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Rare, Cool, or Odd Instruments

Articles on topics ranging from Alphorn to Wagner tuba and beyond!

A variation on the blue horn

A big thanks to Facebook friend Eric Anderson for allowing me to share this nice picture. The horn is a cast aluminum reproduction...

Transforming wood into brass; the alchemy of Rob Jones

Recently I had some some email exchanges with Rob Jones, an award-winning artisan who sculpts in wood. In our exchange he offered some specific...

Count Roland’s Oliphant of Woe

Recently I was reminded of a historic medieval French poem, The Song of Roland. Key in this poem - which is one of the...

Looks like a mini-Wagner Tuba: Introducing the Althorn

Recently I have had the opportunity to try this great example of an althorn. This particular one is in F and was made by...

World Cup Horn: The Vuvuzela

Now that the FIFA World Cup is in full gear, the vuvuzela  - pronounced voo-voo-ZAY-lah - is fair game for a Horn Matters article. This...

French Horns in ToonTown

Photos from Disneyland. In the area of Disneyland called ToonTown, there is a fun fountain in the central plaza with a few funny horn-related sculptures. Here...

The Bass Horn in Action

A true oddity. Last year, a picture and description of Roger Bobo playing the Bass Horn was posted here. It is a one-of-a-kind monstrosity that...

Vio-horn? Horn-a-lin?

A true oddity. Over at Daily Observations, Charles Noble has posted pictures and video of an odd instrument called the Stroh violin, or violinophone. It...

Photos of Lots and Lots of Antique Horns

The Horn-U-Copia site was recently redesigned, and as a part of their updates they now have databases of photos of all sorts of antique...

Because Bigger is Better, The World’s Largest Tuba

Giant tuba invades London. Who could play this monstrosity? Giant Tuba - the world's largest tuba Be sure to check out the other odd instruments at this...