Bruce Hembd
Halloween Frightmares: Dreams and Fantasies
Throughout my life I have had several reoccurring horn-related dreams. It seems like every month or so they come back to haunt me.
Late for...
Parody: Halloween Frightmares and Chunks
Along with oiling valves and lubricating slides, cleaning the instrument should be a regular part of a player's regimen. The leadpipe and mouthpiece especially...
Halloween Frightmares: Newspaper Headline of Horror
Musicians that make noticeable mistakes in concert make easy targets for the discerning music critic. Some critics might even go so far as to name...
4 Tips on Orchestration and Horns
In "Composers who Can't Write for the Horn" John Ericson made some very good points for composers to pay attention to.
At a number of...
I’m in Music Education – Why Do I Need to Know Transposition?
The sentiment behind the question presented in the title is that only performance majors pursuing a career in orchestral playing need to worry about...
The Pencil Exercise – Trick or Treat?
One thing that I like about trumpet forums is their open-mindedness when it comes to trying out new things. Whereas some in the French...
Musicians Make Better Listeners
A recent broadcast at National Public Radio features an interesting study presented at Neuroscience 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
Operating on...
More Debunking the F Horn for Beginners
Occasionally I like to peruse Google Patent Search, looking for cool and far-out concepts in horn design. A complete article last year uncovered some interesting...
A Few Things Not French Horn
It is amazing how many things take on the name French horn that are not actually musical instruments. For example:
The French Horn Cocktail
*...
Review: E-Brass Whisper System
This past weekend a colleague in the Arizona Opera orchestra showed me a new horn product. At first glance I honestly thought it was...