correct pronunciation of buescher

[danodownunder]

Is it booscher ? is it of german origin, sorry to be pedantic but if i am going to play one of these can somone tell me how to say it. :( :(

[Jerry K.]

Excellent question which will likely generate several answers. I call them Busher and a friend says Bisher and you say Boosher. Got me, but I'll probably keep calling them Bushers.

[MonchMan]

From Steve Goodson's web site:

http://www.saxgourmet.com/buescher.htm

The very first saxophone manufactured in the United States was made by Gus Buescher (it's properly pronounced "Bisher") in 1888 when he was employed by the C. G. Conn Company.

[paulwl]

The Pedantics (a group I've sat in with many a time) will be arguing about this forever. Because the Buescher Co. itself couldn't decide. 1930s ads said, "Say 'Bisher'." 1950s ads said, "Say "Busher'."

I like "Bisher" myself, but I used to like "Bewsher" before I knew it was wrong, rong, worng...

[stitch]

We had a long discussion about this on the old board, and for a bit of variety debated the correct pronunciation of Keilwerth too!

[Bill08690]

My father played in the big band era so I asked him about this and he said "Busher" was the way most players pronunced it then.

[Grumps]

I know players out there who will judge you by how you pronounce Buescher. But that's alright..... I judge them by their neck straps.

[Hornlip]

HA!! I judge them by them by the cut of their reed. . . .meanwhile, I've heard "Bisher" and "Busher" used, interchangeably. I think it's probably "bisher", but in proper German the "i" sound probably woudn't sound as flat and abrupt as a U.S. English speaker would pronouce it. I think it may be more like "Beesher" or "Beesheah"

Meanwhile, I'll settle for "lovely". 8)

[Joseph Boucher]

Maybe the name is of French origin. Mine is and the last four letters (CHER) are pronounced 'SHAY' in French. My name is'BOUCHER' and in French is pronounced 'BOO-SHAY'. I know in French Cajun cooking they will make a 'RUE' which is prononced 'REW', or 'UE' is the same as 'EW'. The 'S' is silent. Therefore, put it all together and you have...BEWSHAY or Buescher. Almost sounds like my name. That's my quess. Really I'm just bored. Joe.

[Joseph Boucher]

ALSO, in the olden days of Europe, many French people were driven out of France because they gave up the Roman Catholic religion for Calvinism, Lutherism, Protestantism, whatever, and settled in England, Belgium, and Germany. Was Gus of German ancestry? Yup, I'm bored. I think I'll go now to the wood shed and toot my horn. Joe.

[saxtek]

Nope. It's German. UE is an American way of spelling the German U with an umlaut. Say OO with your lips, and short I with your tongue simultaneously. Sounds a little like BOOSHER and a little like BISHER, but not exactly like either one.

[Hornlip]

Hmm. I vote for Saxtek's take.

[Claus]

Saxtek is right.

The correct pronuciation is hard to describe, since there is no equivalent of u-umlaut in the English language.

I anyone is interested, I could record a short mp3 of "Buescher" and add "Keilwerth" as well.

But I'd rather own a Buescher than be able to pronounce it correctly... :(

Claus

[MusicMan]

You say toMAYto and I say toMAHto... :lol:

I'll take my Bueschers, Bishers, Bushers, Booshers, etc over most of the chaff any day.

[paulwl]

Ah for the internet, where any discussion can free-range...say, from pronunciation into European migration patterns. Who's to say Bueschers weren't once Bouchers?

I poked around on Goolge for people named Buescher. Didn't find much of use. I did visit one site dedicated to a teeny farming village called Buer, in Lower Saxony, which sent several Bueschers to America...as well as Niehauses and (my name) Lindemeyers. Hmm, a cradle of saxophony in Saxony?

[danodownunder]

Asolutly FABULOUS you people realy enlivened a wet autum evening in New Zealand long live the web, And i am so glad that i am none the wiser as I should have been in the shed playing the bloody booishuecher :lol:
dano.

[danodownunder]

Ive got it its Bluescher. yeahhhh!!!

