RARE & BEAUTIFUL Holton Farkas H181 French Horn!! | Instrument Reviews

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Every horn player has heard of the venerable Holton Farkas H179, constructed from all nickel silver (60% copper). Many have heard of its close cousin, the H180, which features a yellow brass (70% copper) bell and slide crooks. But this is another close cousin you don't often see, boasting a rose brass bell (85% copper). It's a VERY interesting experiment in material science to observe how the tone quality of a horn changes almost linearly as you add copper. The H181 has a wonderfully dark, rich, and round tone relative to the 179 and 180 models. While most people (not me) will probably prefer the clarity of the nickel alloy 179, this is a VERY fun horn to play, and I'm glad Gonzaga University's music department has one in its inventory. It's no Conn 8D, but it sure does the job pretty similarly to one. :)
~CHAPTERS~
0:00 Opening remarks
0:57 Raw audio demo
1:43 Features & specs
4:49 Announcement
5:18 High register & flexibility
6:21 Low register & clarity
7:55 Dynamics & projection
9:10 Sound quality - deep mouthpiece
10:15 Sound quality - shallow mouthpiece
12:03 Verdict & closing remarks
~EQUIPMENT~
Frank Holton & Co. (Elkhorn, WI) Philip Farkas model H181 professional-tier double horn in F/Bb
Giardinelli New York C8 (James Chambers) & BT-14 (Barry Tuckwell) signature artist mouthpieces
~SOCIALS~
Sheet Music Store: samuelplaysbrass.creator-spri...
Website: sammorozov.wixsite.com/samuel...
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Facebook: Samuel Plays Brass ( / samuelplaysbrass )
~BACKGROUND MUSIC~
Benjamin Tissot - 'All That' | Bensound Copyright-Free Music
I do not own the rights to this music.
~ABOUT SAMUEL PLAYS BRASS~
Do you enjoy content relating to all things music and brass instruments? Sam has got you covered! On this channel we have been devoted to bringing you brass covers, play-alongs, multitracks, gear reviews and discussions, tips and tricks, collaborations, and even vlogs about the music world since 2016! Sam is a hobbyist brass multi-instrumentalist majoring in mechanical engineering. He is an active local performer and has played countless personal arrangements and compositions in small ensemble settings. If you like to nerd out over brass instruments, mouthpieces, music theory, and more, then make sure to subscribe and stay tuned! Thanks for watching.
#frenchhorn #review #backtoschool

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

Hope you enjoyed listening to this Holton! Any guesses what my top-pick Holton horn model is? I’ll be reviewing it at some point… 😉 Also, one of my text annotations on this video got bumped to the wrong video clip-sorry about that! It must have slipped by me somehow.

[@nyancs7098]

Awesome video! Loving the horn content

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

Thank you! Horns are some of my favorite instruments to review!

[@aaronwon6056]

Finally a review on an instrument i currenly own H181. Good job mate🎉🎉

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@James_Dawes]

Loved the bit talking about sound when recording with a mic!

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

I admit it’s something that matters more to me than many, as a multitracker, but I think it’s a very important consideration!

[@tharic4981]

I currently own a H180 and although its not the main horn I play on I agree completely with your video. The high range feels very nice on it but the lower range is not that great. Since im currently playing 2nd horn I dont get to use it as much. Something to consider is that the bell on it is massive! I had to buy a different gig bag because it didnt fit in my old one. Also the main tuning slide has a tendency to get pushed down when you put it inside a case.

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

Glad we’re on the same page! I’d never really considered the bell as being that large, as someone who does most of his horn playing on a Conn 8D, but it is probably larger than most modern Geyers on the market.

[@tharic4981]

@@SamuelPlaysBrass Maybe thats a european thing, I never see people with conns around here. I would like to try one but none of the shops near me ever seem to have one. I mostly see alex 103's, Paxmans and Hoyers.

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

@@tharic4981 That makes sense, but Hoyer makes a near-equivalent of the Conn 8D (maybe the 6800? Don’t quote me on that…) that I think is relatively common. Does that model show up much in Europe?

[@tharic4981]

​@@SamuelPlaysBrassNow that you mention it I do remember seeing 6801's in webshops but im not sure I've seen anyone use one.

[@peternaryd_operasinger]

Really interesting video Samuel!😁👍👍👏👏

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

Thank you!

[@peternaryd_operasinger]

You're so welcome!

[@DKay-sy8xu]

This Holton would probably be able to use the Holton "spit trick" I have the pdf of how to do it, but I will try to explain. rotate the horn's lead pipe clockwise toward your right shoulder, once your keys are facing the floor, wiggle all of the keys (including the trigger), rotate the horn counterclockwise untill the keys are facing your right shoulder. Wiggle all of the keys again. keeping the trigger depressed, turn the horn just a little so the Bb tuning slide is facing the floor, remove the Bb slide and all of the water from the slides should have moved into the Bb tuning slide. You will rarely have to remove the 3rd slide anymore to remove water. The whole process should take about 10 seconds.

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

Interesting theory! I’ll have to try that method out. I rarely get the chance to play on Holtons as 95+ percent of the time I just use my Conn 8D, which doesn’t have a Bb slide, although it makes me wonder if the basis of what you devised for Holtons could be adapted slightly for Conns.

[@RaichuEnjoy]

So this is that horn you were talking about in the comments of one of your videos

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

I did allude to it in a reply to you at some point, yeah.

[@CanadianDivergent]

holy crap, these things are expensive. I saw some for sale in the 30k range. ughh glad I play trumpet.

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

30K is obscene. I think they go for like 10% of that in excellent used condition, maybe 2K if you're lucky.

[@asdfdsa45]

I'm going to guess the best olton horn is the Merker-Matic. If not, then it would have to be the H105.

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

Nailed it!! The Merker is absolutely amazing. Almost on par with a good Conn 8D, probably 98% there.

[@DKay-sy8xu]

@@SamuelPlaysBrass I see multiple horns labeled "merker matic" H289, H175, H292, etc. which horn is an actual Merker Matic???

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

@@DKay-sy8xuGood question. Merker and Farkas each had a variety of models named for them. The only Merker I have tried-which I love-is the H175, I believe.

[@stevelogan409]

Is the #1 Holton horn you're asking us to guess the H177?👍🏻📯

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

No, never played one. Seems like an interesting choice from some Googling. For one thing, it looks like the bore is a lot smaller than most in the industry. My favorite Holton horn actually isn’t a Farkas.

[@johnkjr7063]

I'm looking for a French Horn that will/can play loud with minimal effort and still keeping good tone. I'm the only horn player in my orchestra and the main complaint is that I'm not audible.

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

I responded to your first comment on the YHR-567 video. Go check that out.

[@johnkjr7063]

@@SamuelPlaysBrass thanks. I didn't get the notification

[@trentonoochima8325]

sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh