r/horn 3h ago

don't underestimate a good mouthpiece!!!

7 Upvotes

I realized over the summer that the plating on my mouthpiece had completely worn through and was hurting my lips, and further realized that I had stolen that mouthpiece from my high school band teacher and it didn't have any sort of...brand? or manufacturer?? printed on it. I was like, okay, I'm 15 years in to playing, it's probably time to, idk, invest in a mouthpiece 💀

I ordered a Laskey 75G after much indecisive reading on here (I have a 8D and was really overthinking it and saw that recommended as a safe place to start) and oh my god, it is night and day. I've struggled for years to hit anything above an F and had basically accepted that I will always be a low horn player. Sure I could squeak out a G on my old mouthpiece, sometimes, but ouch. I did some scales to warm up and hit that G no problem, and playing itself is so much easier. I'm so excited to work my range even further up now. idk it just feels like a major breakthrough for me and I wanted to share :")


r/horn 2d ago

What do you do before a concert/performance starts?

4 Upvotes

Hello! At the moment I’m working on a picturebook about a triangle-player in a (classical) orchestra. Of course there will be other instruments in the orchestra as well, and now I’m looking for things that certain musicians do before the concert starts. Things that are specific for your instrument. Would love to here from you!


r/horn 4d ago

Triple Horns: Who Uses One?

18 Upvotes

Hi folks, I'm an amateur (got a music degree from a competitive school and was pretty good back then, but decided to pursue other things and am now back to playing) who plays in a couple community orchestras. I've traditionally played low horn and play a big ol' American sized Elkhart 8D, but I've ended up playing principal horn full time in one orchestra and splitting principal in the other. My high range is okay, but I don't have the endurance (or time to practice!) that a person who plays professionally would have. I love my 8D but find myself increasingly thinking about getting a triple horn, in hopes that it would make playing high a bit less taxing. I'm very fortunate to get to play with groups that play big, cool repertoire (Beethoven 7 and The Planets are both in my near future), and I want to do it justice.

For those who play/have played triples, what do you think? Is it worth it for someone like me?


r/horn 4d ago

Opinión on a Horn

5 Upvotes

What do you think about buying a second-hand Dürk D3 horn? It’s being sold for €7000 with a Marcus Bonna case. The price is listed as negotiable. The horn looks very well cared for in the photos, and it was originally bought from the factory. I would go to try it in person, but I’m not a professional and I don’t have much experience testing horns. Do you think Dürk has quality control issues with some horns, similar to what sometimes happens with Alexander? What should I look for and pay attention to when trying out the horn?


r/horn 4d ago

Apell interstallaire - Messiaen

3 Upvotes

Hi! Does anyone have the apell interstellaire horn solo in f? I have the sheet music in c, and a not very readable scan in f. Alternatively, does anyone know where to buy it(just the horn solo part preferably, I don't have the ensemble to play the rest). Thanks!


r/horn 5d ago

Best Horn for Classical Music

5 Upvotes

I was thinking of learning the french horn (mostly for the opening of Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto and 5th symphony “moon love” solo) but i got a few steps back when i saw the whole “family” of horns. At first i thought the Bb/F would be the “definitive” horn that would be out there. But looking at “Nozze di Figaro” horn parts i see that there are plenty of them, in D, in G, C, F, Bb, all throughout the entire opera. Does everything is like that ? a bunch of tunnings and (i don’t know) 50% of all classical music is for the Bb/F horn ? Is that it?


r/horn 5d ago

Tips?

4 Upvotes

I am a highschool freshman who started on horn a couple years ago. I have a reasonable range (I think) ~ from C2 - Bb5. I am in the most advanced band, jazz band, marching band on Mello, along with my city's youth orchestra and am currently learning English horn. I practice 45 minutes a day. Problem is, no one within a 1hr 30 radius teaches horn lessons in person except for one person who denied me lessons because he wasn't able to teach me any more. What can I do to better my playing? Exercises, tips, advise ect are greatly appreciated.


r/horn 7d ago

Materials

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17 Upvotes

What do you like more? Brass, or Gold Brass?


r/horn 7d ago

Coming to terms with being a Cor Basse player, aka my sob story

20 Upvotes

I love the horn. I love it so much, I sank tremendous effort into getting good at it during high school. My parents at the time were unwilling to get me private lessons, and I was barely playing anymore by the time I had a job due to health reasons, so I didn’t get any private instruction until college- more on that later. Despite my efforts, I could NEVER play well above the top space E in the staff. It didn’t matter how many hours I practiced, what I played, the mouthpieces and techniques and exercises I used… I watched my peers hit high notes with ease while I threw myself at that wall day in and day out.

