Posted by Sean Chisham on March 27, 1999 at 00:22:08:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Whats the very best horn out there posted by mike on March 26, 1999 at 22:34:39:
The 822 and the 621 do sound different from each other, but they still have a distinctly Yamaha sound, just at the B&S instruments have a distinctive sound as does the Hirsbrunner CC's and F's.
I have a particular sound I relate to a York tuba which, to my ears, is the exact opposite of the sound my ears hear from a Yamaha instrument. This is not to say that either one if better than the other. They are just radically different sounds. There are audiences for both.
If Jim Self was involved in the project, then it probably turned out pretty well. I am just surprised to hear of Yamaha trying to reproduce the York sound. I would also be surprised if Cerveny tried to copy a Yamaha F or CC sound. I think of Yamaha's as being closer to the sound of a Meinl Weston than to that of a Cerveny, York, or even Miraphone.
Most instrument manufacturers have running themes in both their sound directions and their response and playability. Yamaha and York seem to be good instruments, but in opposite directions. They sound different AND they play differently.
Also odd is Yamaha getting into the ever growing big horn market. The big horns aren't usually where the money is, and Yamaha is a huge company with a bottom line. They make some good horns, but a big chunk of their sales is in the student horn market. I believe it was mentioned that the prototype horn being described cost $30,000 to build. That is a pretty good bargain for a prototype instrument with the development costs and so forth. I would guess that if they were to tool up and build it, it would be around the cost of a Meinl Weston 2165. What they are probably less willing to deal with is the low sales of an instrument which requires more tooling and raw materials than anything else they currently make. Yamaha doesn't come across as a company which is willing to further their artisan's creativity at the expense of slimmer sales which someone like Gerhard Meinl or Peter Hirsbrunner are in their specialty and one-of-a-kind instruments.
Yamaha sells tons of horns, and electronics, and motorcycles, and jet skis, and boats, and ... They are not really an instrument specialist like Lawson horns or Shilke trumpets. This doesn't mean they make all bad horns. It just means that they haven't dealt in specialty instruments. But then again, maybe even a giant like Yamaha can be quick on their toes.
sean