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Understanding Wagner and the Horn (my best article)

John Ericson
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Most every semester people working on research projects contact me about various topics related to the horn in the 19th century. This spring in particular I was contacted by someone researching the odd notations in the horn parts of Wagner. They had found a reference to this article

“The Valve Horn and Its Performing Techniques in the Nineteenth Century: An Overview.” The Horn Call Annual 4 (1992), 2-32.

and had some questions after locating a copy of it. Honestly, I look at that article now and think that article is very preliminary, being written as a project as a Doctoral student. It was my very first published article! My first question for them was had they read this article:

“Joseph Rudolphe Lewy and Valved Horn Technique in Germany, 1837-1851.” The Horn Call Annual 9 (1997), 23-35.

as it goes into much more detail about the topic and is based on materials from my dissertation. After a series of e-mails I finally sent them a PDF of the later article.

Looking back I feel that this is the best article of all the articles I have published. This is the cover of the issue in which it appeared.

Many if not most Horn Matters readers probably have never heard of The Horn Call Annual. It was an annual, refereed journal put out by the International Horn Society but not for years now, the 1997 issue was the last.

I still look back and marvel a bit at it. I wrote this? Yes I did! I really got into the topic as I wrote it while playing Third Horn full time in Nashville. The more I looked at it the more I realized that existing sources on the topic were inadequate and I could see a bigger picture than they presented.

If you are curious to read it this particular article, you can [UPDATE] read it online, it is among the full run of issues of IHS publications that may be accessed by members of the IHS! I recommend you consider joining, there is a lot of great reading to be found in The Horn Call Annual.

Dystonia — latest field research

Bruce Hembd
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Today’s random video is devoted to one, solitary video that I highly recommend watching.

It is an hour-long video on dystonia and the latest field research. Dr. Peter Iltis is a Professor of Kinesiology at Gordon College and is also a French horn player and inventor of the Iltis Dampfer Mitt.

I am still working on digesting all the information in this video myself and hope to devote a separate article to some of its major points at a later date.

UPDATE: The follow-up post is here

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[Extracted from a “Random Monday” post by JE, 2021]

Ask Dave: The Three (or Four) Types of Lubricants You Need

Bruce Hembd
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I am always surprised when I ask a customer, “What kind of rotor oil do you use?” and the response I get is a blank stare followed by hemming and hawing.  I would think that after spending thousands of dollars on an instrument that they would care what type of oil goes into it.  This frustrates me.

So, I change the question and say, “OK, how many different types of lubricants do you normally use?”

I have a serious reason for rephrasing the question.  I figure if the player doesn’t pay attention to the oil he or she is using, then likely that player is not lubricating the horn properly.

Fewer Than Three Lubricants Is Not Sufficient

It is rare to hear a player say they use three types of lubricants, but that is just how many you need.  (Maybe four, but we’ll get to the fourth type at the end.)  Far too often I find a player using only one lubricant, usually a light oil such as Al Cass Fast.

A light oil is necessary, for sure.  It’s used INSIDE the valve on the rotor.  The oil must be light enough to allow smooth, quick rotation of the valve rotor.  But oddly enough, it is NOT really for lubrication.  It serves two functions, namely to seal the gap between the rotor and casing, and to protect the metal from the acids in your breath.

The real job of lubricating the valve rotor is left to the BEARING oil, which must be heavier than the rotor oil.  The bearing oil is applied to the top and bottom of the rotor, under the valve caps and in the gap between the rotor stop armature and the valve casing.  The heavier bearing oil is what keeps the rotor bearings centered in the casing’s bushings.  When the rotor is centered it won’t even touch the casing inside.  The bearing oil one uses should be formulated specifically for rotor bearings because it has to resist the force put on it by the linkage when the valve rotation is stopped in either direction.

A properly formulated bearing oil is too heavy to use in the casings as rotor oil, and a light rotor oil is too light to use as a good bearing lubricant.  So, you need two oils for your valves.

