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2021 has already been a long year, but I hope shapes up in the end as a good year for horn. It has been a year starting with adversity for sure, but that can be something that leaves you stronger.
Part of keeping your mind in a good place is having your chops in a good place. Toward that end, I’ve posted a few videos on Instagram in the Horn Matters feed, and I’m finding that to generally be a positive space.
This semester, being on sabbatical, has been an interesting one for me, no ensemble playing of course and very little teaching, but I’m happy to report that my chops are holding up. I’ve been enjoying working on horn building projects and that has driven my practice along, I always have things I’m trying.
I was very pleasantly surprised by one tweak I did on the horn that I recorded my Rescued CD on. It was built for me by Richard Seraphinoff in the late 1990s, and a slide had come off.
To fix it properly, I needed to dissemble and clean the area but also it was weak by design, as there were no braces in the valve section. I found two braces that would work, seen installed in the second photo. I’ve played this horn a lot with valves (the section is detachable, it is also a natural horn), but the surprise was the high range is noticeably more stable. The high F and Bb, which you use a lot (!), are quite improved. And then I learned from Rick that he now puts those same braces on his more recently made valve horns, it was a great tweak.
Finally, to hear what that valve section sounds like on the horn it is used on, this is one of my favorite tracks on my Rescued CD, one I have been coming back to often these months, the first movement of the Sonate, Op. 347 by Fritz Spindler. Enjoy!
