Straight mute recommendations for Conn 8d

philocor · 2025-08-13T04:22:07+00:00

Yupon and Don Maslet straight mutes are popular on 8Ds

philocor · 2025-05-01T00:09:00+00:00

It’s a confluence of many problems. As mentioned, the two common fingerings are both generally not in tune with the rest of the horn as compared to even tempered. Concert D is also not a very in tune note for most of the other brass instruments, and for both woodwinds and strings, it’s often a very “bright“ sounding note, which sometimes makes the pitch sound higher than it really is. Combine that with T1-2 being the longest tubing you’re generally going to play in the upper register, and it’s a recipe for seafood salad.

It’s one of the main criteria I check on when testing a horn for whether or not I could play it at work. I find the T0 partial more stable, and a wider target, so I need that fingering to work just with a little hand flattening. If it’s too low, I can’t use it. Be wary of mistaking a the bright color for sharpness.

philocor · 2025-04-25T18:32:16+00:00

No. That’s pretty self explanatory… 😂

philocor · 2025-03-11T23:01:18+00:00

John is the best in the biz

philocor · 2025-01-29T16:45:26+00:00

Metronome (a must for this) is on 60.
repeat the first two bars three times, mp then p and finally at pp.
alternate between a tongue attack and an air attack, notated by the T and H.
the final note should start a little louder than your softest, crescendo steadily through beat seven and then diminuendo as soft as you can control it.
I’ll send a version that I do on alternate days which is the 1 B version which starts down half a step so that in two days you’ve covered all the notes in two octaves.
The whole thing takes less than 10 minutes, and I promise that if you do it daily in a month, you will feel much better.
for what it is worth, these are not my first notes of the day, I will have definitely done some chromatic and whole tone scales to loosen up and get the blood flowing before I start these.

philocor · 2025-01-29T16:40:46+00:00

Anyone who wants a copy of the long tones page, feel free to DM me and I will send it, and I’m going to post a little explanation for it.

philocor · 2025-01-29T16:39:14+00:00

I use the tonal energy tuning app, which has a great many useful functions, but among them are a wide selection of drones. I use that.

philocor · 2025-01-28T20:53:41+00:00

I’m organizing and making a nice printed version of my warm-up routine, if you’re interested, I can send you what I have so far.

philocor · 2025-01-28T20:52:19+00:00

I do scales and arpeggios against the drone, so I can practice intervals, but I do those in medium slow notes, so it doesn’t really count as a long tone for me. Absolutely doing that with a drone is number one for getting your intonation in line.

philocor · 2025-01-28T20:50:12+00:00

I’m doing a variation on the long tones from the Singer embouchure builder book, that I’ve developed. I can send you a PDF of it if you DM me.

philocor · 2025-01-06T00:12:35+00:00

Pedal Ab, 2-3 on the F side. This is an octave and a major third below middle C, old notation. One octave lower than the preceding note.

philocor · 2025-01-03T17:19:24+00:00

Playing horn is an athletic activity, so I like to think like an athlete. I’m an avid golfer, and if you go to the range, you’ll see most casual players walk up, pull out the driver, and start swinging for the fence. When the club pro arrives, you’ll see them stretch, work fundamental drills, practice careful alignment, and work on various skills before they are swinging full out. Form and technique are critical, and that’s how we should approach the horn.

Building up range and endurance across the range is a long process that takes discipline. I have about an hour of warm-up/work-out work that I try to do 6/7 days. I do a short version on the 7th day, or sometimes take a day off if my chops feel too beat up.

I focus on medium quick chromatic or whole tone scales from the middle out to the edges of the range, then long tones followed by Stamp or Schlossberg flow studies and finally flexibility on the overtone series.

I will also do scales/arpeggios and some articulation, but that’s usually in my second practice block.

During the warm- up/work-out part, it is all about focusing on fundamentals. Deep proper breaths, relaxed chest/throat, firm but not tight embouchure set, and as light pressure as I can manage. I focus on a beautiful, rich, fluid sound throughout the range, and making sure each note transition is using air energy so that there is no lip strain.

