For eight years the idea, with all the mathematics behind it, lay in a drawer – now Engelbert Schmid has realised it: the new “kompakt” bell taper.
The “kompakt” is an alternative to the wonderfully easy and free-blowing “Golden Cut” (= medium) and wide tapers. The difference from the well-known and proven Golden Cut is minimal, but it is exactly what some horn players were looking for. The detachable bell flare is the same on “Golden Cut” and “kompakt”, but the narrower bell tail gives the sound an earlier edge, making it a little more concentrated and compact. Although this bell is narrower, to many ears the sound seems darker and has that certain “something” some players are looking for.
Positive resistance
The “kompakt” taper offers a positive resistance to the horn player who wants it. Positive here means that the resistance does not come from acoustic flaws at all, but from the course of the taper itself, which follows mathematical curves in an absolutely homogeneous way, yet produces a slight, even back pressure. Players who like this kind of blowing with some resistance feel the following advantages:
- Positive resistance is like a comfortable wall to lean against.
- This wall gives the horn player security and stability.
- In pianissimo the player already has a certain support and does not feel as if floating in empty space.
- In mezzoforte the horn player can develop a core earlier, so that he feels present in the horn section.
- An earlier core can also give the sound a certain depth.
- In fortissimo a healthy resistance prevents the lips from starting to flutter uncontrollably and the tone from “breaking”, so to speak. The fortissimo stays compact.
Key qualities
Many horn players are looking for a crisp, stable horn that fits into their surroundings! The “kompakt” has the key qualities needed for this:
- An instrument for stable, secure, precise, clear horn playing.
- A compact, crisp horn sound that can hold its own.
- An extremely wide dynamic range, from a secure pp to the strongest ff.
- A highly efficient instrument that gives you strength up to the last note of a demanding concert.
- An instrument that blends extremely well into existing horn sections.
These are the factors that help the aspiring professional win an audition and keep him strong in his position in the orchestra! The “kompakt” double horn is the promising “work horse” for the orchestral player – reliable and fitting perfectly into the current style of German horn sound, which is copied in many places all over the world.
The familiar advantages remain
All this comes in addition to the well-known advantages of Engelbert Schmid horns, such as:
- the B-natural feature (the horn can be retuned to B natural)
- faster valves
- smoother slurs
- carefully devised intonation, including very usable 10th harmonics
- an ergonomic design that sits naturally in the hand
Of course the “kompakt” version can be ordered for all horn models, such as triple horns and double descants, and can be combined with any detachable bell flare.
How to recognise it
Full double horn “kompakt” in yellow brass by Engelbert Schmid
To tell the “kompakt” models apart from the medium (“Golden Cut”) at a glance, they have gold-plated valve caps and a gold brass ring at the mouthpiece receiver.
“kompakt” – the compact answer to concentrated challenges!
Engelbert Schmid GmbH, Bellerweg 3, D-86513 Mindelzell, Germany, phone +49 (0)8282 890412, engelbert-office@schmid-horns.com