The final lubricant you must have is a slide grease.  Of course, this is heavier still.  It should be heavy enough to keep the slide legs centered, and easily and smoothly pulled.  Slide grease should be applied sparingly to the ends of clean slide legs, all the way around just near the end, and the slide worked all the way in and then out again to get good uniform coating.  The heavy grease keeps the tubes centered and sealed, and makes it easier to pull the slides without binding.

So, What About That Fourth Lubricant?

If you have ball joint linkages (many Paxmans do, for example) then you might also want to use a lubricant specially formulated for ball joint linkages.  It is heavier than bearing oil, to withstand the extreme forces put on ball joints.  Bearing oil will sometimes do, but it’s not as good as the real thing.  Ball joint lubricant will fill the gap well and keep these mechanical linkages quiet while allowing smooth and quick operation.

More later on just how to use these lubricants effectively to reduce wear and tear, to protect the metal, and keep the horn operating smoothly and efficiently.

On Playing Perfect Intervals and Horn Fifths in Tune

Bruce Hembd
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To a certain degree a principal horn is only as good as the second player that supports him or her. A key element in this relationship is intonation. It is not enough to play notes with a good sound and with good rhythm without making some adjustments with pitch.

Over the past few weeks I have been busy performing a Mozart opera and was reminded of this relationship. One great thing about playing Mozart pieces with two horns is that the intervals are typically limited to the Perfect intervals and thirds, and so figuring out intonation is relatively easy.

Getting started

A rudimentary knowledge of chord positioning and how to temper interval relationships within chords is crucial. Generally speaking, chords resonate much better when certain individual chord tones are tempered.

With major chords:

  • The root should be stable, relative to circumstances
  • The fifth, in relation to the root, should be played somewhat high
  • The third, in relation to the root, should be tempered very low

This rule-of-thumb holds true in chord inversions, so it is important to always be aware of

  • Knowing the key you are in
  • Knowing what voice of the chord your note is
  • Knowing your horn and its tendencies

Tempered thirds and fifths played by themselves may sound out-of-tune, but in context they can resonate quite nicely. (With minor chords the only change to this method is that the third of the chord should be played high rather than low.)

For more specifics, see these articles posted a few years ago:

Flat major thirds

In the right context, I occasionally use alternate fingerings in order to hit the right spot. A fun experiment to try are examples like these:

Exceptions

A figure that is fairly common in many of Mozart’s large works that use two horns is the alternating unison/octave to an open fifth.

In this case the first horn notes alternate between being the root and the fifth of the chord. It would be a little unorthodox for the first horn to temper the fifth in this instance, and the second horn player might need to adjust accordingly.

In the context of large ensembles especially it is a good idea to remain flexible, and this example is a good illustration of that concept. For this reason I have avoided using exact cents in this particular article.

Horn fifths

The following figure, commonly known as horn fifths, is a traditional technique that was used over and over again for about 300 years in Western music.

Keeping in mind the guidelines given previously – low thirds, high fifths and chord inversions – the necessary adjustments should be fairly clear.

Along these lines, the Perfect Fourth can often be one of the most difficult intervals to play in-tune. It helps to keep in mind that a P4th is an inversion of the P5th, and typically it is the bottom note that needs adjusting.

Related articles:

Tips from another Bruce

Bruce Hembd
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Martial artist Bruce Lee was a childhood hero of mine. While the quality of his movies has not held up well over time, his writings on goals and the mental aspects of training remain valid.

Here is a collection of 20 tips that transfer to training on any musical instrument.

[Updated 2021 from a “Random Monday” post, JE. The full list of tips linked above are worth the click if you have read this far! Below is my selection of a few of the best tips.]

2. Learn, Discard, Create
“Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own.”

It’s all well and good to learn from others, but it’s not until you take action that you discover what works and doesn’t.

When you discover what doesn’t work, you simply discard it and keep going. When you keep moving forward, you create your own path.

Living a successful life is all about experimenting and trying new things. The more things you try, the closer you get to true success.

7. Manage Your Time
“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.”

We are surrounded by distractions, such as e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook. They are great at connecting us to each other, but they distract us from what is truly important.

Learn to manage your time, and get the most valuable tasks done before you start to play.

You can often double, triple, or even quadruple your productivity by using just a few simple time management tips.

