 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: ceri
Date: 2013-05-26 10:07
Could anyone give me an idea of how the weight of different English horns compares and also of the finger spacing of the right-hand keys?
The following have been suggested to me as makers of "good" horns that I ought to try:
Howarth
Loree
Rigoutat
Buffet-Crampon
However, I am having trouble finding somewhere that stocks all four and that is accessible from where I live so I am starting to think that I will have to narrow things down first. I would like something that is not too heavy (although I prefer a dark tone so I suppose I might have to compromise on this) and one where the keys are not too widely spaced as I have small hands.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-05-26 10:42
Wot no Marigaux? They've redesigned their cors recently, so see what you think of them too.
If weight is a serious consideration, see if you can get a cor made of kingwood or cocobolo which are much lighter in weight than blackwood, plus they offer more resonance compared to blackwood cors.
I did find the Rigoutat cors had much closer finger spacing compared to some others, but that was going back ten years or so. The problem with cors is getting the finger spacing close in the right hand due to tonehole positions - this is an area which I do hope will be redesigned in the future so the toneholes can be spaced and sized correctly (especially the E tonehole) but the mechanism will bring the fingers in closer.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: ceri
Date: 2013-05-26 11:44
I was told that the Marigaux cors were not as good as their oboes. When you say they redesigned them recently, wow recent is "recently"?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-05-26 17:08
In the last year or so they've changed several things on them. I don't know about the acoustic side of things as a lot of that is usually a company secret, but there have been numerous keywork changes made.
I don't think you should base your opinion on what people say on what instruments are good or not so good - better to go and try them all out and judge for yourself which one you like best as it's a personal thing. Popular doesn't always mean good. I chose a Marigaux 930 cor over all the others at the time as I liked how freely it played in comparison to them.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Bryanwalker
Date: 2013-05-26 22:42
A few summers ago I bought a Howarth XL grenadilla EH and it is by far the heaviest horn I have ever played. I bought a BG elastic type neck strap and that has made a world of difference. It bears most of the weight but you still have a great range of movement. Since I have been using this neck strap I have had no instances of a sore thumb or wrist.
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Author: GoodWinds ★2017
Date: 2013-05-27 01:00
I have a fairly 'light' cor which I really like; the grain is NOT far apart and its sound is lovely. THere are times I don't need a neckstrap. It is the pro-model Fossati and I know they get mixed reviews, but I am VERY happy I bought this instrument.
GoodWinds
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Author: PaulNorway
Date: 2013-06-20 12:14
I just bought a Mönning 180D(Diamond) Cor, it is quite heavy, but the keys on both hands are really close. Howarth have a good picture of it
http://www.howarth.uk.com/pic.aspx?pic=./wo/MönnigCor.jpg&pid=982926
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