Alphorn is a Swiss long wooden horn with a cupped mouthpiece and a conical bore ending in a bell, or flare. The tubing is about 1.5 to 3 m (about 5 to 10 ft) long and is typically straight with an upturned bell; the tubing may also be completely straight, S-shaped, or coiled like a trumpet. The notes are the natural harmonics of the tube’s fundamental pitch (like the notes of a bugle). Known since antiquity, the alphorn is primarily used for signaling, although Swiss cowherders’ songs (ranz des vaches) and other music can be played on alphorns in three- and four-part harmonies. Similar instruments are found in the Carpathians and Pyrenees.