A good one that I use is to write down the three most important tasks for the next day before I go to bed.

9. Set Goals
“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”

If you want to create your dream life, or start a business around your passion, you first have to know what you want. For the longest time I avoided setting goals, because I thought it was unnecessary.

It wasn’t until recently that I discovered that goal setting can not only make me more productive, it can also dramatically increase the clarity I have.

When you set goals, use the S.M.A.R.T criteria, which stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely goals.

12. Control Your Thoughts
“As you think, so shall you become.”

What you think about, you draw into your life. If you’re constantly being negative, you will draw more negativity into your life.

Instead of focusing on the negative, think about what you want to get out of life and focus on the positive.

This is another way of telling you that you have to set goals and focus on those goals as often as possible. The results you will get by doing this will be dramatic.

Most people sit around whining about their miserable life, and then they wonder why nothing good ever happens to them.

Ask Dave: What to do about Loose Slides

Bruce Hembd
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Today we are introducing a new contributing author to Horn Matters, Dave Weiner. Dave is a repair technician in Lutherville, MD, and owns Brass Arts Unlimited, specializing in horn repairs, and sales of instruments and related accessories.

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I had a customer in my shop recently with a Holton double horn.  This model has an independent Bb tuning slide, and every time he played a first valve fingering the Bb tuning slide popped out!

The tiny bit of pressure caused by the rotation of the first valve rotor was enough to push the extremely loose slide out.  He asked, “Should I do something about this?”

Absolutely!

What you can do in the near term

If you have a loose slide, you should take it to a competent repair tech.  Until then, you have a few quick temporary fixes.

Most players use a very heavy grease, far heavier than the normal slide grease.   This is a good option, since it secures the slide and seals any potential leaks.  Some players secure the slide with rubber bands, tape, string, and even dental floss.  This option should only be used for the very short term, because it solves nothing beyond the accidental loss of the slide.

Loose slides can pop out and get damaged and they can even cause leaks.  Symptoms of loose slides include slides popping out while playing, slides not staying in place, and the continual need to grease the slides.

I’ve heard some players say, “My horn seems to be eating slide grease these days!”  The usual culprit is a loose slide which allows the grease to run down into the valves, obviously risking gummed-up valves.  Double trouble!

But what about the long term?

Take your horn to a repair technician.  The technician will use one of two methods to expand the slide leg tubes.  He or she will either use a leaf expander, which slowly expands six polished, chrome plated steel leaves to push the tube outward, or will use a steel plug inside and burnish the outside of the tubes.  Burnishing the metal over a mandrel that fits tightly in the tube will cause the tube to expand.

Either method is acceptable.  But be sure to ask the technician how they will do the work.

Why?

Because some techs use the “clever” method of just pushing the slide legs slightly out of alignment.  This causes them to bind in the slide leg stockings.  That only solves the moving slide problem, and does not solve any potential leakage or “eating” of slide grease.

Can I prevent loose slides?

Probably.  Slides legs are either loose from the very beginning due to poor construction (not likely), or they become squeezed by pulling them out off-axis.

If you don’t pull them straight out, the force of pulling out at an angle can, in effect, burnish them down to a smaller diameter.  To prevent this, use a sufficiently heavy slide grease to keep them centered in the slide leg stockings, and pull them straight out each time.

Main Bersama-Sama for Horn and Gamelan

John Ericson
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Back two years ago in my report on the 2009 Southeast Horn Workshop, hosted by Travis Bennett at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC, I noted that I was actually pretty much blown away hearing a live performance of Main Bersama-Sama, a work for horn and gamelan by Lou Harrison. Then yesterday on Facebook jazz hornist Tom Varner posted a link to a YouTube version of the same work. First, though, a bit more background from the 2009 article.

