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anyone know where one cold purchase an alp horn?

I've been on the prowl for a used alp horn for several years. You can buy them new. But... brace yourself...
http://www.alphorn.ca/

Most of the new ones I've turned up start around $3,500.

They are built in the key of F (about 12 1/2 feet long) and come with a shorter section for F# (or just 'high pitch'.

Our local Germania Mannerchor Club owns two of them. I took detailed measurements of one of them and plan to construct one of brass parts one of these days.

Alphorns come in keys from euph Bb through tuba Eb. One provider offers a fibre model with several telescopic pitch alternatives. Some wooden models have alternative sections for 2 or 3 pitches. Standard pitch is Gb.

imperialbari wrote:... Standard pitch is Gb.

Hmmm... isn't that the same as F#?

The Swiss say Gb, and that being the standard for most mono-pitched alphorns never calls for the term of high pitch. The variants in F or Eb are for soloing with bands.

There used to be a brass Alphorn (with valves) made by Miraphone - looks like it is out of production. I still have a data sheet on it somewhere, picked it up in a Munich music store.

David Richoux wrote:There used to be a brass Alphorn (with valves) made by Miraphone - looks like it is out of production. I still have a data sheet on it somewhere, picked it up in a Munich music store.

I have had the same Miraphone leaflet, maybe still have it in storage somewhere.

The said instrument clearly alluded to the Alphorn, but it was named by a decal on it forward-up bell flare as Almhorn. Alm is the term for high ground pastures in the Alps. There are ceremonies with flower-covered cattle mowing between the villages and the Alm at the shift of seasons. I used to follow such German cultural events regularly on German TV, but I never saw an Almhorn played in any context whatsoever, so I tend to guess that model never became popular.

From the leaflet it appeared that the Almhorn was quite close to being a long valve trombone in tenor Bb with the bell pointing upwards/forward from the ground. The rotary valve section was placed early in the bugle. Where my memory fails me, is whether the very long bell had the profile of a valve trombone or whether the expansion started somewhat earlier like in the Alphorn.

I once rode on the train with a Swiss Alphorn player who worked in food research here in Denmark. He told the bell shape originally came from the shape of the fir roots growing on the steep mountain sides. The growth starts perpendicularly to the ground, but very soon goes vertically up. From the photos I have seen, modern Alphorn bell are no longer made out of one single root. They rather are made out of several blocks glued together. Likely to get a better stability against cracks and warping.

And then the Swiss of course say that their Alphorns are in Ges.

Klaus

imperialbari wrote: And then the Swiss of course say that their Alphorns are in Ges.

Klaus

Of course they do! I find it alps to know for sure -- don't like to ges. (what *is* the ges-tation period on one of those, anyway?)

It might be easier/cheaper to buy a collapsable plastic or carbon fiber one.

As an undergrad, my BQ did an arrangement where our horn player actually soloed his collapsable alphorn for one of the selections in his jr recital.

The intonation was 'interesting', as was the tone...

Just a thought.

jon112780 wrote:It might be easier/cheaper to buy a collapsable plastic or carbon fiber one.

As an undergrad, my BQ did an arrangement where our horn player actually soloed his collapsable alphorn for one of the selections in his jr recital.

The intonation was 'interesting', as was the tone...

Just a thought.

I played one of those plastic horns when I visited Mike Lynch earlier this year - I got a few good honks out of it but it was tricky!

(also re Miraphone's brass Alp or Alm horn - as I recall the picture the main tube/bell section was very much like a traditional Alphorn. Nothing like these cool ones! )