Tijuana Taxi-Horn
- Thread starter Rob
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DAN BOLTON
Well-Known Member
bob
Active Member
that type of horn is called the bulb horn, the antique cars some of them have them.. it is round. now some of them are straight. and have a sound like a bycicle horn.you can try flea markets or antique stores, I got one I bought back in the 80's ,it cost me $10.00 dollars, but the rubber part was all rotted, so I replaced it with a baster bulb and works just fine.
bob
bob
Numero Cinco
New Member
Rob: Why don't you try eBay? Goodness knows you can find almost everything else there.
If authenticity is you bag, the real trick would be to find a horn that emitted the proper pitch. If your band plays the song as Mr. Alpert arranged and recorded it, it's in the key of F, with the taxi horn in F, too.
If authenticity is you bag, the real trick would be to find a horn that emitted the proper pitch. If your band plays the song as Mr. Alpert arranged and recorded it, it's in the key of F, with the taxi horn in F, too.
Numero Cinco
New Member
DAN BOLTON
Well-Known Member
If anybody in your group plays a synthesizer, you might be able to find a sound effcts card that might have the horn sound. That way, you could modulate the pitch for any song you might want to use the horn in...Herb also used the taxi horn for the recording of CARMEN, at the end...and I don't remember if it was in the same key as TIJUANA TAXI...
Some sound effects CDs might have something like that, as well...
Try the message boards at www.synthzone.com...
Dan
Some sound effects CDs might have something like that, as well...
Try the message boards at www.synthzone.com...
Dan
mhurrikane
New Member
Rob: Being a drummer of 38 years one of my dreams was to play in a band that covered TJB material. If you are pulling it off properly you must have a very large band. The band would have to have at least 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, guitar, bass, drums, percussionist, keyboards, and definitely a marimbist. If you are doing it, Gold Bless you and good luck getting paid what you deserve!!! 
Thanks to all for your input. In fact I did find someone selling these things on ebay and will probably bid.Marty, thanks for yor support and interest. I live just west of Toronto Canada. The only way I am able to get this project of the ground is because I was able to pitch the idea to the entertainment director of the Canadian National Exhibition. Unfortunately, my original proposal was for an eight piece band, but I have to get by with five. So we are rehearsing right now and will be performing at the CNE for 18 days straight beginning August 20th. Instrumentation will include drums, two trumpets, guitar and a keyboard player who will cover bass and marimba parts. My hope is that this gig will offer us some exposure and generate some interest so we can gradually expand. The gig pays scale which isn't great except that it runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day. So most of the guys can still take evening gigs. I will keep you posted on our progress
venturaguy49
Member
Well, after haven tried tones in NotePad, which ia a really cool and essentially free(for the basic entry-level software) songwriting program, I found that in the key of 'F', that the famous T.J. Taxi horn is pitched in the tone of B Natural, but remember that there are various harmonics that will determine the effect, and I imagine that Herb must have spent much time,
(buying horn after horn) untill the right one wes located...maybe, if nothing else, you can have a faux (fake) non-sounding one sync w/a recording of it, but that wouldn't be satisfactory, so nextly, maybe you can run the orginal through a spectro-analyzer, and determine the harmonics...oh this idea won't work, but I'll leave it, cuz it sounds cool and techie, but nextly, maybe you'll find someway for various instruments to create the effect. That horn is world-renown, and I'll betcha that ever since that record was made in '65, manufacters of car horns have attempted to emulate it. One thing's for sure, when/if I own a new car, I want to have one with a programmable horn, and guess what I'll use...ya get three guesses, and first don't count. As for the comical horn on "Car men"(just being facetious there), it involved a honker that was clearly OUT of key, and I'd have to spend mucho hours trying zillions of combinations to find the mystery sound, with the sole clue being that it seems rather a flat and/or diminished tone, depending on the harmonics. This is such a horny topic, and following the discussion of WNML, and specifically, the bump and grind
"Plucky", and the certain images that one may conjure associated with
that performance, well, I could say, but I don't dare
Anywhey, I wish you rots o' ruck in obtaining a reasonable approximation
of what your after...stranger thingz have been know to happen.
