Gemshorn

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The Gemshorn (New German spelling: Gämshorn) receives its name from the German language, and means, literally, a chamois horn. It refers to an instrument of the fluteash family that was historically made from the horn of the chamois or other suitable animal. The instrument has a sweet, watery tone color.

History

The gemshorn was in use in the 16th century. The early history of the instrument is not well known, but the oldest known clear illustration of one is in Musica Getutscht (1511), by Sebastian Virdung. There is also mention of this instrument in "The Complaynt of Scotlande" as "ane gatehorn"(goat horn). Volume 2 of Praetorius's "De Organographica", from the early 1600's, provides detailed construction plates and diagrams for the gemshorn. They were primarily a pastoral instrument and were not widely known after the mid-to-late 1500s. With resurgent interest in early music in the 19th and 20th centuries, they have received new attention, and are now made in consort families from sopranino to bass or lower. Some claim that the gemshorn is ancestral to the recorder.

Construction

Modern gemshorns are often made of the horns of domesticated cattle, because they are readily available, and their use prevents endangering wild species. The hollow horn has tone holes down the front, like a recorder or clarinet. The pointed end of the horn is left intact, and serves as the bottom of the instrument. A fipple plug, usually of wood, is fitted into the wide end of the instrument, with a recorder type voicing window on the front of the horn, for tone production.

On more advanced models, there is a "tuning ring". This is a metal band or ring, placed between the voicing window and the top tone hole. A hole is drilled through this ring and the horn beneath. When the ring is turned with the fingers the hole is partially blocked. This lowers the flute's keynote by up to about 1 major tone. Partial wax closure of the dorsal (rear) thumb hole will accomplish the same keynote tuning.

Some recent makers have used synthetic materials in place of the animal horn, though it does not seem to have become a common practice. The modern tonette or flutophone is based on this instrument.

Fingering Method

16th century gemshorns had only a few tone holes, and a very limited range. Modern makers have chosen to build them using the Baroque recorder fingering, or, in some cases, English ocarina fingering.

Organ Stop

There is a gemshorn organ stop, modeled after this instrument. Its pipes are conical, with the wind going in at the wide end, as in the gemshorn.

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