Die größte Erfindung nach dem Rayweck* fand ich auf unserem USA-Hornforum, der Memphis-Hornlist.
Ich hoffe damit keine U(h)rheberrechte zu verletzen! Hier ist es, ich hatte aber nicht die Zeit es zu übersetzen. Die, die englisch können sind natürlich die Ersten, die die Benefizien dieser Erfindung des US-Hornpädagogen Kendall Betts konsumieren können:
The French horn mouthpiece rim is probably-maybe the most important piece
of equipment we have. Since our lips are producing the sound, given a
steady, athletic airstream, it is the most intimate connection between the
French horn player and instrument. Traditionally, rims are made of metal or
plastic. Metal rims are usually brass or nickel silver, and are left simply
polished or plated with either silver or gold, though chrome and bright
nickel have also been used with some success. A variety of plastics have
been used, including PS, PP, PDV, PA, PC, the most popular now being LEXAN™,
(PRT). Rims come in countless shapes and contours: round, cushion, oval,
reverse peak, flat, wide, medium, narrow and on and on and on! Most
players experiment constantly, frequently or now and again to find the “perfect”
rim which will give them a great sound, ease of flexibility and range,
quick, predictable and consistent response, and endurance. It seems that many
never find exactly what they want because of compromises in these
traditional designs. A wide rounded rim may be easy to play and give good endurance
but has a dull sound or difficult flexibility. A narrow flat or reverse
peak rim may open up the sound and quicken response but cuts down on
endurance. Silver plating pits after a while with constant use (depending on body
chemistry, etc.) and has to be re-plated, usually changing the feel of the
rim since it is hard to judge and control the amount of plating applied to
duplicate the original completely. Gold plating feels more slippery and
perhaps helps flexibility but it wears off even quicker than silver and also
has to be replaced. Some French horn players are allergic to metals (or in
my own case, it’s allergic to me) and use plastic. Plastic rims feel
sticky compared to plated or bare metal ones. There are millions of mouthpiece
stories, most with bad endings, so I’m not going on and on about this.
Perhaps the folks here will want to “chime in” later with their own
experiences.
The “perfect” rim would give the player a lively sound, quick response,
flawless flexibility and technique in changing registers small clam
percentages, and, most importantly, ENDURANCE! I don’t know about you, but I hate
practicing! But I have to do my “daily routine” in order to build and
keep the strength and skill I need to play in public. I haven’t practiced
since last August as I had nothing scheduled to play since I’m semi-retired
from performing. I have engagements coming up so now I have to get in
shape. It will take me, using my genuine LAWSON B23G 695 LEXAN™ rim, about a
week to 10 days of gradually increasing the length my daily practice
sessions to get to what I call “a two hour lip.” Once achieved, my “two hour lip”
gives me the confidence to go “into battle” and play my best! Yes, I do
watch TV when I do my “horn aerobics and weight training,” which are
Farkas type warm ups, long tones, scales, arpeggios, Kopprasch (from freaking
memory), etc. but I have seen enough reruns of CSI, Law and Order and Looney
Tunes (not to mention Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica and the Three
Stooges) and I am sick of the news channels like Fox and CNN with all of their
crappy political posturing and LA car chases. I don’t like sports except
Formula One racing, which is rarely on, so I’m probably stuck listening to
myself doing the same old stuff, over and over, lengthening the session, every
friggin' day! BAH! What if all of this could be avoided? I’ve wondered
about that for years watching reruns and news. You probably have too.
I HAVE FOUND THE ANSWER!
INTRODUCING: THE WATER RIM!
The WATER RIM is my latest product development at Lawson Horns. Modern
technology and materials coupled with my own lust for knowledge have made it
all possible. Please allow me to describe and explain this revolutionary
new piece of miracle equipment for the French horn player, be they serious
or not.
It is constructed by attaching a .001” thick round “pillow” or “envelope”
of MYLAR™ (boPET) to a traditional LEXAN™ plastic screw rim that is cut
down to a flat or contoured surface (with or without retaining surfaces on
its edges) from .119” to .478” wide at the thread joint with the cup.
