only heard high schoolers and cllege students play, never professionals. I will admit that horn has the ability to sound very powerful, but only when played well.
Also, don't apologize, I can be in a bad mood when posting some times!

The french horn has is proven many more difficulties to play then the basson and oboe.
What do you man by many more proven difficulties? I agree that horn is the hardest brass to play in tune, but so isn't bassoon (woodwind sense). Furthermore, bassoon is heavier, has MANY difficult fingerings, requries the playere to substitute alternates constantly, the reed dilema makes it that much more challenging, and the intonation is hard to perfect. And projection?
I agree Horn is hard, especially in higher partials, but bassoon also has it's difficulties to match that. For instance, bassoons high notes have a tendancy to play flat.
Perhaps someone who has experience playing both is justified to claim which is harder? Either way, I just prefer ther bassoon in any case!

I play both Clarinet and French Horn. It is much harder to get a position in an orchestra on clarinet as there are typically just 2 positions whereas with the French horn it can go from 4-5 positions. Clarinet would be more technically challenging in terms of running notes in comparison to horn; however, the horn certainly has its own challenges. It also depends on your range, whether you prefer to play low or high on horn. Personally, I prefer to play French Horn in an orchestra (or brass in general as I play trumpet too!). My reasoning for this is because I find you have more opportunities open to you, and I find myself pushing the envelope and being challenged in my classical playing. There are more clarinet players out there then horn players, and of course again orchestras need more horns then they do clarinets.

Clarinet, in my opinion, is a nicer opinion. But the other one is good too..

Clarinet, in my opinion, is a nicer instrument. The other one is good too...

I would say CLAIRNET because I play that and it the best in the world. I know how it fells to play 2 things because I play clairnet AND flute. Hope this helps.