About Crumhorns

For Crumhorn Music, click here.

General Information about the Crumhorn

• Best resource for all things crumhorn: The FB group "International Crumhorn Day" (October 3rd).
  The group was created September 5, 2021.
  https://www.facebook.com/groups/internationalcrumhornday/
• Musica Antiqua website at Iowa State University
  See an extensive bibliography under "Additional Crumhorn Sources" at the bottom of the web page. An excellent general resource listed there is:
  
• Meyer, K.T. (1983). The Crumhorn: Its History, Design, Repertory, and Technique. Studies in Musicology 66. University of Michigan Research Press, Ann Arbor.
• Wikipedia: "Crumhorn" has some useful information, including a helpful chart of sizes, pitches, and scale ranges.
• Besides the FB group "International Crumhorn Day," used crumhorns are sometimes available for purchase at the Antique Sound Workshop, Ltd. website - see the link to the Carlton's Clearance Corner.
• Our set of 5 crumhorns (see header image: Soprano in C, Alto in G, Alto in F, Tenor in C, Bass in F) was made by John Hanchet. Modern makers of historical instruments have their distinctive "Makers' Marks." Here is Hanchet's mark for our Tenor crumhorn:
  
  

Crumhorn Making

Videos by Eric Moulder:

• Crumhorn Bending:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM5VqTNMQ7Y
• The Extended Great Bass Crumhorn in C explained!
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0bNUvNKc9I
  

Connections between the Alphorn and the Crumhorn

• See: Lituus (at Wikipedia)
• Both the alphorn and the crumhorn are bent at the end
• Both the alphorn and the crumhorn were called by the same Latin word: lituus
• Both are wind instruments ("aerophones" > end-blown aerophones)
• Both are made out of wood
• They differ in other areas:
  • Alphorns are larger; even shorter alphorns of the past are generally larger than most crumhorns (with perhaps the exception of the Extended Great Bass Crumhorn. Wow!)
  • Alphorns produce sound with vibrating lips; crumhorns use vibrating reeds
  • Crumhorns have holes along their length to produce notes of the scale; alphorns have no such holes, valves, slides or keys and produce notes of the natural tone series
  • Crumhorns have a range of a major ninth (an octave plus a major second). An intermediate alphorn player can usually achieve a 2-octave range, virtuoso alphorn players a 3-octave range.