Hi John, I wouldn't want to suggest that Anthony Halstead is not a "major" player, who has never played in a "major" symphony orchestra, or is a horn player who would not want "sound [his] their best in order to get or retain job[s]."
I believe that the purchase of a tone blob is money well spent. Ask any of the horn manufacturers to produce their acoustical damping analysis of their own instruments, and you get a blank stare, foot- shuffling and some other evasive excuses. They are in the business of selling horns. Don't get me wrong; I'm not putting down Paxman horns, as they make excellent instruments (I've owned three), but in my opinion, they all benefited from a tone blob. Anecdotal evidence seems to support the concept that the placement of the blob is variable, but in the case of my own instruments, I put the weight on the third valve rotor, which is as close to the middle of the vibrating air column as possible. Other players I know who tried this had similar results putting the blob in the same position. One day, someone with way more $$$ than I have, will hire some scientists and test this out in an anechoic room with oscilloscopes and hi-tech measuring equipment. Sounds like (no pun intended) a good topic for a thesis... Sincerely, martin bender On 25-Oct-09, at 11:06 AM, David A. Jewell wrote: > Tone blobs are one of those devices that work for some and not for > others. The concept of adding weight to control resonances is sound > [pun not intended] engineering, hence such things as tone blobs, > mega mouthpieces, and mouthpiece weights. Although I don't have > personal experience with them, a friend of mine, the local symphony > principal, has a Patersonized 9D and he has one on one of his valves > and says it helps. They are mountable on each of the valves, and > you can use one or more as you deem profitable. Being able to move > them around is to enable one to determine where they are of the most > benefit. On the other hand I have another friend who is an amateur > player who used to use a moutpiece weight and took it off because he > came to feel it made things a little too dead for his particular > horn. comme ci comme ca, I guess. > Paxmaha > > > > > ________________________________ > From: John Baumgart <[email protected]> > To: The Horn List <[email protected]> > Sent: Sun, October 25, 2009 9:36:19 AM > Subject: Re: [Hornlist] Tone Blobs > > I really don't know what they do, but if they (or any other peculiar > add-on > device or procedure) improved every horn they were installed on, why > don't > manufacturers use extra thick and heavy valve bearings or caps, and > why do > you never see them in use by people who rely on sounding their > absolute best > to get or retain a job? > > John Baumgart > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf > Of Tim Kecherson > Sent: Friday, October 23, 2009 9:51 PM > To: The Horn List > Subject: [Hornlist] Tone Blobs > > Grettings, all! > > I saw in a recent issue of The Horn Call and ad for Tone Blobs. > What do > they do to improve the tone of the horn? Are they worth $90? > > Thanks, > Tim Kecherson > _______________________________________________ > post: [email protected] > unsubscribe or set options at > https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/john.baumgart%40com > cast.net > > _______________________________________________ > post: [email protected] > unsubscribe or set options at > https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/paxmaha%40yahoo.com > > > > > _______________________________________________ > post: [email protected] > unsubscribe or set options at > https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/embee%40magma.ca > _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
