Odyssey Premiere 'Bb/F' French Horn Outfit

The F/Bb full-double horn is the most common and widely used horn today. It includes both the F and Bb "sides" of the French horn (and their respective timbres) within a single instrument. 

Brass family  instruments produce their unique sound by the player buzzing his/her lips while blowing air through a cup or funnel shaped mouthpiece. To produce higher or lower pitches, the player adjusts the opening between his/her lips. The brass family can trace its ancestry back to herald French horns, hunting horns, and military bugles. The main instruments of the brass family include the trumpet, trombone, french horn and tuba.

The horn or  French horn  consists of about 12 feet of narrow tubing wound into a circle. The player obtains different notes on the horn with a clear mellow sound by pressing valves with the left hand and by moving the right hand inside of the bell. 

The French horn has the widest tonal range of all brass instruments. Its extremely rich, soft timbre gives it a special quality somewhere between brass and woodwinds, enabling it to blend well with the sound of many other instruments. It is also one of the more expressive instruments, thanks to the player’s ability to alter the tone and fine-tune the pitch by putting a hand in the bell 

All models in the Odyssey range of high quality brass band and orchestral instruments have been meticulously designed down to the finest details by Peter Pollard. It’s hardly surprising that, with over 50 years experience and having listened to the ‘wants’ of countless high-profile musicians, this master craftsman is one of the most sought after custom brass and woodwind builders in the world.  

With a luscious lightweight brass lacquered body, offset with cupronickle parts, including the outer slides, bottom and top caps, finger buttons and water keys, the aesthetics of the 'Bb/F' French Horn from the Odyssey Premier Series speak for themselves.  

A real eye catcher without doubt, but it’s also the performance to cost ratio that make this beautiful French horn a winner. Players from students to seriously professional musicians have commented on the excellent response and superb intonation and the high quality materials chosen in the construction. 

With all the characteristics associated with a French Horn, the Odyssey Premier 'Bb/F' French Horn is lightweight and extremely comfortable to play, even for musicians with large hands that are  protected by a leather handgrip. 

Luxurious appointments also include a mouthpiece from a series hand-built to an extremely high standard by Denis Wick and regarded by musicians as arguably the world’s finest. With meticulous attention paid to the rims for comfort and consistency, each mouthpiece, with beautiful and extremely hard-wearing silver and gold plating, delivers a pure honey sweet tone with a rich, mellow voice that has a colourful role in brass bands. Punching dynamics that sit in the higher register add a new dimension when playing obbligato over the top of a musical arrangement.  

As a company producing some of the world’s finest brasswind instruments, Odyssey recognise the fact that protection whilst travelling with a delicate instrument is paramount. To ensure players can maintain a high standard with this instrument, Odyssey has included gloves and a cleaning cloth, whilst a plush lined, Zero-gravity ‘backpack’ hard foam, canvas covered case with shoulder straps takes all the worry out of commuting with such a delicate instrument.

Specification
• Brass body  
• Rose brass lead pipe  
• Clear lacquer finish  
• Denis Wick Mouthpiece DWPAX5.5  
• Spring lever action
• Nickel outer slides  
• Leather hand grip  
• Bore size: 12.1mm/0.47"  
• Zero-gravity ‘backpack’ hard foam, plush lined, canvas covered case with shoulder straps 
• Accessories: Gloves and cleaning cloth 

Taking proper care of your instrument will also help you produce the best sound quality possible, we recommend Odyssey and Ultra-Pure brand accessories.

Odyssey Brasswind is designed and created by UK Master Craftsman Peter Pollard and the UK Odyssey design team.