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On Testing a New or Used French Horn

One topic that comes up often is that of testing new and used horns, a good topic and one I have not written about...

Trusted Brand Names of French Horns: Composite and Age Group Results

This is the first of several documents that will be posted. In this chapter, composite and age group results are reported. https://issuu.com/brucehembd/docs/brandnamesurvey11-21-2011-345 The next report will...

Ascending Third Valve Horns Past and Present

The Mellocast for this week is on a topic not often discussed, that of ascending third valve horns. In short, this is a French...

The question of water keys and horns

Here is a question you know you have wondered at some point: why are some horns constructed without water keys? It is a puzzle for...

Geyer Horn, First Valve Slide, B-flat Horn

Different brands of different horns have their quirks. One quirk on some Geyer style horns is that they may have a squirrelly high B-flat....

Tone is what makes a Great French Horn

First, a quote from a former student of mine who is now helping people looking for upgrade horns: “…most people will talk far more...

What is a Compensating Triple?

Back earlier this year in an article I described my compensating triple as being sort of a super single B-flat horn. But there is...

Buying a Horn: The Question of New or Used, Factory or...

Buying a horn there are a lot of questions to weigh and consider, especially for the more advanced player. Regular readers know that I...

Thoughts on a Patterson/Yamaha Horn: Day 28

It has been four weeks since my Patterson-converted Yamaha 667 arrived in a little brown truck at my doorstep. I had sent it away...

What is a “Dual Bore” Horn?

While I am not using it as my main horn at present, for some years I mainly played a Paxman 25A horn (for example...