The Omnitonic Horn

  Omnitonic horns are a beautiful and interesting part of the horn's history. I'm guessing many people, even within the horn community, have never seen (or even heard) of these horns. One version of the omnitonic horn is pictured on right. There were many more designs for omnitonic horn but the overall idea of the these horns were to avoid the need for the players to be changing crooks so much. With music getting closer to the Romantic period it was becoming more required for each instrument to be capable of playing the full chromatic scale -which would call for a lot of different players, hand positions, and crooks back in the days of the hand horn.

  Personally, I'm not too knowledgeable about the history of the omnitonic horn. That being the case, I'd like to offer some good resources for those of you -like me- that would like to dive more in-depth with this wonderful instrument...


Cor Omnitonique - by Dick Martz


What Was the Omnitonic Horn? - by John Ericson


The Modern Valve Horn - by Brigitte Labelle


The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has an astounding collection of instrument, which is where I got these pictures of omnitonic horns. A must-see museum if you're even in the area and have the time to stop by.