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At one time Kruspe style double horns (especially the Conn 8D) were a dominant horn type among professional hornists in the USA. That market has dramatically shifted in recent years to Geyer style horns. In relation to that, a question came up at the end of a recent live stream by Derek Wright of Houghton horns (below) — can the Kruspe come back?
None of us can predict the future, but I think they could come back — but not the large, nickel silver horns. I would agree with Derek on this, I think a medium bell Kruspe style horn in brass could come back, or at least has potential to come back if made at a professional level of quality.
Why are they out of fashion?
Several things have conspired to make the large nickel silver horn not as marketable today. Derek brings up several points in his livestream, including what sounds best in more recently constructed concert halls and also that people hear with their eyes. For sure, a big nickel silver horn looks like it might sound different than anything else.
I would add a couple more issues to the list.
One is that in an audition the horn player with the best sound will be the one with more “life” in the sound, a more “complex” tone. In auditions, people are heard back to back in exactly the same setup in a concert hall. A big NS horn can have a duller tone. At an extreme, some of the older players had what could be called a “woofy” tone. That is not a job-winning tone today.
The other big issue is that not very many real, professional level big nickel silver horns have been made since Conn moved from the Elkhart plant in 1968. Which is to say that most of the large NS horns out there now are to varying degrees student model horns. Even a great older horn with rebuilt valves and such is still an old horn, not a horn that a many pros would want to use.
What about a Kruspe style horn with a medium bell in brass?
Returning to Derek, he also mentions that actual Kruspe horns (made by the firm Kruspe!) from the 30s and 40s typically have medium bells. I have seen older Kruspe horns made closer to WWI that had HUGE bell throats, but my own post-war brass Kruspe, described further in this post, certainly has a medium bell. Not only that, it has a hand-hammered bell; only a tiny fraction of Kruspe style horns out there now have a bell of this quality level.
Stepping back a second, a Kruspe style horn could always have been made of brass with the typical tubing profiles of a Geyer style horn. However, more typically they are not, they are made with larger throated bells. The use of nickel silver can give the large bell a bit more life in the tone, but that is something that could also be achieved by using a smaller throated bell to begin with.
As to my own “Kruspe Kruspe,”I finally have had a chance to play a rehearsal with the horn. I like the sound of the brass medium bell; I believe it could blend with a Geyer section. In addition, it “feels” somewhere between a Geyer and a big nickel silver horn, which is a comfortable place.
To close, I will officially predict that the Kruspe style horn could come back, but only if a few players made an effort to seek and use ones constructed in brass with a high quality medium bell and other elements typical of a professional level instrument. I am personally interested to explore that angle — who knows, my next horn modification projects could be working toward capturing the best qualities of my vintage brass Kruspe, but with modern parts.
