Author: John Runs This Place

We love squeeze horns! Especially the brass honkers we import from India! A labor of love. Happy Honking!

At Last! Tuned Horns

University of Michigan has a 2016 video describing the original taxi horn tones of the Gershwin score. [Updated 11/19 See also new Taxi Horns post.]

Reader Jan (see comment below) shares an insight into the notes used in the original recording. That lead to this article (lots of interesting details): 1929 Gershwin Taxi Horn Photo Clarifies Mystery. It would seem the mystery of the actual tones used in the original recording is solved!

A comment from Bill Schuetter today provided the missing clue to discovering a source for tuned squeeze horns. Bill provided a link to a YouTube video of the LA Philharmonic performing Gershwin’s ‘American In Paris’. There they are! and certainly orchestras around the world would need these to perform Gershwin. I found a  few sources. See links below.

Taxi Horns for Gershwin's American In Paris Attribution Some rights reserved by vxla
Taxi Horns for Gershwin’s ‘American In Paris’ – Attribution Some rights reserved by vxla

[Update 5/11/15] There you go! Owner Russ Knutson, of Chicago Percussion Rental comments below to point out that the horns in this shot came from his shop.

Certainly not cheap to purchase. That’s about $750. U.S. From Kolberg in Germany.
Most orchestras rent the set of  horns. In the U.S. often from Steve Weiss Music outside of Philadelphia.
Also from LA Percussion Rentals. FSTJ Percussion in Quebec, Canada.

A Horn For Tim’s BMW

Not that there was ever any doubt, but here’s picture proof that our horns are a class act. This is the 12″ medium loop horn mounted on Tim’s 1955 BMW. Beautiful! We were a little concerned about mounting the horn to his 7/8″ handle bars. He did use the attaching bracket I include, but supplemented it…

I used a zip tie to the clutch cable to increase the contact points. After taking the photo I inserted sail tape (used to stop sharp objects from ripping sailboat sails) between the handle bars and the clamp. This tightened the fit and prevents scratches to the chrome bars. The horn is loud (good) and is an excellent add on.

bmwPhoto2 brass horn bmw

Thanks for sending the photos Tim!

Johnny From Seattle

Johnny sent along a shot of his 16″ covered bell horn, now safely secured to his bike. I asked him how he attached it.

I couldn’t use the included handlebar clamp due to dashboard and foredeck, so I used two 3/4″ insulated conduit hangers and secured the upper segment with a zip tie.

Johnny from Seattle sent along a shot of his bike.

 

And here’s a close-up of how he attached his horn.

Attaching Your Squeeze Horn

Attaching your squeeze horn to your bike can be problematic. The attaching brackets I include in your order work well for the 7″ and CAN be used to mount the larger horns, but honestly, the design isn’t right for all horns. The problem is that the horn part of the attaching bracket is designed to go around your horn’s smaller tube, and that joint is probably the weakest link in the horn’s construction. I am working with the manufacturers to design a more elegant bracket, but in the meantime I’ll be posting some of my own experiments.

The setup I have pictured here, while not the nicest to look at, has proven to be very sturdy. It’s a plastic bicycle handle bar clamp from a Dollar store bike light wrapped around the main squeeze horn tube. And a #0 Conduit Hanger (with speed thread, meaning you don’t even need the extra nut shown) from Home Depot, which I painted black.

On another bike I’m using a butterfly nut to attach the clamp to the conduit hanger, which makes it easier to remove as well.

Probably some of you are much handier in the garage than I am. So I look forward to hearing and seeing how you attach your horn to your bike, car, boat or what have you.

 

attaching your squeeze horn
Attaching Your Squeeze Horn