The making of cowhorns
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I make my horns according to the old tradition. This means that I start by boiling them. Then I make the mouthpiece, drill the finger holes, intone the instrument, polish the horn and edge it with leather. The whole process takes around six hours per horn. According to old folklore you should not leave the horn lying on the ground. This could expose the horn to witchcraft, and it could attract wolves and bears rather than domestic animals. Therefore, I never put my horns on the ground. I want to pass on an undestroyed instrument. I tune my horns in cow's tune or in a standard key. Note! The longer the horn, the easier it is to play. |
It
takes around 1 1/2–2 hours to boil the cartilage in the horns
enough for the piece of bone inside the horn to come loose and be
knocked out. With 50 horns in the cauldron, like in these pictures,
the boiling process takes almost a whole day. When the horns have
cooled off I wash them up very carefully. Then the making of the
actual instrument can begin.
First, I cut away a piece at the top of the horn, in order to hollow out the mouthpiece. Second, I drill the three finger holes and intone the instrument. Then I polish and polish and polish... Finally I edge the bell with leather and burn my mark on it. I carry out this work
in series, which means I do one part of the process at a time
with ten or so horns. This way it takes me around six hours to
finish one horn. |
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