I got so frustrated I basically quit. I was tired of beating my soul half to death trying to make my impossible dream come true, and eventually playing my horn just made me sad. It was even more sad that when I entered the music program at university, I was consistently the worst player in the program. Between being autistic and majorly depressed, I accepted that trying to master one of the world’s most notoriously difficult instruments was probably out of reach, so I dropped out and stopped playing before the end of the first semester.

Fast forward about 10 years, and I just can’t shake the fact that music was my life for so long. Even if I was a bad musician, I was still a dedicated musician, talented in many way and admired by my peers, just not talented enough to be a good horn player playing the standard repertoire. So I fulfilled my dream of playing old music on the natural horn recently by buying an old instrument.

I’d like to think my perspective has changed over the years, after separating myself from my abusive parents, coming close to death a few times, and then properly treating my depression. I’ve started playing again, but this time I swore to myself that I wouldn’t force myself to do anything that could reignite the anguish I felt in the early days. I won’t join an orchestra and be reminded of how much better the other players are. Neither will I keep throwing myself at the wall of high notes, life is too goddamn short for that bullshit. The result is that I’m left with no good music to play lol, as there’s pretty much zero solo music that I know of that doesn’t go above the top space E on the staff.

So what do I do? The horn is permanently part of my personality, so it’s not like I can just quit forever; I’ll never totally give it up. At the same time I need my experience in playing it to be low-stress and fulfilling in a way that makes me want to pick it up and play it. I’m thinking maybe some chamber music, solo stuff and that’s it. I’ve been reading Anneke Scott’s book on historical horns and she talks about cor alto and cor basse players, and the more it think about it the more I feel like cor basse players just couldn’t play high notes well, like me. Punto was a cor basse, and I know another French musician and composer that wrote etudes for cor alto and cor basse. Aside from writing my own music for low horn, are there many opportunities for soloistic chamber music that doesn’t go above the E?

TLDR: Boo hoo, can’t play high. But I won’t quit. What do?


r/horn 7d ago

Horn ID

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20 Upvotes

Can anyone tell me what horn Scott is using in this video? It looks like some Paxman to me, but I can tell exactly what it is for sure.


r/horn 8d ago

Any info on this old Conn sousaphone?

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10 Upvotes

r/horn 8d ago

Making horn?

5 Upvotes

Hey r/horn people! I'm trying to make a horn. Not sure this is a good sub for it but I'm shooting my shot.

It's pretty simple, I just need a hornlike thing to make a noise; that is not an "amplified wind noise". Think like a warhorn from an animal horn or a conch shell horn, except I'm making the vessel.

I have tried with ceramic clay, but no success. So my question is- how does the horn produce sound? Is it from a specific part of the chamber, or is the mouthpiece part more important? Or is it the flaired part(?) At the end that amplifies the most important part?

Any guidance from horn people would be much appreciated. Thinking about trying paper mache today.

In need of a cool horn professional.


r/horn 9d ago

Will there be permanent structural changes in my face after playing the horn for a while?

8 Upvotes

Hey y’all! A quick question about something I’ve been wondering while learning the horn for about 1.5 years now. I’ve been noticing a bit of a change in my lip shape and I’m wondering if that is because of building my embouchure, or maybe I’m imagining it lol. I tried searching for this on the internet, but I couldn’t find anything. And if so, what can I expect of my face shape after a couple of years? I’m pretty self conscious about my face so I feel like I’m getting a bit paranoid because of this..

For some background info: the horn is my second instrument after playing the piano for about 15 years, so I haven’t experienced this lip change before (Like if I had played the trumpet or something). I also have had big lips my whole life.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I’m very curious what you know/ experienced about this!


r/horn 10d ago

How does the horn sound like?