Horn and gamelan! When I was a MM student at Eastman another student found a recording of Lou Harrison Main Bersama-Sama (“Playing Together”) for horn and gamelan. I later purchased a cassette tape (!) of this recording (CRI label) and have listened to it many times but never thought I would ever hear it live at a horn event. Many congratulations to Alan Mattingly (former WCU faculty, now at the University of Nebraska) for playing this work; a very, very cool piece that I don’t believe has ever been performed live at any other horn workshop and frankly may never be again! Which is a shame as this work is completely unique in our repertoire and again very cool. And, for me again it was breathtaking as I have listened to this work many times but never had the visual of what the gamelan looked like with the horn on stage. [So, you are wondering, what is a gamelan anyway? It is a type of percussion ensemble used in traditional music in Indonesia. More here from the Wikipedia.]

With that intro, the video is below is based on the CRI recording, that audio combined with visual art. Enjoy!

The horn uses a modified tuning to match the gamelan and the suling (bamboo flute) soloist is Lou Harrison himself. Over in the YouTube comments we learn more about the recording from the French horn soloist, Scott L. Hartman, currently on the faculty at Santa Clara University. He notes that

I was really young, like 20. As you can hear the intonation is not the normal tonal stuff we are used to using. I had to move slides all over the place to get it as good as it was on the recording. We did a total of two takes of this work and they told me there would be no splicing. There’s a clam in this take and I remember Lou shaking his fist at me in semi-mock anger during playback…

This is probably my absolute favorite, random work for horn, one I always mention in the horn repertoire class. A hat tip again to Tom Varner for posting this video on Facebook, it brought back memories.

Extreme Tonguing Techniques

John Ericson
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One overall thought from recent auditions and horn performances I have heard is that tonguing is one of the most important technical areas to master. Which is why I appreciate in particular a very recent article by David Wilken with the title “Tonguing For Brass Playing.” What I especially like is he goes well beyond the typical description we see in horn sources and looks at the big picture of the huge variety of ways to approach tonguing that are seen among fine brass players.

While I am sure some would think that this type of broad look could lead only to an approach that bordered on over-analysis of minutia, I would instead propose that even if you think that some of the more extreme methods (i.e., very different than the typical) are totally wrong it is still good to have some understanding of them, it will help you sort out what you are actually doing (which is probably somewhat different than you may have perceived) and may also point to directions for change for yourself or your students.

There is certainly no one way to tongue notes on brass instruments and overall the approach to horn and tuba is a bit different than trumpet and trombone. One of the more extreme ways to tongue is an approach called the “tongue controlled embouchure.” I believe this is very rarely used among horn players (it is most often associated with the trumpet) and also it is an approach that is hard to even describe briefly. Wilken does a good job of keeping it concise (and in the context of a section on “The Tongue Tip While Slurring and Sustaining”) and provides an additional link to more information on the topic (included in the quote below).

There are a minority of players who keep their tongue tip touching their lower lip while slurring and sustaining pitches. I usually discourage this for the same reasons I discourage attacking the pitch with the tongue in contact with the lips, but this method often combined with the spit attack (this is how a “tongue controlled embouchure” is usually taught). There may be some players that find it necessary for the tongue to provide some support structure behind the lower lip, if they have a very large lower lip and short lower teeth, but I think this is probably quite rare. There are reasons why this method may help some players with the extreme upper register, but I think the drawbacks caused by the tongue in contact with the lips so much outweigh the benefits. Instead, I believe that most players who find a tongue controlled embouchure so helpful would do better by anchoring the tongue on the lower teeth or below and attacking the pitches with the so-called anchored tonguing I described above.

Returning to my initial thought at the beginning of this article, tonguing is really a big problem out there in the horn world. A lot of players don’t tongue well and it is actually the main technical problem they have not mastered. If you have problems in your tonguing (such as people keep telling you to play shorter or whatever) you may need to go outside the box of traditional horn study materials and things horn teachers typically say (often parroting the Farkas book without any further critical thought) and put some personal study into the topic. Visualizing short notes when you can’t play short notes won’t do the job. An article such as the one quoted here by David Wilken can be a starting point for such a study. I also have more thoughts that will get you started on the topic here.

Why Write Articles and Put Them Online?

Bruce Hembd
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Weighing heavily on my mind recently has been my motivations for making public, thoughts on the French horn and the classical music business. About two years ago, I went through a similar soul search and posted these reasons:

  • A joy of creative writing.
  • Public service and contribution.
  • A means to ponder and think out loud.
  • Interaction with other people.