This “pillow” can be made to any cubic specification thus creating different
sizes and feels and different shapes achieved by the width, contour and
retaining surfaces of the screw base. The “pillow” is attached securely to
the base using the recently introduced NanoLaserSchweisserAtomique from the
Swiss company SELVAGGIO-BÉCASSINE-JAEGER, a very expensive but not too
complicated to operate machine. It is then injected to capacity with distilled
water using a conventional hypodermic needle. For now, the hole is closed
using the NanoLaserSchweisserAtomique and the rim is ready to play. This
took some practice, since we are dealing with nano technology in the
process, and you have to be careful to cover all of your nanos at all times. I
will develop and implement a valve, similar to that on a beach ball, but nano
sized, so that the firmness is easily adjusted by adding or emptying water
by the player as requirements of repertoire being performed may dictate.
Either way, all manufacturing processes are done in about a tenth of the
time it takes to mill a conventional rim from metal or plastic as the bases
are very simple to make, and even simpler (and cheaper), once farmed out to
China as they don’t have to be as precise as a whole, properly contoured
screw rim.
“HOW’S IT PLAY” you ask?
“WELL, PLEASE, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING” I reply.
I picked up the horn today (as I mentioned earlier I had not practiced
since last August) and played for 6 hours, 37 minutes and 42 seconds straight
with a great sound and range from pedal C to F above high C with better
flexibility than I have ever had! It felt so good at the start, I did no
Farkas warm up, long tones, scales, arpeggios and most importantly KOPPRASCH and
played through all the Mozart Concertos (improvising 5 to 10 minute
cadenzas up to F’s above high C and ending with a 20 second long lip trill on
high C), all the Strauss (both Franz and Richard) concertos and solo pieces,
(taking the coda of R. Strauss No. 1 at mm198 to the dotted quarter), the
Schumann A and A (twice, straight through without a break) and 1st part to
the Konzertstueck, (again, twice in a row), the Villanelle, En Foret, the
Beethoven Sonata, the Brahms trio and the Mozart horn quintet, the John
Williams horn concerto and my entire collection of screaming Baroque horn
concerti (16 in all) on my descant! I did also throw in one Kopprasch, No. 54,
at mm144 to the quarter note since my flexibility was so good and the
fastest I had ever been able to play that one in the past, even when I was at
Curtis, was about mm48. All of this with only a half dozen or so clams, and
those were because I didn’t use my air correctly, not because I was tired.
And I could have gone on and on but the Grand Prix race ended on TV! Now,
I don’t have to practice ever again! Remember, though, that I am a
veteran professional with over 40 years experience and 50 years total horn
playing on my resume and I was a complete natural and child prodigy on the horn,
anyway, so your results may vary, depending on your own abilities and
experience. Also, it’s not to say that everyone will have to bypass initial
training, study and practice since you’ll still need to know how to read music
(maybe even at sight), transpose, use your air, and probably most
importantly, get a good lip. But this might speed the lip building process up a
bit. As a world class instructor, I’ll find out at KBHC and with my students
at UNH. I do believe, though, that this is the definitive answer to every
French horn player’s prayers!
“WHEN CAN I GET ONE” you ask?
Well, I have to make a bunch, which should take a week or two, and price
it. That’s the hard part. Should I apply for a patent? Probably not. Big
delay due to government bureaucracy and I’m not worried in the least about
the jejune, sleazy, popinjays who compete with us, copying our stuff,
usually inaccurately so it doesn’t work the same as the real thing. What is it
truly worth to play hundreds of times better than what you are doing now?
What is it worth to never have to practice. NEVER AGAIN? Hundreds, even
thousands or MILLIONS of dollars? Can I really put a dollar value on helping
thousands, even millions, of French horn players to play better? Not to
mention pissing off the legions of conductors who won’t be able to yell at
their horn sections anymore and the music critics who won’t be able write “
This was an excellent concert but the horns missed some notes” again and
again. Also, do I make this available to the other brass players allowing
them to play even louder than they do now? Here is a chance to stop hoping
and start changing for all of us French horn players! Geezs, I might just be
a true philanthropist and give it away in order to make the world a better
place! Hell, if Prof. I.M. Gestopftmitscheist gets a hold of one of
these, he’ll be out of friggin' business! HAHAHA! This is what I have to ponder
as well as my next product, which came to me in a dream, whilst fast
asleep on a mattress made of memory foam.
Viel Erfolg vom Hödlmoser
*Rayweck-Info auf http://www.beesign.at/erdstrahlen/reloa ... elung.html
