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Geyer Dreaming VI – Some Final Stories

John Ericson
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This series has covered a lot of ground! So much so that it has been a challenge to write the conclusion – but it is, of course, a story with no conclusion yet, the Geyer dream will continue well beyond 2023, the 100 year mark of his iconic horn design.

Sadly, the original horns are in fact getting old. There is a conventional wisdom that you might not want to use a horn over about 40 years old as your main, daily driver horn. But some are still in daily use, and to conclude our series we have a few random stores.

Clyde Wedgewood and an influencer today

If you are active on Instagram or TikTok you have seen a major horn influencer post regularly on her original Geyer, Alana Yee. There is a great TikTok post about her horn, which you will have to really dig to view (but well worth the trek). The post was on 2-22-2022. When she had the horn out on trial the seller told her it had belonged Clyde Wedgewood. She then googled him (he was second horn in the Chicago Symphony with Farkas; there are photos of his embouchure and with the horn in The Art of Brass Playing) and got the newspaper article on his murder! Was the horn cursed? But she thought it wasn’t, after using the horn for four years.

Murder?!? Filling in a few more details (and feel free to do the search on Wedgewood), rumor was he was into guns and prostitutes and other shady stuff, and yes he was murdered. But being of short stature, I can imagine that Geyer made the horn specifically to fit him, and it is great that it also fits Alana Yee well today.

Hatfield and the high Bb

Famously, Geyer style horns can have a bad high Bb. During my Doctoral studies my major professor, Mike Hatfield told me a story. When he started his career, he was playing an original Geyer horn, but he had questions — was it him or the horn? He had Chris Leuba and Philip Farkas try the horn. I forget which one said which, but one said the Bb was fine and the other said the horn was unusable and to get another. Eventually he sold it, he just did not have sufficient trust in the high Bb.

Which gets to a standard thing I tell people. When trying a Geyer style horn, test the high Bb. If it is not good, walk away. You play high Bb a lot! You need to have faith in the note. Why they can be bad is a quirk of the design that makers have to work out carefully.

A Geyer dissertation?

If you want to read more, there is a recent dissertation to check out. “Kruspe versus Geyer: An Examination of Horns Used in Several Texas Symphony Orchestras” is a 2016 dissertation from Texas Tech by Andrea Christine Denis. Happy to see some of my writing show up in the footnotes! The full dissertation may be accessed here.

Pondering my Geyer single F

Finally, back during my sabbatical I worked on rebuilding several single F horns to classic designs (series starts here), and one of the key designs in my mind was the Schmidt single F (seen at that same link). I rebuilt a Mirafone horn to a similar design, then was able to buy the remains of an original Geyer single F and rebuild that. The finished versions are seen below.

The key things to note are the Geyer (on the left) actually follows the Schmidt design more closely than my altered Mirafone, and also the Mirafone has several rather bad notes and on the Geyer they are a lot better. I’m probably going to go back and modify the Mirafone bell horn to more closely match the Geyer design. Even with the single F being probably part of a school order, he was just hard wired to make as good a horn as he could, to a solid design. A good final thought in a series dedicated to the craftsmanship of Carl Geyer and the 100th anniversary of the Geyer horn.

Return to the beginning of Geyer Dreaming series

Personal Safety Tips for Lessons

Bruce Hembd
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If you are concerned about your safety with a horn teacher or colleague:

1.) Trust your feelings. If you feel uneasy or creeped out by someone, ask yourself “why?”

2.) Talk to others. They may be able to help you validate your feelings.

3.) Do a Google search. Using search terms such as “firstname lastname sex charges” may produce results. Try variations of these terms to see if you get better results.

4.) Use social media. Platforms such as Reddit allow you to keep your identity anonymous. You can ask direct, honest questions without fear of retribution. https://www.reddit.com/r/horn/

5.) Try a background security check, perhaps even before you start with the teacher or work with the colleague. I have used this app – https://www.beenverified.com. Reports cost as low as one dollar. Do leave some room for doubt. Try not to draw hard conclusions from online security check apps – they are not 100% reliable. But, they can point you in the right direction.

6.) Bring a friend. If you are already enrolled at a school and are feeling uncomfortable, try bringing a friend to your lessons (and offering to go to theirs) under the guise of “observing.” Or, ask to record your lessons for review and study after the lesson.

7.) Leave the room. In an absolute worst case scenario – leave your horn and leave the room. If necessary, knock on doors and make noise. Make phone calls. You can get your horn and personal belongings later, with another person.