Since then, the psyche of musicians and what makes them tick has been a topic of many articles. It has become a subject of fascination and it is something that motivates me to speak out.

Background

After leaving my position with the Mexico City Philharmonic I became a graduate assistant at Arizona State University and studied horn with Thomas Bacon. At the time internet technology, and in particular making web pages, was a new concept. It became a hobby that quickly developed into a sideline career.

When I got started with web design in 1995, Ron Boerger’s Horn Player’s FAQ reigned supreme as a horn resource. It was the inspiration for me to try out a new medium to showcase Thomas Bacon and his efforts at ASU.

A gradual transition

Since that time I created and launched many web sites, including those for The International Horn Society, Robert King Music and Osmun Music.

I first began posting articles around 2008 with the Horndog Blog. My efforts were sporadic at first as I struggled with balancing and maintaining multiple careers in music, teaching and web development.

It was a path paved with some detours and pitfalls, but in the end I managed to land on my feet. I am fortunate today to have a good career as a web developer by day and as a professional musician on nights and weekends.

Dark shadows

The work environment for some musicians – as any veteran professional might confess – has a shadowy underbelly, one that is rarely discussed outside of the concert hall. It is like a dirty family secret, perpetuating itself from place-to-place and generation-to-generation.

How do I know so much about annoying and alienating colleagues? Mainly because (I am embarrassed to admit) I have participated in many of these behaviors myself!

As my career transitioned more towards web development and marketing this was something that became clearer over time. Looking from a different perspective can change everything.

A whithered path

Boredom and cynicism are the green-eyed monsters in the classical music world. Its venomous effect sinks in like slow, deadly poison.

Some people deal with this creatively by pursuing outside projects, for example: taking up a hobby, teaching students, becoming a soloist, making a recording or writing a book. Others, fall prey to it and cope in a variety of ways.

This is not to say that the business is inherently evil and full of misfits, but rather to say that at some point we all must face choices.

  • Do I take the high road or the low road?
  • Do I wallow in the mud or do I try to rise above it?
  • Can I make a dent in this world?

Cynicism and negativity are realities in any profession really but in the Arts especially, where hearts and emotions are at the core, it is a trap that ensnares a number of good people.

It is something for all of us to be wary of and in some circumstances, something to act on proactively.

Those Pesky Long Tones, a Key to Better Playing?

John Ericson
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It is interesting to me how actually a very simple topic like long tones can also be a hot button topic. Back in 2008 I posted an article related to long tones where I shared a brief story.

Once I recall going to a master class by a horn teacher that poo pooed long tones. Any teacher that does not teach long tones in my opinion does not know what they are doing. This skill is essential and one of the most important things that you will ever master as a student of the horn.

I may have been a little harsh in my assessment then, but I was reminded of it reading the article posted yesterday by Bruce Hembd. The point in the back of my mind being, why not teach long tones to students?

Questionable value to your playing

There are teachers out there that I truly do respect that don’t push the skill much at all. At least two reasons why some teachers don’t focus much on long tones come to mind.

One is that they can make you stiff. Extended playing of long tones can certainly leave your chops feeling a bit off. It is an activity you need to balance with flexibility studies; they are only a part of a complete warm-up routine.

The other is that if you have good enough students they probably don’t really need to work on them anyway. The underlying skills being

  • an ability to hold a perfect tone and
  • also the ability to make a perfect crescendo and decrescendo on a long tone.

If you can do those things, then actually you probably can get by fine without doing much with long tones. But if you can’t then get to work! There really is no way you will be able to play really exciting phrases; you will be firmly stuck in the land of caution and mp/mf.

To close I would offer this related aside. I was dedicated to one particular long tone exercise for years as the initial part of my warm-up. Then finally, one year, something snapped mentally, I had done that exercise as many times as I could stand it! I completely stopped doing long tones for a while, and then got back into it gradually but vary the exercise day to day. Overall this is a healthy approach, to vary the specific exercise, and I feel helps me stay on top of my playing.

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