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Make Your Own Custom Horn
Interested in owning a custom horn but hesitant about the cost? There is a resource out there worth checking into. I have mentioned a couple times in this site that I made a natural horn as a Doctoral...
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Opinion and Parody: The ‘New and Improved’ Louisville Orchestra
As if things could not get any stranger, the management of the troubled Louisville Orchestra has been soliciting replacement musicians through the popular classified ads web site, Craigslist. While I...
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Ask Dave: What Can I Do About a Horn that Plays Flat?
Eric J asks: I recently bought a new horn about two months ago. Everything is in working order, great sound, projection, ergonomic, light, just a great instrument overall. There is only one problem:...
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Brief Review: The GigBag Horn Mute Bag
A new product I was sent recently for review is the GigBag horn mute bag. As the website states, “The GigBag is a carrying case for multiple horn mutes and music accessories, designed specifically for...
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Commentary and Yet More Parody: Pimpin’ with the Louisville Orchestra
The amount of web site traffic and positive response – on Facebook, on this site and in private messages - to last Friday’s opinion piece and parody of the current situation at the Louisville...
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Hornmasters on Staccato, Part I: Farkas and Schuller
Continuing on the topic of tonguing, we finally turn officially to staccato tonguing. There are speaking broadly two approaches to staccato presented in horn methods. One of those approaches I...
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The Year that was 2011: A Traffic Overview and the Top 35 Articles of Interest
Last month, Horn Matters hit a new high for web site traffic and overall, our readership is trending upwards. With this in mind and looking ahead to the new year, now is a good time to look back and...
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Hornmasters on Staccato, Part II: Fox, Berv, and Hill
Staccato tonguing is a problem for many horn students. In part I of this article Farkas and Schuller laid out their approaches to teaching this, approaches that sound right on paper but in reality are...
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Random Friday: Equilibrium, Paralysis, Authenticity and Comedy
A screen capture from the Hoffnung Orchestra video (see below under Random Videos) Photoshop challenge At Fark.com, users were given the challenge to superimpose a Venus-brand single B-flat horn into...
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Ask Dave: Clanking Parts and the Valve Levers
Bruce B. asks: Following up on your article on clanking valves. My horn (Holton 179, early 90s vintage) will clank if I am careless about adjusting the string position relative to the valve rotor....
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Horn Event Promotion 101: Two Approaches to Horn Concertos
Following up on the October article on horn event promotion, two of the upcoming regional horn workshops have angles on the topic of horn concertos that are also well worth highlighting. At the...
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An Inside Look at Double and Triple Tonguing
Over a year ago the focus of an article on breaking the embouchure was an X-ray video of a horn player which showed the jaw motion clearly. But a lot more can be gleaned from this same video, which...
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Professor Corno on High School Players
There are always some great high school horn players out there. They can play crazy music that goes all over the horn and play it like a machine. Secretly I envy them. But also I really don’t envy...
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Hornmasters on Double and Triple Tonguing. Part I: Schuller and Farkas
While long considered an essential skill for the trumpet player, double and triple tonguing has traditionally been considered optional for horn players. Gunther Schuller in Horn Technique introduces...
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“Not Like Kopprash”
Way back on 7/13/06 I had a short article in reference to playing jazz on my original HTML blog under the title, “Not Like Kopprasch.” The thought comes back periodically, and came back recently as...
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Hornmasters on Double and Triple Tonguing. Part II: Yancich, Fox, and Berv
In part I Schuller and Farkas ultimately come across as not being big advocates of multiple tonguing. Today we turn a corner however and arrive at sources a bit more committed to learning the skill....
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Embouchure 101: A Video on Brass Embouchures
David Wilken has put together a superb 50-minute video on embouchure basics that should be required watching for both teachers and players. The topic of embouchure can be a hot-button topic among horn...
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Commentary and Parody: The Louisville Orchestra Inc. Calls for Applicants
In addition to searching for orchestra musicians via the online service Craigslist, the Louisville Orchestra Inc. (LOI) has created and is distributing an advertisement calling for replacement...
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Ask Dave: “How Should I Clean a Smelly Old Horn and Case?”
James asks: I recently purchased an old 1960′s Contempora online. However, both the horn and the case look like they haven’t been touched since the 1960′s; even the valve oil, slide grease, and rag...
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Random Monday: Curvaceous and Full of Tubes I Don’t Understand
A street decoration from the New Orleans area of the Disneyland theme park in California. ‘Tis the season At Bennett’s Tenets, we see an example of how busy this season can get for musicians....
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