8.) Seek out the Title IX office or HR office of your institution. Document incidents and keep records, even journal entries, as much as possible. A Google Sheet can do this – https://www.google.com/sheets/about/

Special thank you to contributors at https://www.reddit.com/r/horn. and COR Community on Facebook.

The Trauma of Elliott Higgins

Bruce Hembd
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 **Trigger Warnings:

  • Elliott Higgins,
  • thoughts on misogyny,
  • straight talk aimed at men.

Background story is here.

Mr. Higgins is teaching me that trauma in the horn world exists, and that it is inextricably connected to his horrific story. Old wounds are being opened. #MeToo, for example.

Abuse exists in our horn world, done mostly by men who take advantage of innocent victims. It exists on a continuum, ranging from Elliott Higgins as the extreme example, to just plain words and tone of voice.

I confess

When I was young and stupid, I complemented an attractive female student on her appearance in a private lesson. Her demeanor and body language changed immediately.

I said nothing and moved on without saying anything, as if nothing had happened. I knew that I did something wrong; 30 years later and I still think about it. I remember her name.

I wish that I owned a time machine, where I could not only stop myself from saying what I said, but could also apologize to her for even thinking it in the first place.

Most likely I said other stupid things to other horn students, without even realizing it. I imagine that other men have done the same.

I am a witness

When I was a child my divorced mother dated black men, in the 1970s in Indiana – a bastion of the KKK. “Separate, but equal” was more-or-less still in effect; there were black schools and white schools in public education.

Some of the men Mom dated were married. I saw lies, and witnessed abuse and addiction. I experienced secondary racism. On top of this, Mom and I took care of her handicapped daughter (my sister), who required constant attention. I heard the insult “reee-tard” a lot as a kid, especially when carrying my horn case on the school bus.

As an adult, I lived in many places when pursuing a career in music performance: throughout the USA, in Mexico City, and a bit in Europe. I witnessed abuse, misogyny, predatory behavior, sexism, and racism in all these places.

Sometimes it was horn celebrities who were (and still are) well-known and revered.

Today I work in web technology, remotely from home, and play the horn as a hobby. I witness pervasive misogyny in the workplace and most social media.

I see predators

I hear and see things – over and over again – with certain men active in our field today.

These men engage in predatory behavior with intent and purpose, and get away with it.

They exude charm and charisma to seduce and manipulate victims. They game the system to remain employed and continue their abuse, for years on end.

See something, say something

Good-hearted men that find this repulsive, especially those who are leaders in the horn world, need to speak up. LOUDLY. This behavior is absolutely unacceptable. It is morally reprehensible.

Remember that if you see something creepy and say nothing, you are complicit… perhaps even culpable.

Burying heads in the sand and moving forward as if nothing is happening does not make a problem go away. It just allows the problem to fester like an open wound, and continue on and on in a vicious cycle, for years… even decades.

Case in point, Elliott Higgins.

***

If you were affected by Elliott Higgins and his actions, please seek help. You are not alone. Please do not keep it a secret. Talk to someone.

Geyer Dreaming V: The Mouthpiece Man

John Ericson
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Continuing to the topic of Geyer and mouthpieces, there is an article by Milan Yancich, “Carl Geyer — The Mouthpiece Man,” that was published in the March 1962 issue of the NACWPI Bulletin. Wait, the mouthpiece man??

A mouthpiece made especially for you!

A big picture thing to point out right away was Geyer understood that he needed to control the entire system to give the best result for his customers. He knew that he could make a great horn, but if someone played that great horn with a so-so or bad mouthpiece (or a mouthpiece otherwise unsuited to use with his horns), then the result was the buyer thought it was a bad horn.

The mouthpiece needs to match the horn. Part of his genius was that Geyer developed his mouthpieces to not only match his horns. but also to match the individual players he made them for. As Tom Bacon learned firsthand, when he bought his Geyer in 1962-63,

I knew that I had found what I was looking for and told Mr. Geyer so. I asked if I could buy one of his horns. He said that he had a lot of orders to fill, but if I would wait six months he would make one for me. And with a sidelong glance at the old, beat up mouthpiece I was using he added, “I vill make new mousepiece for you too.”

Made one by one

As introduced by Milan Yancich in his article “Carl Geyer – The Mouthpiece Man,”

Geyer’s mouthpieces, like his horns, were never mass-produced. Each French horn and mouthpiece was made to fit the individual’s needs and purposes….

