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Ein Hand-enleben III – Getting the Conductor “Hand”

PUBLISHED: March 18, 2009, Bruce Hembd

Dealing with the Hand – continued from Parts I and II. As musicians we are trained in school to be free and assertively pursue our musical ideas. Taking chances and “going for it” is our mantra, our purpose. In the professional realm, it is a somewhat different matter. While orchestral musicians do have a certain [...]

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Orchestra, Stress & anxiety

Ein Hand-enleben II – Getting the Conductor “Hand”

PUBLISHED: March 17, 2009, Bruce Hembd

Conductors and the Hand – an “old school” technique, continued from Part I. A big factor in the stop-gesture () described yesterday, is the facial expression of the conductor. A smile or blank expression in tandem with the Hand may be interpreted as one thing. Accompanied by a frown or a pained grimace, the Hand [...]

Ein Hand-enleben I – Getting the Conductor “Hand”

PUBLISHED: March 16, 2009, Bruce Hembd

On a common music director’s gesture known as “the hand.” Most wind players are familiar with two well-known quotes from composer (and conductor) Richard Strauss: “never encourage the brass” and “if you can hear the brass and woodwinds, they are too loud.” More often than not, these quotations are interpreted cynically – relating to macho [...]

Confidence

PUBLISHED: February 10, 2009, John Ericson

In studio class this week the topic of confidence came up. One of the longer original articles that used to be in Horn Articles Online was an article on audition taking. In it I wrote of my personal routine that I used for preparation for auditions, which may be adapted to preparation for any major [...]

A Flaw in Yamaha 667 Creation?

PUBLISHED: January 29, 2009, Bruce Hembd

A common problem with the Yamaha 667. A brass repair colleague remarked to me recently that he makes a lot of repairs on a particular bend on the Yamaha 667 and like-designed models. He made this comment while eye-balling my 667 that I have been using at the Opera lately. In what can only be [...]

The “Head Edge” for Performances

PUBLISHED: December 8, 2008, John Ericson

Performance exams (juries) start later this week at ASU. To get you in the mood, the following passage from The Mind Gym by Gary Mack is an important reminder of the balance between practice and visualization. The power of visualization and mental rehearsal has been demonstrated in dozens of research studies. If you take twenty [...]

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Stress & anxiety

Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow – The Importance of Hearing Protection (II)

PUBLISHED: December 3, 2008, Bruce Hembd

Sound-induced hearing loss is something to take seriously – from Part I. I have a vivid memory of a sitzprobe rehearsal where a Wagnerian duo was standing about 10 feet behind the horn section. Foolish me, at first I felt badly that I was blowing in their faces… that is until they reached an astounding [...]

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