The
mouthpiece is a funnel shaped tube of metal, by preference silver;
and, in the horn, is exceptionally not cup shaped, but the reverse: it
tapers, as a cone, from three-quarters of an inch diameter to about a
minimum of three-sixteenths of an inch, and is a quarter of an inch
where the smaller end of the mouthpiece is inserted in the upper
opening of the crook. The first horn has a mouthpiece of rather less
diameter than the second. The peculiar mouthpiece and narrow tubing
have very much to do with the soft voice-like tone quality of the
horn. For convenience of holding, the tubing is bent in a spiral form.
There is a tuning slide attached to the body, and, of late years,
valves have been added to the horn, similar to those applied to the
cornet and other wind instruments. They have, to a considerable
extent, superseded hand stopping, by which expedient the intonation
could be altered a semitone or whole tone, by depression of the
natural notes of the instrument. In brass, or other instruments, the
natural harmonics depend on the pressure of blowing; and the brass
differs entirely from the wood wind, in this respect, that it is rare,
or with poor effect, the lowest or fundamental note can be made to
sound.
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