December 30, 2008 by Bruce Hembd

Archived under: General

How to String a Rotary Valve


Here is a YouTube video on re-stringing a horn valve. The videographer is a band director and he does an excellent job of explaining it. I particularly like his popsicle stick trick for aligning the spatula arms – it is a great idea that simplifies the process.

BRUCE HEMBD is a web marketing developer by day who plays French horn professionally at night.» More information about Bruce Hembd » More articles by Bruce Hembd » Contact

Related to this article


  • My Rotary Valve “Vienna horn”
    As I think back on it many summers I have had a “project” of some sort. This summer I plan to play quite a bit on my “convertible” natural horn with detachable valve section, which was made for me several years ago by Richard Seraphinoff in...
  • How Do you Take Apart a Rotary Valve? [Updated with Video]
    This topic comes up pretty often, and came up for me yesterday in a series of phone calls from a former student. Many are afraid to try and my standard advice is if you can’t change a tire on your car don’t try to take apart...
  • How do you Clean the Leadpipe if There is a Valve in the Middle of it?
    This question was posed to me today and I realized there is nothing in my writings that address this question, one that does come up. You don’t want a lot to build up and cake in there over years of use on any horn but especially...
  • Piston Valve Horns
    A few days ago I updated the page in my Horn Articles Online site that describes a pair of piston valved horns owned by ASU, an early Hawkes single horn that takes crooks and a Selmer double horn. Read the article for more information. Having played...

Comments ()


How to String a Rotary Valve
Published on December 30, 2008 by Bruce Hembd

Archived under: General
John Ericson & Bruce Hembd
on the French horn, brass related topics, and the field of classical music.