At least in my case playing horns, the key does make quite a difference in what I play because I want to stay within the range where the timbre of the horn sounds best. There are also patterns that any honest horn player will admit are easy in one key and challenging just a half-step away in either direction. Sure, we should be able to play some lick in any key but it won’t happen equally smoothly. And shift the key as little as a major third and several notes go out of range.

BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.