Are all flugelhorns out of tune?

[Retlaw]

My Hub Van Laar Oiram is in tune....

Walter

[Dan O'Donnell]

The only note on my Kanstul 925 w/ Copper bell that is noticeably out of tune (slightly sharp) is my low C# that my 3rd trigger fixes easily without very much extension.

I will say that I was surprised the low D was not sharp!

I'm taking it to Bob Reeves later this month for a PVA and after talking with him regarding this, he insists it will still be in tune after his PVA.

The last time I spoke with Wayne Bergeron (I used to study with him) he told me the Yamaha Flugelhorn that he designed "has a High C that is in tune".

After talking with him, I immediately came home and checked mine...right on center!!!

Not a real benefit for me because I don't play my Flugelhorn up there.
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God Bless,
Dan O'Donnell

"Praise Him with the sound of the Trumpet:..."
Psalms 150:3

[Tootsall]

I never have to trigger my Jupiter 846L flugel. Then again, it doesn't have a trigger.

I do, however, adjust the slides (particularly the 3rd) to what averages out best and then just leave them there and compensate for the band's overall intonation with the leadpipe, lipping individual notes as required.

[pfeifela]

All the flugels I play are out of tune

I had trigger added to my Jupiter 846. It was not expensive and it really helped. MP selection also had a big impact on my intonation. The darker sounding pieces were harder for me to play in tune. The more trumpet-like pieces were easier............but not really the sound concept I was shooting for...
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Larry Pfeifer

[Flip Oakes]

No...


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Flip Oakes

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[John Mohan]

I've never had any trouble with tuning on my 33 year old Yamaha 631. There's the usual problem with it being sharp on Low C# and just a tad sharp on Low D. For the first 29 years I owned the thing I just kept the 3rd valve slide out about a quarter inch as a compromise (and forced the middle G# up into tune). Then, when I had it gold-plated in 2004 I had a 3rd valve slide trigger installed.

I've always been happy with my Flügelhorn's intonation - wish I could say the same about my Bach C trumpet...

Best wishes,

John Mohan

[GenoValet]

I'd add my Marcinkiewicz Fluegelhorn (silver/gold over red brass) to the growing list of names of horns that play in tune (by which I think is meant no conscious effort to lip up or down is needed); it has only a bell section tuning slide & only about 1/4" throw of the 3rd valve slide is needed on low C#. I also second all the kudos above for the Yamaha 631 (mine's the red brass); I use the trigger on C# & D, but otherwise, it's in tune also. As to the mouthpiece comments, it's been my safari experience is that only the timbre, not the playability changes with these horns.

[Dale Proctor]

[Crazy Finn]

All flugels have intonation problems. Except for the good ones that play in tune.

Many intonation problems are caused by the player. Some are caused by the horns...

So all flugels play out of tune except for the ones that play well and are played by good players. Heh!

Wow. With useless statements like that, I could run for office.
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[HERMOKIWI]

To say that a certain flugelhorn is inherently more in tune than another flugelhorn may be an accurate statement.

To say that a certain flugelhorn is inherently in tune on every note without any necessity to ever make a slide adjustment is quite a stretch.

You can pick up any flugelhorn and choose to play every note out of tune by setting your embouchure to do that.

So, if you play a certain note on a certain flugelhorn in tune, is this the result of the horn being inherently in tune or is it the result of you combining your embouchure setting with the inherent characteristics of the horn? How would anyone know for certain?

Bending notes (i.e. purposely going out of tune) on flugelhorn is relatively easy to do through embouchure variations and can be a very positive and advantageous characteristic of flugelhorn in terms of playing a certain style. One of the most appealing characteristics of Clark Terry's style of playing flugelhorn is the way he bends notes. When Clark bends a note, that's called "style". If the note is inherently out of tune on the horn, bending it is even easier. So, under some circumstances, playing a certain horn that is less inherently in tune than another horn could theoretically be a plus.

Sometimes players "bend" notes unintentionally as the result of their embouchure setting and, in that process, negate the horn's natural intonation. That's called "playing out of tune".

So, sometimes it pays to play out of tune and sometimes you get fired for playing out of tune. If we could all play like Clark, wouldn't we want to do that? I certainly would.
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HERMOKIWI

[GenoValet]

[loil]

[FaithfulPastor]

My teacher gave me an mental image that helped me play my flugel better.

Playing a trumpet is like throwing a baseball overhand.
Play a flugelhorn is like a five pound weight overhand.

A baseball can be thown with just your arm, (maybe not properly, but you can do it). But if you're going to throw a 5 pound weight, you'll need your entire body and you'll need to make it a long motion and continually build momentum.

He also said, no one wants a quick response flugelhorn.

So I had to hear a different sound in my head and then figure out how to get the flugel to make that sound.

My biggest problems is when I'm asked to switch back and forth in a piece between trumpet and flugel. EVEN WORSE is the jump between piccolo and flugel. It feels like I'm using the wrong end of the mouthpiece to play.

[Dale Proctor]

[Tom Stewart]

I thought all instruments are naturally out of tune due to the harmonic series, YOU have to MAKE them play in tune.

[shofarguy]

[Jon Arnold]

like any instrument (which has problem notes) the flugelhorn has some issues. Some brands are better in tune in others. I think it is important to learn how to play the flugel as it should not be approached the same as a trumpet. I also know that finding the correct mouthpiece (ie. taper) and brand is a must. I have played on a Yamaha 631 for 17 years and it is a nice horn. I fell in love with it because of the tone and had a trigger added when I bought it. I switched to a Monette flugel mouthpiece last spring and it locks in nicely. The flugel should be played with a delicate, sensititve approach.

[GenoValet]

[improver]

YES!!!!!!! Who wants to play a completlely in tune flugelhorn. They are played mostly for jazz. If you want to sound like the LA studio players in their big bands, you know the fast comercial sound then ya! But you want to sound raw like Freddy Hubbard its ok to have some intonation problems. Thats good because all trumpets are out of tune on some note. Listen to Chet at ronnie Scotts on his Beusher student model. It dont get better than that!

[lmf]

Are all flugelhorns out of tune?

Nnnnnaaaaaahhhh, just mine!