Although Geyer’s main forte was the manufacture of French horns, he always had an intense interest in designing and making mouthpieces for musicians. In my own case he spent countless hours trying to help me improve my playing by making the correct mouthpiece. Carl Geyer met the challenge of making and improving mouthpieces with an intensity that always awed the lucky recipient, especially if the mouthpiece fit the individual’s need.

Turning out a mouthpiece on a machine lathe might take an hour’s time, but then the real work began with testing of the mouthpiece. Hour after hour is spent making adjustments for faulty notes, for intonation problems, for tonal discrepancies, and for other idiosyncrasies that might arise. Sometimes all his work came to naught because of an error in judgment like drilling the opening or backbore a shade too much or by making the rim too thin, etc. What did he do when he failed? He started over again! No wonder so many of our nation’s hornists hold Mr. Geyer in such high esteem.

There is more in the article about specifics of designs used at the time, but for now I would highlight this quote, which is 100% true: “Mr. Geyer states that the first twelve inches of the mouthpipe in conjunction with the mouthpiece spells the secret of tone production at its best.”

Geyer also designed some of the mouthpieces that were produced by other makers

Turning back to Yancich, in his A View from the Rear book he also states that

Most of the stock mouthpeices manufactured in the United States were designed by Mr. Geyer. The Conn No. 1 and the Conn No. 2 mouthpieces were designed for a German friend craftsman employed of the C.G. Conn Company. The Reynolds Company manufactured a mouthpiece that was originally designed by Geyer for Max Pottag, then its representative. The Holton-Farkas model mouthpiece was designed for Farkas by Geyer. The “MY” mouthpieces, specifically designed for me [and manufactured by Alexander] were Geyer products. His influence on the playing community was remarkable and incalculable.

Wait, Geyer designed the FARKAS MODEL???

This is where things get a bit spicy. Farkas stated that he came up with the design of the classic Schilke FARKAS MODEL mouthpiece in 1949, after much experimentation, working with Schilke on the design since 1947. His version of the story may be found here:

I think both accounts could be true, because Farkas obviously did play a mouthpiece of some sort before working with Schilke on his design, and as a Geyer-playing professional hornist (from the start of his career in 1933!), he would almost certainly have used a Geyer mouthpiece all the previous years. Farkas likely refined a Geyer design he had been using to arrive at the 1949 FARKAS MODEL, thus it owed a debt to Carl Geyer.

[It is all somewhat reminiscent of the story of how the classic Holton Farkas Model horn (developed 1956-58) came to be. Objectively, visually it is an updated version of the Reynolds Pottag Model horn from the 1940s (described further here). However, it was much better marketing on the part of Farkas (and Holton) to say that “It was actually a hybrid horn that had all the good qualities of the Alexander, the Kruspe, the Geyer, the Schmidt, and several others.” But really, the Reynolds horn is quite similar overall to the subsequent Farkas Model horns, and would have certainly been familiar to Farkas.]

A legacy we enjoy today

Clearly many of the popular mouthpiece designs used today owe something to Carl Geyer, as the “old school” types made by Giardinelli and others on the east coast have largely fallen out of use.

When the series concludes (no!) we will reflect further on his legacy.

**The photo of Geyer working at his lathe is from this Facebook page

Continue to the conclusion of Geyer Dreaming

On Bill Broughton’s “Orchestra of the Americas” and Learning from Adversity

Bruce Hembd
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Recently, I became aware that recordings I participated in over 25 years ago with the Mexico City Philharmonic are available on YouTube.

Below is the Wagner “Ride of the Valkyries,” recorded in 1994, with yours truly on principal horn. We literally ran through this once, touched a few spots, and started recording.

Background

An old doodle titled “Life in Mexico ’94.” The city was very polluted at the time.

It took a long while to get accustomed to living and playing in Mexico City.

  • The altitude is 2240 meters / 7,349 feet.
  • The city is populated by millions and millions of people.
  • The air quality is terrible.
  • The pace is hectic.

Bill Broughton

From my best recollection, the circumstances behind this recording went something like this:

Bruce Broughton‘s brother Bill Broughton (primarily known as a session trombone player in the LA scene) set up some kind of agreement with the Mexico City Philharmonic to record soundtrack scores as the “Orchestra of the Americas.”

The scores included “Silverado,” “The Cowboys,” and Bernard Hermann scores such as “Psycho,” “Marnie,” and “North by Northwest.” It also included some arrangements by Bill, of John Williams scores such as “Star Wars,” “Jurassic Park,” and “Superman.”

From Bill Broughton’s bio at Trombone USA (click to view):

(The name of the orchestra is wrong in this account.)