Warm Wishes,
sleepy_from_seattle, who's actually mellowmood_in_ventura
and sez "hi" to fellow Venturans and waves to Seattlites (cuzzi used to be one of you, for six years of so.)...and with a mighty flourish, I swig me hookah, and vanish[/u]
(buying horn after horn) untill the right one wes located...maybe, if nothing else, you can have a faux (fake) non-sounding one sync w/a recording of it, but that wouldn't be satisfactory, so nextly, maybe you can run the orginal through a spectro-analyzer, and determine the harmonics...oh this idea won't work, but I'll leave it, cuz it sounds cool and techie, but nextly, maybe you'll find someway for various instruments to create the effect. That horn is world-renown, and I'll betcha that ever since that record was made in '65, manufacters of car horns have attempted to emulate it. One thing's for sure, when/if I own a new car, I want to have one with a programmable horn, and guess what I'll use...ya get three guesses, and first don't count. As for the comical horn on "Car men"(just being facetious there), it involved a honker that was clearly OUT of key, and I'd have to spend mucho hours trying zillions of combinations to find the mystery sound, with the sole clue being that it seems rather a flat and/or diminished tone, depending on the harmonics. This is such a horny topic, and following the discussion of WNML, and specifically, the bump and grind
"Plucky", and the certain images that one may conjure associated with
that performance, well, I could say, but I don't dare
Anywhey, I wish you rots o' ruck in obtaining a reasonable approximation
of what your after...stranger thingz have been know to happen.
Warm Wishes,
sleepy_from_seattle, who's actually mellowmood_in_ventura
and sez "hi" to fellow Venturans and waves to Seattlites (cuzzi used to be one of you, for six years of so.)...and with a mighty flourish, I swig me hookah, and vanish[/u]
venturaguy49
Member
I'll offer this (hopefully) quick suggestion...the Bert Kaempfert Orch recorded their version of T.J. Taxi, and used t-bones to simulate the horn, and if you can locate a transcript of the B.K. version, even if it must be transposed to the Brass' key, then have it run through a synthesizer, and if the gods of technology are ameniable, then maybe you can produce the desired sound.
What wonders hookah can do for one's imagination
Warm Wishes,
sleepy_from_seattle_transplanted_to_ventura
P.S. folks, I recently learned that Ford had considered using the
name 'Ventura' prior to naming their ill-fated car the Edsel.
That woulda done wonders for our lovely little Malafornian coastal city.
Also, F.Y.I., that factory workers who where miffed by haven been taken
from their familiar line to assemble Edsels registered their displeasure by
intentially sabotaging the car, by simply putting in wrong parts, leaving out brake shoes, and such, so that's a reason why the car was such a disaster, but (thank goodness, it was never named Ventura.
What wonders hookah can do for one's imagination
Warm Wishes,
sleepy_from_seattle_transplanted_to_ventura
P.S. folks, I recently learned that Ford had considered using the
name 'Ventura' prior to naming their ill-fated car the Edsel.
That woulda done wonders for our lovely little Malafornian coastal city.
Also, F.Y.I., that factory workers who where miffed by haven been taken
from their familiar line to assemble Edsels registered their displeasure by
intentially sabotaging the car, by simply putting in wrong parts, leaving out brake shoes, and such, so that's a reason why the car was such a disaster, but (thank goodness, it was never named Ventura.
I found a horn on the internet at a store in Florida called "Apollo's Axes". It came in the mail this morning. They had a choice of four different one's but no indication of what pitch they might be. It turned out to be in C sharp, but I was able to remove the bulb and by using a small piece of duct tape i was able to shorten the reed and raise the pitch to F, which will work just fine. Thanks to all. The gig starts in four days.
venturaguy49
Member
I guess that the only problem will be in matching harmonics, which is like finding a sonic mate for a single speaker box...there may be only one of that particular horn, but I'd imagine that, given it's familiarity, that manufacturers have re-created it successfully, or so one would think.
Or maybe it's right up there with the secret of just who was taking a whiz on those B.M.B. album covers, and if that be the case, then Herb will depart from this world without sharing the specs of his taxi horn, or maybe it's possible that Universal own the patent to it. However the case, the harmonics are everything...then there's 'Going Places' companion piece to tjtaxi:A Walk in the Black Forest, which uses the same basic device, namely a guitar passage, this time capped with what must be a marimba tone.
Warm Wishes,
sleepy_from_seattle sez "ain't no-one gonna know the
secret ingredients of this here hookah...de dum de dum dum, BURP!
Or maybe it's right up there with the secret of just who was taking a whiz on those B.M.B. album covers, and if that be the case, then Herb will depart from this world without sharing the specs of his taxi horn, or maybe it's possible that Universal own the patent to it. However the case, the harmonics are everything...then there's 'Going Places' companion piece to tjtaxi:A Walk in the Black Forest, which uses the same basic device, namely a guitar passage, this time capped with what must be a marimba tone.
Warm Wishes,
sleepy_from_seattle sez "ain't no-one gonna know the
secret ingredients of this here hookah...de dum de dum dum, BURP!
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