1) Do NOT cut a bell on a horn that you absolutely love! Some reasons are:

• Cutting a bell requires the horn to be disassembled and the bell tail removed. This disturbs the connection between the bell tail and first/ short f branch pair as well as between the bell tail and mouthpipe. Since Geyer horns rely on carefully proportioned long solder joints between the aforementioned parts, it would take a miracle to get the horn back together with exactly the same balance. I suppose the effect would be less dramatic if the horn is braced instead.
• The additional weight at the bell changes the way the horn focuses the sound. By now readers should be familiar enough with my philosophies to know that I am not about to offer a scientific explanation for this. My obersvations are that the added weight gives more core to the sound and also makes the horn feel “tighter” in the upper range. If left unbalanced, I have also experienced intonation problems.
• A horn with damage to the bell tail section is very difficult to cut and get a good fit, even in the most experienced hands. Many bell cut jobs are a “best possible job considering the circumstances” deal.

If you want a cut bell, think ahead and have it done before you see it for the first time. There is nothing more disappointing than having a horn you dearly love change…

2) On the other hand, having a cut bell is GREAT! There are dozens of excellent reasons to have a cut bell, for example:

• TRAVEL! No longer are you begging the stewardess to put the horn in the closet at the front of the plane…
• Instant access to sound/ response changes. I will post later about bell shapes and alloys, but its pretty amazing to hear and feel the changes that a different bell can make.
• More focused core to the sound. A properly balanced horn will play better with a cut bell than a single piece. There is something really satisfying about the weight being toward the bell instead of sitting in the valves. I get more power and more control over pitch that way although I can’t speak for the designs of others.
• You can wear the bell like a hat
• Ok, so maybe not dozens, but at least 3 HUGE benefits.

3) I prefer working with a cut bell, it makes my life much easier in the construction of the horn and I find the weight to be critical to my design. That is the big reason that I do not charge extra to build the horn with a detachable bell. I do not want people to go with a fixed bell as a cost cutting measure!!

So, I would say that if you are buying a new horn, consider buying a detachable model. Make sure that you know the ring set that is used and how to try or get additional bells. If you already own the horn and are considering cutting the bell, think carefully about how much gnashing of teeth would happen if it changed slightly. If you are in love with, I would pass. However if you are ho-hum about the way it plays, its possible the bell job might even make it play better!

I thought I would share a few tips to keep your horn playing consistently from day to day and some possible tweaks you can do to change the sound in certain situations.

1. If you have a screw bell, make sure that you twist it on ALL THE WAY, all the time. Many times a bell has an extra 1/8 in farther to go once it stops on its own but you do need to turn it all the way. It may help to make a mark where bell and tail ought to line up so you can hit it each time you put the horn together. If the bell is not making solid contact with the horn, the horn will sound brighter and feel less stable than it actually it.
2. Same thing with the mouthpiece, make sure that you are putting it in the same way each time. Try not to put an excessive twist to crank the mouthpiece in. It may help to make a mark on the mouthpiece to make sure that the depth and the orientation is the same. One problem with horn construction is that over time the mouthpiece tends to rub inside the mouthpiece receiver and work its way deeper into the leadpipe. This will cause the horn to take on a “fluffy” quality (thats the only way I can think to describe it). If this is happening to you, put a very small piece of masking tape around the mouthpiece and see what happens.
3. Make sure that all the valve caps are tightened. A loose valve cap can change the quality of the sound and make things brighter. This can be used to your advantage if you are playing loud and want a brighter sound or if you need to play a high Bb at triple forte and feel like the horn is too tight to allow all the air to go through. Try experimenting with loosening a valve cap slightly and see what new sounds or techniques open up for you!

These are all very subtle things, but when you add them all together, they make a difference. While I’m sure there is a good scientific theory, I am more concerned with empirical testing to find out the real world effects and applications. Give these a try and let me know what you come up with!

Hi Jacob,

Just stumbled on your website and enjoy reading your philosophies and about your horns. I’m curious about the Yamaha horn… What prompted you to open the venturi? I always thought Yamaha horns had already just about the largest venturis around. And the solder joints. Do they increase the perceived blow resistance of the instrument?

Like a lot of horn players, I’m curious about horn design, having tried many leadpipes/horns/mouthpieces, but haven’t been able to make sense of it all yet!

Greetings from NYC,
Aleks

Hi Aleks,

Since the answer is book length, I’ll just share with you what I think about horns in regard to those parts (long solders, leadpipe)!

I’ve played many horns that have uneven registers. By this I mean that as you go higher in the range, the horn “tightens up” and loses the ring in the sound. This causes squirrelly high notes and makes the upper range very hard to play (high Bb anyone?). I believe that the reason this happens in Geyer style horns is that the leadpipe venturi is too small. But, opening up the leadpipe sometimes turns the horn into a dump truck to play (very hard to be agile and direct with the sound). Many horn makers err on the side of a too small venturi and leave it up to the player to get around the problems in the upper range.

The second part of the equation is the long solder joints. The more that the horn is soldered together, the more energy it takes to vibrate the instrument. This gives the feeling of resistance without the unfortunate “backing up” of air that accompanies trying to fit a large amount of air through a small hole.

So! What we have are two sets of generalizations;

Large venturi= pro-More even horn, easier high range, con-not enough resistance to push against and loss of endurance/ focus in sound
Small venturi= pro- focused sound, quick response, con- very tight in the high range, slurs and too close together (intonation issues),

Braces= quick response, lots of ring in sound, no focus, pops in slurs
Soldered= slower response, more resistance, extra focus in sound, liquid creamy slurs

I pair a large venturi with long solder joints to get the best of every world. Nice easy high range with good intonation but still resistant and focused enough to push against and not get tired (or to play really loud).

CAVEAT! Everything must be BALANCED! Longer solder joints are not always better. It is the right venturi paired with the right solder lengths that make the horn sing. So don’t go at your horn with a torch and some solder and yell at me later…

Today I did some work for a friend on her aging Yamaha 861; a discontinued custom model that is increasingly difficult to find. She decided that she would like to open up the high register by trying a new leadpipe and, rummaging through my box of pipes, found one she liked. Before installing it, I suggested that we try to work (read: cut into and recklessly modify) the original pipe and try to get it more open without replacing it.

When I build a new horn, I make a general skeleton using my design plans and then spend a few days playing and tweaking it until it has the  ease and sound that I’m looking for. I applied that same ideas and experience to my friend’s horn, pretending that I had a new skeleton and trying to figure out what it needed to play better.

She was shocked with the result. Using her same leadpipe, I was able to open up the high register and improve the stability in the low register in about 3 hours of fussing. I opened up the leadpipe venturi and balanced it with some longer, more resistant, solder joints on the mouthpipe to get a truly remarkable result.

The lesson? Anything is possible. Rather than build a single stubborn design of horn, I prefer to focus on the sound production and playing characteristics of each individual instrument. If I have to slightly modify my design to achieve a desired result, that’s okay! That’s what makes it truly a custom horn!!

I will try to write more of these so that you can learn about what I believe about horns and horn building and decide if I’m the right person to build your next horn!