Lots of heavy playing

The recording sessions were brutal. Bill conducted, and he was a strict taskmaster. The charts were only touched on briefly before recording began. Recording was done all on company time, in the Philharmonic’s hall. The sessions lasted about a week, with around 4-5 hours of playing on each day.

Royalties?

Seeing these videos appear many years after-the-fact is fun and exciting, however I can’t help but wonder how Entertainment One Distribution US acquired the rights to distribute this material freely on YouTube.

My best guess is that Bill sold the rights to these recordings sometime before his death, and that at some point, this conglomerate company acquired them. I have never received a residual check.

“Orchestra of the Americas”

My work papers.

The final product was marketed as “Bill Broughton – Orchestra of the Americas” under a series titled “The Magic of the Movies.” It ended up being 6 CDs.

My best guess is that the producers of these materials thought the recording would track better in US and international markets under these brand names.

Worth mentioning is that the “Broughton” name in itself is a brand when associated with film scoring, and so in this context, there may have been some nepotism or coat-tail riding involved. Who knows?

Learning from Adversity

The real star behind these recordings – the Mexico City Philharmonic – was an international mix of musicians: American, Canadian, Eastern European, Russian, Mexican, and Asian. At break time, it was commonplace to hear a multitude of languages being spoken, along with lots of coffee and cigarettes (just coffee for me).

These recording sessions were an intense pressure cooker, and what I learned was this: it doesn’t really matter what language you speak in order to collaborate and put on a good show.

Ensemble cohesion, intonation, and unity of style can sync without speaking a word, if you just stay alert, remain flexible, and make an earnest effort to engage and “play” with your colleagues.

Listening to this Wagner recording from over 25 years ago has reminded me that in adverse situations, an ensemble of musicians that is bonded like this can survive just about anything that is thrown at them.

They may even manage to have fun and make great music while doing so… or at least have good jokes and stories to tell afterwards.

More?

Other selections from this series with interesting horn parts:

Suite from Marnie – https://youtu.be/VceROsBToHE
North by Northwest – https://youtu.be/jCS2rItQyR4
Vertigo – https://youtu.be/6NlolIX4AO0
Cowboys – https://youtu.be/gbv0yc7lKWM
Gremlins II – https://youtu.be/GUzvV2AQ2Rg

HORNS:

  1. Bruce Hembd
  2. Bob Schwendeman
  3. John Findley
  4. Janice Kraynok

Musings on Oiling Rotary Valves, and Brief Review: JM Lubricants

John Ericson
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A new lubricant line for horn players to consider is the line of products by JM Lubricants. Manufactured by J. Meinlschmidt GmbH, a company that has produced rotary valves since 1866, the line has a similar range of types as the popular Hetman oils.

The old days

My first band director used to say that all valve oil was from a big vat, and all of it was about the same. Back then in the mid 1970s, with standard types of traditional oil, he probably was correct to a point. Oh, and then you had a bearing oil that was very popular …

Science, and the horn player

With the modern synthetic oils available today, you always needed to have a couple different grades of oil to properly service your valves.

As a student and in the early days of my career my personal “go to” oils were Al Cass Fast oil down the valves and either woodwind key oil or Singer sewing machine oil on the bearings. Those were common choices back then, but today we do have better choices.

Many horn players today seem to be attracted to the “scientific” lines of oils with many grades of oil to choose from – more so than players of other brass instruments.

One of the reasons why the JM Lubricants line is of interest, and why it was developed, is because it is similar to the popular Hetman line. As I understand it Hetman oil not off the market, but it has become more difficult to obtain the past few years. The new JM Lubricants line fills in the same market niche and is one horn players will want to check out.

For my tests I was able to obtain (from Houghton Horns) the types in the photo! With no obligation to review.

Which leads me toward a bigger topic I want to address today:

What does valve oil do? How often do you need to oil your valves?

I recently was reminded by something on Horn People of a way to think of rotary valves and oil. Essentially, imagine it this way: your valve is floating (rotating!) in a layer of oil. Oil is what keeps it all moving well.

You need to use typically somewhat heavier oil on the top and bottom bearings, and lighter oil on the rotor itself (most commonly oiled by dropping oil carefully down the valve slide tubes).

But again, to repeat, your valves float in oil. Which means you need to oil your valves often! At least every week! And use good oil! Your horn will play better and your investment is better protected.

You may actually need to oil even more often than weekly. My original double horn, a Holton 177, worked best if I oiled the valves thoroughly every single day. Of course, that was in part because the Al Cass oil I primarily used was so light. In general though, weekly is probably enough for most horns, if you use a high quality, modern oil.