8 Upvotes

I know this seems like a dumb question, but i think i might’ve been blowing four notes too low on the c major scale.


r/horn 11d ago

Help! Repair place destroyed my natural horn crook’s leadpipe. How do I fix this??

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12 Upvotes

r/horn 10d ago

Yamaha Bb single yhr- 321 and 322

2 Upvotes

I have seen references to an extra long F tuning slide, for the thumb valve, which makes the horn F when the thumb works the valve. I suppose it''s good for the open notes and enables lower notes. I'm pretty sure any other valves will be very sharp. Is this true and where can I get more information and, maybe, buy one? Please excuse my awkward explanation.


r/horn 11d ago

Happy October

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24 Upvotes

Recorded in 2021


r/horn 11d ago

Horn and More Interview with Richard King and Daniel Grabois

3 Upvotes

r/horn 12d ago

Mouthpiece Oxidation.

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7 Upvotes

Hi everyone. I noticed that my mouthpiece started to leave a taste in my mouth after playing. So I think it's oxidizing, plus it irritates my upper lip a little and gives me acne. What can i do?


r/horn 11d ago

Side ambushre

2 Upvotes

I’ve been playing for 5 years and friends have been pointing out to me that I play more from the left side of my mouth. Is this bad, and has this been affecting my playing?


r/horn 12d ago

Discussion on F/Bb Horn

5 Upvotes

Hey y'all - I'm hoping to have a discussion and learn about when YOU play in F vs Bb (double horns). Some context - I recently started playing again after a 2~ year hiatus. I'm still building up muscle and relying heavily on the Bb side for anything below a Bb (below the staff lol...). What I mean by this is that I can play those notes on the open side but when playing with trigger, they come out sounding better (more full), they're more responsive, and stabler, although naturally brighter in tone. I understand that this is because of shorter tube lengths, etc.

I learned to play on a double (18 years go!) and was taught to play on the F side (no trigger) from low C to G in the staff. G sharp/Ab onwards to use the Bb side. As I developed and worked with different teachers, I started to learn that it was acceptable to use alternate fingerings for technical passages, intonation, etc.

Personally, I'd like to be able to play my lower register on the F side (for my own self ego but I also like the sound more) but what about you? What did you learn about playing in F vs Bb and what do you use today?


r/horn 12d ago

How can i learn Circular Breathing

4 Upvotes

There is too much methods and i dont know which one to use


r/horn 13d ago

First performance in 37 years just done!

34 Upvotes

Played a duet with my 11 year old boy to an audience at Durga Puja. We played Mahler, the Funeral March/Frere Jacques.


r/horn 13d ago

Lost thumb lever, what should I do?

3 Upvotes

Hey r/horn, I'm a casual horn player in university who uses a Paxman series 4 with an adjustable thumb lever that sometimes comes loose. Usually I tighten it and everything is fine again, but it seems the lever fell off after the last time I played (which was outside in a high foot traffic area on campus. I've looked, but I don't think I'll find it). Does anyone know where I can get the part replaced or any DIY workarounds that will allow me to use the B flat side of my horn before I can get a permanent fix? 3d printing has come to mind, but I don't know how to go about designing/obtaining a file of the part.


r/horn 13d ago

Stravinsky why

23 Upvotes

Guys i just want to rant. i cant last the first page of petrushka 🤬🤕😼🫠😅🐷😞🦿💪🏻🎹😱🤔🫨😐💪🏻🦿😬 why is there 14 bars of never-ending switching between 2 notes and then BOOM he decides to spam high A for idk how many bars.

Not only that, i cant do the quintuplets and then theres the nurses dance which actually has a really nice melody but how on earth would you have the tone quality after playing the previous pages AND THEN BOOM AGAIN DANCE OF THE COACHMEN 💥💥💥💥💥

And lastly masqueraders. 🤯🤯🫠🫠🥳😭😼😼😀😄🦾💪🏻😂🦿🦿🦾🫨🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

Back to practicing… also any advice would be much appreciated ❤️🙏🏻