[paulwl]

No. That's a shoe!

[saxtek]

By the way, despite my earlier post about the umlaut, I don't pronounce the brand name that way. Since 9 out of 10 people I know say Bush-er, I say it the same way. It gets past the semantics and into the important part of the discussion faster.

[mutha potamus]

I thought they changed the correct pronounciation to "Sell-more"...:Shocked:...or something like that.

[CashSax]

glad you guys figured it out.. &;?)`~

[soreliprick]

Just be sure you don't call me late for supper....or is it dinner?

[singlereed]

I thought it was a bad derivation of a German name that would more likely have looked like 'Beuscher' (ie e and u reversed) which would sound more like 'boysher'.

Still, I can't work out you Americans, why is 'Titleist' pronounced 'titelist' - something to do with avoiding sniggers from saying 't*t'?! I don't see why birdwatchers can say it and golfers can't! We have watches sold here called 'Weil' (ie 'vile') but they say 'veal'. :roll:

[Andres]

Nope. It's German. UE is an American way of spelling the German U with an umlaut. Say OO with your lips, and short I with your tongue simultaneously. Sounds a little like BOOSHER and a little like BISHER, but not exactly like either one.

So, it's Bee-YOU-shurr...just say it really fast :dazed:

I usually just say Bush-er.

[paulwl]

I'm sticking with Bisher. Partly because that's how people who actually have the name say it. Partly because I like the sound of it (kinda like the horn!)

Serious classical folks say Busher. I've yet to meet one who didn't.

[Dave dix]

Gus buescher was German and was pronounced bisher,but who gives a toss their saxes are great.The weren,t as popular in the uk as Conn (probably because the us bands brought over conn saxophones during ww2 instead of buescher as of the german origin)
Dave

[Kellyp(BC)]

I just had a " Bisher" Bass sax come in my shop for some work. This is going to be fun!

[frobig]

You know it's been brought to my attention that some brands didn't get a lot of play in certain regions of the country, back when national distribution wasn't as strong as it is now. I know a guy who says Buffet clarinets were almost unknown in Michigan as late as the seventies. And of course people from Texas don't sound like people from Maine, for that matter people from New York City don't sound like people from Albany or Buffalo. So I'm sure regionalism has a lot to do with the pronunciation of "Büscher." By the way, if that sounds French to you, do you think the beer from St. Louis sounds French too?
Gus Buescher was from a German background, but can anybody tell us what his citizenship was? And who doesn't know somebody with a non-English last name that's been butchered since their ancestors came here? Here in Boston, there's a sportscaster named Joe Castiglione, whose name is pronounced cas-tig-lee-OWN. Wanna bet that's not how his great-great granddaddy said it? I think the whole sax world should just leave the whole thing alone and call Bueschers whatever they want. Then we can concentrate on talking about how overrated Selmers are, like we want to do.

[Sigmund451]

Im glad its not hard to say Martin

[SAXISMYAXE]

uhhh Dave, Conn is a German name too. I don't think the German name had much to do with the shortage of Buescher horns in the U.K..

[paulwl]

Gus Buescher was from a German background, but can anybody tell us what his citizenship was?
He was reportedly born in Ohio.

Conn is a German name too.
Only if it's spelled "Kahn" :D ..."Conn" is Irish (it means "chief" in Gaelic).

[SAXISMYAXE]

Paulwl, After a little research, I'll be damned if you aren't right! We had a friend of the family who hailed from Berlin with the surname Conn. I guess the Irish really get around. I'm half German, half Celtic(Welsh, Scottish, Irish), so either way I'm happy! Cheers.

[michaelbaird]

However it is pronounced, I'd like to say thanks for my TT 1923 soprano. The action is incredibly fast, intonation is excellent, and the tone is perfect.

[saxbeginner]

I love German pronunciation,(I did a German degree) especially the umlauts (Buescher)!!

If it is actually a german word, as it appears to be, then Germans would have said it the same way Klaus and Andres explained it. Maybe Klaus should've done a sound bite to clear up all this 'bisher' stuff!!