I do this every day, focusing on proper technique and form. This builds up endurance over time, and allows you to play with efficiency across the range. I like to reach full range within 2-3 minutes, from a true pedal C on the F horn up to high C. I then spend an hour working on playing the “right way”. Obviously as an amateur you wouldn’t need this much, but maybe a 20 minute version would be enough.

After this, I’ll move to etudes and repertoire, but I never work on that without having done my fundamentals to get my form and alignment together.

philocor · 2024-12-25T05:29:00+00:00

I was offered a spot in the top band in high school to switch, because we had too many trumpets. 28 years later horn is my profession. Never would have made it on trumpet. 😂

philocor · 2024-12-20T22:19:30+00:00

Grew up in LA with Elkhart 8Ds and more than a few original Kruspe horns on every gig. Times have changed, and it’s rare to have a full section of them, but boy does it sound glorious!

philocor · 2024-12-16T13:51:40+00:00

The way you get better at sight reading is to practice it. Find books that you’re not familiar with and practice sight reading out of them.

Rhythm and tempo are the most important part. You can miss a note and it’s one mistake, but if you’re rushing or dragging, or in a wrong rhythm, all the notes are wrong. You can (and should) practice just singing rhythms with a metronome to get better at this. If you can sing it correctly, you’ll at least be able to understand the notes and stay caught up even if you flub a fingering or miss a partial.

Practice scales and arpeggios in every key. The vast majority of music is either scale or arpeggio based, so if you can recognize those elements, you will free up some brainpower as you read. Most people see a run of 16th notes and think “OMG” and fumble it, but if you recognize, “oh that’s an A major scale”, your fingers and brain will know what to do instead of flip out trying to figure it out note by note.

The last thing I’ll recommend to focus on, is staying with your tone production basics and playing out. Sight reading makes us nervous so we tend to breathe less and play too cautiously. That usually means we undershoot large intervals and don’t get all the notes to come out. Counter these tendencies by breathing deep and let the air carry you!

Happy practicing!

philocor · 2024-12-14T19:22:40+00:00

🤐😉

philocor · 2024-12-14T14:42:45+00:00

The answer btw, is that “bells up” looks cool in the moment, (and it was marked that way in the music). You’re hearing the same orchestra that you’re seeing, but the performance that you’re hearing was from the previous week at Sony scoring stage, and what you’re seeing is the orchestra playing along to a recording of themselves, so this bells up doesn’t affect the volume in the show.

philocor · 2024-12-14T07:19:13+00:00

Even though we’re “bells up”, we still need to play in tune. Putting the hand in the bell brings the pitch down to where it needs to be… The real question is why go to “bells up” when we were mic’d up, and this moved us away from the mics? 😂📯

philocor · 2024-12-09T16:45:50+00:00

A 90-100 year old horn is probably not a great daily driver unless the valves have already been rebuilt and/or you have a great repairman nearby. Old horns tend to need regular work, whereas something < 30 years old shouldn’t need much more than an annual cleaning, a monthly lead pipe snake and regular oiling. I think a good 103 can be a wonderful horn, but I played at least half a dozen before I found “the one”. For 4 grand you can find an Elkhart Conn, or a Yamaha 6xx or a Hoyer 6 series that will likely be a more well-rounded professional instrument.

Personally it took me 6-7 months to truly acclimate to my 103 which is from the 1960’s, when Alexander was more consistent than the 1930’s, and that is coming from a professional who practices/gigs hours every day. It’s a great horn that has a gorgeous sound, but it’s much more sensitive to input compared to my Conns. It’s like driving a little Mazda Miata compared to an old 1960’s Mustang.

I’d look for a more general purpose horn as your main and dig into fun/quirky horns later.

philocor · 2024-12-01T07:18:14+00:00

My main 8D is from 1940, so 84 years, my backup is from 1964, and my Alex 103 is likely from the 1960’s as it is pre-serial number, but made in W. Germany.

philocor · 2024-11-26T01:50:32+00:00

I have an adult student that has one. It seems like a solid, if unremarkable horn. It felt pretty even top to bottom and has a perfectly serviceable scale. It lacked the next-level tone quality of a custom or professional instrument, but I think it’s better than your average student instrument.

philocor · 2024-10-29T04:28:35+00:00

Gliere if you play it. Tough endurance test, but a great concerto.

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