Did Dave have something to say about lubrication?

Back ten years ago we had a regular series of articles on Horn Matters that asked Dave Weiner questions relating to horn maintenance and more. Specifically, his general answer to the question on oil is that you should certainly oil your valves every week at a minimum. More specifically, heavier oil on the bearings weekly and a drop of rotor oil down in the rotors daily. By the time your valves are getting slow, that is long after when you should have oiled your valves. For more details, see this article:

Some further general advice

One other trap to mention is this: just because your horn has rotary valves it does not mean that you have to use rotor oil as the main lubricant. It depends on the tightness of your valves. A horn with very tight, new, high-quality valves may feel sluggish with a standard grade of rotor oil, as it is a bit too thick. On the other hand, a horn with well broken in or worn valves may need an even heavier oil in general to keep things spinning smoothly. Your oil should not slow you down! But it does need to overall be thick enough to do the job of keeping your valve floating in that sea of oil.

I would also mention horns in storage. Certainly when you put it in storage be sure it is oiled up very well with somewhat heavy oil, that will save much trouble down the road.

Is it the new JM oil compatible?

Sometimes there are compatibility issues from brand to brand. An incompatible oil can cause a gummy residue to form. Myself, in my testing so far, I have had no issues using JM lubricants on valves that had been previously lubricated with Hetman products and with standard types of Monster valve oil, another brand of oil which I have also made good use of in recent years. If I note any issues I will update this post.

Have you oiled your valves lately?

Well, you should! At least every week! Protect the investment in your horn.

Finally, there is no danger of using too much oil. If you are low on oil and having trouble buying what you have used in the past, think about trying the JM Lubricants line, it is well worth a look.

Geyer Dreaming IV: The Custom Horn Maker, and a Closer Look at Geyer 223

John Ericson
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One question I have heard in relation to custom horn makers is this; are they just assembling parts? What makes them better than just buying a factory horn?

Horn assembler, or horn maker?

Typically, brass instruments are made in a factory setting. The largest makers may have hundreds of employees, most of whom specialize in certain steps in the production process. And being a large shop, while they would buy the tube from a tube maker, those big makers typically do everything else; they make the valve sections, make the bells, make all the parts and bring it all to completion.

Some horn makers are smaller, but are still a shop with multiple employees. Depending on their skillsets and how far they want to take it, those makers could make it all, but may choose to buy bells and/or valve sections from shops that specialize in making bells and valve sections. Not to mention other parts such as the small, second valve tubes and braces may be purchased.

A side point worth mentioning as well, smaller makers typically don’t make nickel silver horns. Nickel silver is more difficult to work with and to obtain in smaller quantities.

Then we get to a one-man shop like Geyer. He did not do it all. In short:

It was a custom horn, but some key parts were purchased

Go back to the quotes in part III (here), you get a good visual idea of the Geyer shop. He did have a lathe for making some parts, and a buffing machine to bring instruments up to their final finish. He had some space to spread out and work! But he did not have a giant lathe setup to make bells, or all the equipment needed to build and braze together a valve section, for example.

In part I of this series (here) I mentioned that according to Milan Yancich, Geyer first made his new design in 1923, and that a Geyer style Geyer horn with a serial number of 223 exists – which should date to February of 1923. This horn was previously in the collection of Vince Kavalovski, and is currently owned by John Wunderlin. It will serve as a good model to look at in relation to how these were built, with the final photo showing the horn after restoration by Ron Pinc.

UPDATE: Please see this article for more on this horn, which actually likely dates to the late 1930s or early 1940s — Geyer did not always follow his serial number system.

As indicated already, there were two very key parts Geyer simply had to purchase: the bell and the valve section. While to a point bells are bells, as this horn was a new design, he would have had to share some information about what he was doing with his valve maker in Germany to have this exact valve section produced. While only speculation on my part, this could be another source of how Knopf learned of the design.

What is especially interesting about horn 223 is what we would think of as a Knopf style body. Today we conventionally think of Geyer horns having a straight profile across the four valves, but this one has the curved crook out of the first valve. In any case, though, Geyer did not make that valve section himself, that came from a third-party maker. More on the topic of Geyer and Knopf and the lack of a patent on the design may be found in part 2 of this series.

And note the layout of the tubing on the back: this is the iconic layout that defines the Geyer/Knopf wrap.

Some parts were made in his shop

It should be stated clearly that Geyer did make many key parts of his horns. He certainly was set up to make all the tapered tubing on the horn before the bell tail. That would in particular be the critical lead pipe and first branch tapers. Either of those two parts, not made very well, will leave a horn playing not very well.

