Turkle Heavyweight Member
Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 2450 Location: New York City
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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2018 8:21 am Post subject: Review: Yamaha 8310Z and 8315G flugelhorns |
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Hi, all. During a visit to the Yamaha Atelier yesterday, I had the opportunity to try the Yamah 8310Z and 8315G flugelhorns. Since I found almost no information here on TH about those two flugels, I thought that a review here might be helpful for you.
Both flugels are magnificent, to say the least. As we have come to expect from Yamaha, they feature an even and in-tune scale, ease of response, and first-class fit and finish. They both use bottom-sprung valves and are the same .413 bore. I tested these with my Curry 3FLD-Y. mouthpiece.
The 8310z generates much more of a "traditional" or "French" flugel sound. It's all yellow brass and quite lightweight. The upper-register is superb, although perhaps not quite as secure as the 8315G. Its tone has that classic slightly airy tone, and since it's lightweight and yellow brass, it can still generate a nice "ping" on your articulations if you need it. I thought that the sound is a bit more versatile on this instrument, as when you play it softly it gets really fluffy and warm, but when you play it loudly it does brighten up, so you can get a wider range of sounds. I thought that the sound is less directional on this horn - it sounds like it's filling the room, a sort of omnipresent sound that comes at you from all angles. The Z horn slots a bit looser (very similar to the Z trumpet), so you can bend the pitch more easily for more expression if you're into that sort of thing.
The 8315G generates what I think of as a more "modern" sound. The bell is gold brass and it's slightly heavier than the 8310Z, but not by much (the receiver and some other tubing was nickel, for instance). It has a gold brass bell and delivers a rich, significantly warmer tone, with enormous volume in the midrange. Its upper-register slotting was slightly more secure than the Z flugel. I found its tone to be extremely consistent throughout all dynamics and registers. Rather than the classic light and airy sound, this generates a rich, thick, powerful midrangey sound that is more directional than the Z horn. This horn slots tighter and it's more difficult to bend the pitch, so you'll get a more solid sound. It's very even and I thought that for me, it's less expressive since at all volumes and ranges the sound stays pretty much the same (which of course can be a good thing if that's your sound concept!).
I decided to purchase the 8310z flugel because I thought its tone is more expressive/versatile and because I play so many unamplified gigs where I need my sound to carry and cut through noisy bars and such. If I did more playing into a microphone, either live or in the recording studio, I may very well have purchased the 8315G. But for my particular playing situations and sound concept, the classic lighter flugel sound of the 8310Z is best. Also, unsurprisingly, it's a wonderful match for my 8310Z trumpet!
I hope this is helpful for those of you that are looking into purchasing a new flugel. I'm absolutely thrilled with the 8310Z flugel but either horn would be a worthy choice depending on what you're going for musically. _________________ Yamaha 8310Z trumpet
Yamaha 8310Z flugel
Curry 3. |
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