Liad,
I'm interested in buying a shofar, and could use some advice. I tried one for the first time a few days ago. It was strange. I could get one note to play with a full tone - very resonant, but anything else was a squeek. There seemed to be no partials even though I had no trouble buzzing much higher than the fundamental. The shofar was small, about 10 inches, and the owner couldn't play it at all. So nobody knew what it was capable of. Is there such a thing as a one-note shofar, or is it me?
Somewhere I read your suggestion to buy a very long shofar, and it makes sense. However, I'm reluctant for 3 reasons: cost, smell and style. The first is obvious. For the second, I've heard from several sources that longer ones don't clean out as well and therefore smell bad. Any comment? As for style, it's just that I don't want to be the new guy with the biggest toy, like a beginner cyclist with all the gear for the Tour de France (or an average high school trumpeter with a Monette
). It sets expectations too high, and people are bound to laugh even harder if I mess up with the biggest shofar around.
So what should I look for in a shofar of 18-24 inches? Are there different "mouthpieces?"
Thanks.
Sam