In addition, you have bracing that is not just there for bling! On the horn it takes makers years to figure out optimal bracing placement, and it makes a big difference. Over time, if you look at older and newer instruments by custom makers, you will see some evolution of this design element, and others.

Speaking further about braces, while he could have taken the time to make all the braces, he may not have bothered to do the small ones, as it is very possible to buy these parts. On this horn, all the nickel silver parts were likely purchased rather than made.

Turning to the bends in the tubing, all the larger bends he of course did, and I believe he was capable of making the 1st and 3rd F horn valve slides as well (although perhaps they were purchased). But the small crooks like on the 2nd valve slide, those were certainly purchased, as were the bows of all the other tuning slides.

You will notice that horn #223 is essentially all brass. As mentioned earlier, brass would have been easier for him to obtain in smaller quantities, and building in all brass became over time part of what makes the look and feel of a traditional Geyer-style horn. Dare I say even, the magic of the horn?

How does #223 play?

Returning to the horn seen in the photos in this article, current owner of Geyer 223 John Wunderlin reports that the horn has a very narrow bell throat. Also, quoting him, “The horn has terrific intonation but it tends on the flat side.” Which I found very interesting, as my Geyer single F also is built a bit flat to my needs.

My single F was a horn I worked on during my sabbatical project, and is described more here. It came to me minus the bell, and with an unusable Geyer lead pipe (the previous owner had used the bell to restore another Geyer horn). I saved as much of the remaining Geyer as I could, including the long pieces of bent tubing and the first branch. I always like pondering these parts, ones that were clearly made by his hands.

There was some variability of exactly how he made instruments

Geyer made horns for a long time. The design evolved due to improvements and also adjusting things in relation to the purchased parts available to him. Keep in mind also, each horn was a custom order, made with a specific individual purchaser in mind. He did not sell a one-size-fits-all horn; every horn was made to suit a specific buyer.

A really clean design

Backing up to the topic of what was unique about the 1923 Geyer double horn design, it is very open around the valve section. In recent work on my Kruspe and my Patterson Geyer I had the three valve levers off both horns (putting dimes on one and taking dimes off the other). The Kruspe, with that tube between the valve section and the bell tail, it was quite a chore to fish things back into place. On the Geyer, it literally was a breeze. He must have really appreciated this over building the Schmidt style horns he built before 1923. Not to mention the thumb valve position and action really is much better on the Geyer than on my Kruspe (or on a Schmidt style horn).

The birth of the custom horn market

Finally, I’d just mention that within our USA context, Geyer created a market that survives today, the custom horn made by the lone maker or very small shop. I could name several easily, and it is to Geyer that we owe the creation of this market.

Geyer recognized also that the horn was only part of the equation, you needed a good mouthpiece to go with it! When the series returns, we will look more at Geyer the mouthpiece maker.

Continue reading “Geyer Dreaming” series

PSA: Your Horn will Play Better if the Valves are Correctly Aligned

John Ericson
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French horn rotary valves have marks on the top, as seen below. These marks are put there by the valve maker when making the valve, and should be correct for optimal rotation.**

Check the outer mark first

There is a mark on the outside, at the joint between the valve casing and the inner bearing cap (out at the threads of the valve cap). That mark has to be lined up first, as it is key to the other marks being in the correct place. If it is not, you need to pop the top bearing off and reseat it correctly. If this is beyond your skills, you may want to refer the horn to a brass tech, but read on.

The marks on the bearing relate to the correct rotation of your valve

If these marks are off, you need to either trim the bumpers with a sharp X-Acto knife or put on a new bumper and trim it to size. Which also may feel beyond your skill level. But it is not that difficult to do any of these processes if you are moderately mechanical. I had figured out how to disassemble a valve and replace bumpers with no instruction whatsoever how to do it by the middle of high school.

Which brings me to two stories which may be of interest to readers.

Recent story #1: Valves in the wrong casings

A couple years ago I took my Patterson Geyer in to a local shop for an ultrasonic cleaning. I’m sure he has an assistant do most of this work, and the horn worked fine when I got it back.

Fast forward to last week. I have a scope that can be used to align valves, and I decided to check several horns. With the Patterson, some of rotation marks were slightly off when I looked down in the valves. I then started taking things apart and finally figured out that it was assembled incorrectly!

