Legend has it that the alphorn was a gift from the spirits: One night, high above Lake Brienz, three figures appeared to the young herdsman Res. They offered him a choice of red, green, or white milk whey. Red whey would bestow upon him miraculous powers, and green one would make the most beautiful Alps his own. However, the herdsman chose the honey-sweet, white whey. And after consuming it, his hearth flared then subsided, and by the fire lay an alphorn. He blew the horn and paused until the sound echoed back to him like the voices of spirits. In the valley below, the people thought the mountains had begun to sing. That is the myth. In any event, the spirits left behind the first alphorn, in those times without  O-rings from APSOparts - Angst+Pfister's online shop - between the connected wooden pipes. 

Without a doubt, it is the most iconic symbol of Switzerland - ahead of fondue, edelweiss, pocketknives, or clocks. Alphorn is home. Yet at one time, the alphorn fell into disrepute and became known as the begging horn as it was associated with impoverished herdsmen playing it to beg for money. It came back into fashion in the 19th century with the romantic transfiguration of the Alps, the beginnings of tourism, and the celebration of tradition at the first national herdsmen festivals, the Unspunnen festivals near Interlaken, which still take place regularly today.  
 

The wood and the seal are vital. 

The main protagonist in alphorns is the wood. Bruno Cattaneo selects the wood for his alphorns together with foresters in the mountains of the Swiss canton of Graubünden. Only wood with the right resonance has the quality to transmit vibrations in such a way that the alphorn sounds good. It requires centuries-old spruce trees growing at an altitude of between 1400 and 1600 meters. There, the climate causes the wood to grow slowly and evenly, with annual rings homogeneous enough to become the compact and sonorous base material of the instruments. The typical curvature of the horn requires trunks that have grown on steep slopes.  

Almost as important as the wood are the seals - today's standard alphorns consist of three parts. It is crucial that the sections fit very tightly into each other. No air is allowed to get out," says Urs Arnold. If the parts do not fit perfectly together, the pitch or sound quality will be adversely affected. There are five notches in Bruno Cattaneo's connectors, into each of which an O-ring is placed. "The seals have to ensure that the vibrating air blasts do not escape from the long tube - except through the sounding cup at the end. Simultaneously they have to allow the sections of the instrument to slide smoothly into each other," says Bruno Cattaneo.