Mellotronists

On Jun 2, 2007, at 3:08 PM, Mike Dickson wrote:

> Rick Blechta wrote:
>> The French horn actually has the greatest range of any wind (he  
>> said proudly)
> I dispute that.

On what grounds?

The range of a French horn (not all notes great for normal everyday  
use, granted) is 4 1/2 octaves and it could go higher still, but none  
dare do that on a regular basis. There is one piece by the American  
Horn Quartet that utilizes this much range. I'll try to dig it out  
and post it to you. It's pretty amazing.

None of the woodwinds can do that and none of the other brass  
instruments can do that because they utilize a harmonic series that's  
an octave lower. The range is the blessing of the horn but the  
tradeoff is that you have to deal with that horrible pitch insecurity.

Respectively yours,

Richard M. Blechta, Esq.