The parts are numbered on the valves, and you would guess that all the “1” parts would be in the first valve, etc. But the valve maker used by Patterson switched that up, the fourth valve is “1” and the first valve is “4.” The person at the shop had the second valve (marked “3”) correct, but all the loose parts of the actual first and third valve were reversed!

(Although, again, I can understand the confusion — the parts would set up the valve parts looking down the valve section as 4-3-2-1, but the shop guessed it was 2-3-4-1, and the stamped numbers on the outside of the casing are obscure).

When I got the parts all in the correct places the alignment marks were now correct! I just needed to replace about half of the bumpers to bring it all up to specs.

Aside: Bumper material

For the recent work I used some great material that was old round gasket material from our pool filter. It looks like a giant “O” ring, and I cut off what I needed. Very happy with it, have a supply to last me for years probably.

Recent story #2: Really difficult bumpers

The other horn that had some significant alignment issues was my Paxman triple. I could see a number of small issues and, with it being a compensating triple, I really wanted everything to be very correct, as on the F side the air goes through the valve section twice. And the horn was feeling super stuffy to me.

Again, that same local shop had cleaned the horn (I recall it really needed it!). Unfortunately, the bumper material they had used was mostly slightly small, things were over-rotating slightly.

I could on the other hand see why they used this material, as oh my these bumpers are so hard to put on. The area is so cramped, with too much tubing around the valve area. The Geyer style horn mentioned above, it is all so open and easy to work on. The triple, on the other hand, it really was a challenge, and I’m sure the shop must have struggled mightily with it.

Some of the shop bumpers I had already replaced in some prior work, using a couple different kinds of bumper material. Some I had done in natural cork and those all had to go, it was not holding up. Others were still holding up. In any case, I had to replace about half of the bumpers. Only 3 of the shop bumpers are still on the horn.

Again, as I worked over the bumpers I used the scope to double check the marks, which all were all essentially right on.

(I would add, yet another horn they cleaned at the same time, it still has all their bumpers on it and the alignment of everything is essentially perfect. I think the triple was just a challenge for them).

The results

Between these two horns, this was hours of work but with worthwhile results.

Both horns feel significantly better! As they should, as the valves really do need to line up correctly with the casings at each end of their rotation. The Paxman still feels stuffy but less so, and I think I can find a better mouthpiece for it when I get back in the office this week.

Overall, working on your valve rotation is totally work worth doing. Things need to be up to spec! If it is beyond your skills, it is still really worth taking a look and getting the horn to someone who can help you out.

**Sometimes, unfortunately, the marks are not actually correct. This is another reason for the brass technician to double check the marks using a scope. You can also get a good impression of the alignment without a scope with a strong light and looking down the valve tubes. It helps if the horn is screw bell to get your eye in the right place to look down the tubes.

Improve your Technique by Improving your Valve Lever Position

John Ericson
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Over the break I’ve had a chance to really look at some questions I had about the valve lever position positions on my three double horns.

My fall semester episode

Early in the fall semester I was working on some very technical passages for an upcoming recital and was also getting rather frustrated. I was to a point where I was thinking there might be issues with my fingers, but then I tried other of my horns and discovered that I could play the passages on my big Paxman 25. As it was a horn, tuba, and piano recital, I went with that, I thought it would blend well. And I basically went with that horn for the fall. The Paxman as it was set up then is seen below.

Further analysis

With the break I did more analysis. The Paxman was the best because it needed a more “closed” had position, and the thumb also sits in a fairly closed position. For me there is an optimal distance between the thumb and third valve when they are depressed in particular, where my hand is closed in a certain way. I suspect somewhat related to aging, but I have clearly learned that I can’t use a big grip anymore, the fingers have better action in a more closed position.

But I did note, as good as the horn felt, that my fingers were hitting well back on the finger cups I had soldered to the valve levers years ago. There was room for improvement. I changed it over to the silver dimes that had previously been on the Patterson Geyer, as seen above. They don’t “stick out” as far and now sit in an optimal space for my fingers (with no dimes I have to reach out too far). The visible dime is a 1962, made the same year as me (only use vintage silver dimes!).

Compare those valve lever positions to the improved positions now seen on the Patterson Geyer. The string action valves have a lot of room for adjustment. I set them considerably lower, and I removed the dimes as they were unnecessary. I think I needed them more when I had the valves set higher. Also, I pulled the thumb lever in on the bar almost as far as it will go. The position is close to the same as the Paxman, and my fingers are much happier.

