Horn Smackdown

Every once in a while I like to do a little smackdown of all my horns. I have enough of them for some nice comparing and contrasting. But the truth is, I tend to doubt I'm playing the right horn for me, so I like to dust them all off, take out the mute, turn on the digital recorder and take them all for a ride.

There were three competitors this time: the Holton H200 double descant, the old Holton H179 and the new Yamaha single Bb.

After many passages both technical and lyrical, I've come to the following conclusions:

1. The H200 is still slick, precise and clear.

2. The Yamaha is slick, precise and clear, but it has its limits, and the sound begins to spread a little too early for my playing.

3. The H179 is fuzzy, fluffy and tubby -- comparatively speaking, of course.

The winner is the H200, but only by a slim margin to the Yamaha. Frankly, if the Yamaha had the weight of the H200, it might beat it. But, with the weight it may lose it's ease and flexibility. It's an odd catch-22.

In truth, I do feel I should be playing on a top-line horn. But I've also come to appreciate the hidden advantages of the double descant. As I've stated many times, I hate that you have to always fight the instrument. The double descant eases the fight significantly. I've got my eye on a nice Patterson custom model, or an old Lawson. Of course, both cost almost $10,000, which is $10,000 more than I have.

So, I can happily continue life with my H200 for now, but the Yamaha is in the wings ready to make its appearance. It'd be a great horn for, say, a woodwind quintet, or light jazz, or some possible stage playing. I feel I'm going to get some good play out of it soon.

The winnah: The H200. But watch your back.