Which brings me to the Kruspe. Sigh. I have the 1-2-3 at, again, close to the optimal spot for me, with some snazzy 1948 dimes that match the age of the horn. But the thumb valve – I tried my best! – but it is really hopeless. Much too far away from the 1-2-3 valves, the throw is really long, etc. I think I can only use this horn (as good as it sounds!) for music that is not overly technical or at least not using the thumb valve much.

New year’s resolution: make your horn feel better for your left hand

As mentioned above, with string action valves you typically have a lot of room to move the position, and it is worth reevaluating those valve positions. You get used to valve positions to a point, but really you should be adjusting them to suit you the best you can.

For anyone wondering how to adjust the height of a valve, you need to loosen the screw on the side of the valve stem and slide the valve string to a better position.

The dimes are a bit more of an operation to add, but any competent brass repairman can help you out! Just be sure to use a dime from before 1965.

Start the new year with valves in better positions to help your technique fly.

Mental Health and Horn Playing: Anxiety and Daily Routines

Bruce Hembd
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About 15 years ago I fell into a playing slump. I had stopped doing my daily routines and started relying on freelance work and playing in student lessons to stay in shape. Over time my horn playing suffered, and it showed.

I did not fully realize it at the time but deep down, I was struggling with anxiety and depression. It is easy to recognize this now, but at the time I was stuck in a rut and had no idea.

Medication

I knew something was off. I felt ashamed for whatever it was and tried to keep it a secret. Through sheer will power, I told myself, these feelings would pass.

My recovery began with:

  • recognizing this behavior as a problem
  • talking to doctors
  • taking medication
  • adopting new habits & routines

Beta blockers

Beginning in college, I controlled performance anxiety with beta blockers. From the article “Musicians Use Beta Blockers as Performing Enhancing Drugs:”

“Beta blockers have been common in classical music since the 1970s. Originally prescribed to treat high blood pressure, they became performance enablers when it became clear that Inderal (the brand name) controlled stage fright. As long ago as 1987, a study of the 51 largest orchestras in the U.S. found one in four musicians using them to improve their live performances, with 70 percent of those getting their pills illicitly.”

I continued to use Inderal on-and-off until my mid-30s. I was afraid of what my colleagues would think and kept my use a secret.

Antidepressants

Fast forward to my mid-40s.

My anxiety and depression spun out of control. I was prescribed an antidepressant and ended up taking it for about four years.

Taking “head meds” for the first time can be scary. It can take time for your body to adapt. You may have doubts and start second-guessing everything you do.

It might take a while to get settled. You may experience unexpected side effects. You may need to change dosage amounts, or switch to a different medication entirely.

Keeping a journal and talking openly to other people about your mental state can be very helpful. There is nothing shameful or wrong with having anxiety issues, asking for help, or taking anxiety medications.

Routines

Maintaining daily routines can help. In his “Deeper insights” series, John Ericson writes about his son, who is handicapped and relies on routines.

In his article on anxiety, he writes:

“To get to more of a quality life, meds have helped and we have to keep him on routines. This point we can all apply to our performances, actually. We are less anxious when we have routines and stick to them. Over time you develop different tracks and parallel routines. Concert days have their track that is different than a practice day.”

Related to this, in “Routines, and the Better Horn Players” John closes with:

“…good horn players likely also have a strong sense of routines in how they organize their life. I’m sure there are exceptions, but I suspect that many of the top horn players do crave routines on some level.”

Personal examples

These days I live my life by a cycle of routines and sub-routines: for work, my diet, exercise, and horn playing. They are my lifeblood, the reasons for which I will get into in a future article.

Examples include:

  • morning walk
  • prepare and eat breakfast
  • 15-20 minutes of mouthpiece practice
  • 60 minutes of warmups & technical exercises
  • prepare and eat lunch
  • 15-30 minute nap or quiet meditation
  • prepare and eat afternoon snack
  • 60-90 minutes of physical exercise
  • prepare and eat dinner
  • 60-90 minutes of playing music
  • prepare for bed and sleep

Obsessing over daily habits and routines can backfire and trigger yet more anxiety. Stay open and flexible with routines. Adapt when necessary. Tomorrow will be another day.

Artistic performance is holistic

Feeling anxious, bored, or distracted when practicing or performing?

Start your detective work by taking a look in the mirror. Ask questions. Examine your daily habits and routines for clues. Think deeply about past experiences, and how they might be having an effect.

Do not keep your worries a secret! Talk openly to trusted friends, colleagues, teachers, spiritual guides, and medical professionals. There is no shame in wanting to improve yourself and needing help when doing so.


SEE ALSO:
Routines, and the Better Horn Players
Deeper Insights

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