What are /r/horn's favorite Products & Services?

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I normally use Hetman light rotor oil.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002E52IY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_7378FY67DDM5A0AHSQRW

I found this Hetman medium rotor oil online too.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005GHAEL2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_DMVS8HFTF4NT9B99Z7ST

I dont know the difference but i use the light.

The basis of all horn playing is the overtone series. Essentially what valves do is transfer you to a different length of tubing and thus, a different overtone series. 2nd valve is a half step down, 1st is a whole step down, etc. A double horn simply adds 5 more of these, starting a fourth higher with the addition of the thumb. The advantages are numerous, but generally the Bb horn (thumb down) affords the player clearer response, and overtones that are further away and easier to secure in the upper register. If you have $20 lying around a great book to help you understand how horns and valves work is Jeff Agrell's book "Horn Technique, a new approach to an old instrument" It's only available on amazon but it's a great book that doesnt break the bank and you get a lot of bang for your buck.

Breathe from deep in your belly, not your chest. Use as little pressure as possible (don't force it, the high notes will come with dilligent, daily practice). Buy the Kopprasch book on amazon and start tackling that right away. Have fun!!

Many tuning apps allow you to change the instrument or key. I use one called Bandmate Chromatic Tuner. It shows the note on a staff, and how sharp or flat it is, rather than just showing the note name. Also allows you to choose "French Horn" as one of the transposition options. Here's the Play store link:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bandmate.app

There should be plenty of them. What you're looking for is a "Tuner" app.

As an example, I searched "Tuner" on google play and found this app as the first result, which seems like it'd be fine (but I have no experience with it). If you're on iOS, a similar search should probably bring something up.

A lot of great answers here, but I'd like to add that picking up a method book can help immensely if you are unable to find a private teacher. Farkas's The Art of French Horn Playing is a great place to start. It can be a bit dry, but has plenty of information and pictures for you to follow. Another good book is Fred Fox's Essentials of Brass Playing. Each chapter reads like a private lesson, so you can read one chapter, digest the information, experiment in your practice, and then tackle the next chapter when you are ready. This book is a bit more advanced than the Farkas, so if you had to get one, I'd recommend the Farkas.

Of course, there is no substitute for a private teacher, and if you really desire to make progress on the horn, you should locate one. Is there a university nearby? Contact the horn professor and see if he/she has any upperclassmen/graduate students who are taking private students. Even if the university is a bit too far away to drive for regular lessons, the professor might have some recently graduated students in your area. Another alternative would be a local symphony orchestra. Often times the hornists might either give lessons or know someone who would.

A couple other parts could be clicking beyond those mentioned by others. Do the linkage arms have mechanical joints? If so, oiling them with a thicker oil usually helps.

Oiling the bumpers with a thick oil also usually helps.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ELNGNXA is a "heavier" oil that should ordinarily not be used on valves unless they are very "leaky". There are also heavier oils: http://www.hetman.com/products.html

The Horn Player's Audition Handbook is a great starting point for excerpts; I haven't used it in a while but I remember it having pretty much everything standard. For etudes, consider going through a Maxime-Alphonse (book 2 or higher) to find two that show off your playing the best, and work towards making them as musical as possible while maintaining technicality. For solo work, you might consider one of the Mozart horn concertos, as they are also pretty standard, but I think anything could go well for that; pick something you enjoy! Good luck.

I like the old design of the Okura mutes if you can find those used. However, this looks kind of like it and it's super cheap. Worth a try for sure:

https://www.amazon.com/PAMPET-French-Horn-Mute-black/dp/B07HH356L5/ref=sr_1_8?crid=WXIFRQF3787T&keywords=horn+practice+mute&qid=1658697386&sprefix=horn+practice+mut%2Caps%2C462&sr=8-8

I rarely use a practice mute, but if I do, I now use Best Brass: https://www.hornguys.com/collections/horn-practice-mutes/products/best-brass-warm-up-mute-for-horn

Wow, these were exactly my thoughts as I read the post!

The one exception would be the soft case. I would go for something more protective -- assuming a fixed bell/one that doesn't detach. I've purchased 3 of these over the years, and it even managed to protect a horn in it when flung from a moving car (no, don't ask).

I love Marcus Bonna cases if there's enough cash -- they have both fixed bell and an amazing variety of detachable bell cases.

They key is to get one that can be used like a backpack that protects the horn. Even as an adult professional, I had a horn crunched in a soft case. Having 2 kids on horn -- I shudder to think where we'd be now with a soft case.

Thank you for that clarification! I'll not try to get it off again. I got some brass brushes I was hoping would help (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08D9QH3X3) but they don't fit into the valve casings. My friend has an ultrasonic cleaner; I may give that a whirl. Maybe I can find some other brass end brushes or something: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QCBKS1R Thank you again!

I'm a self-taught amateur composer, and while I've written for trumpets and trombones before (and even got performed), this is my first full concert band piece.

Here are the full score plus parts in case you wanna nitpick something, your feedback's invaluable :)

Thanks!

P.S. I'm aware the piece's a bit over the top, I'm still thinking whether that's a good or a bad thing.

"3D maze game"

It is basically a labyrinth puzzle, but in 3D. There is a little steel ball which the user navigates through the maze by tilting the sphere. I had one when I was younger, and spent hours with it.

Nice. I'm looking forward to it. Will this be in the Horn Call or at the IHS conference? I asked because I've recently started playing with sunvox (http://www.warmplace.ru/soft/sunvox/). It's a tracker like program (look around there's interesting music being created with it). I'm wanting to eventually experiment with recording some samples into it.

Plenty of people can go on at length about exercises and techniques for learning these, so I won't do that here. In my own playing, I approach lip trills mentally instead of physically.

Jeffrey Agrell's recent book covers this very well, I think. Paraphrasing him: The simplest thing you can play on the horn is one note. The next simplest thing you can play on the horn is two notes. Slur between two notes.

I'm pretty sure you can already do that. The only difference is (should be) speed. His book has a section called "Expedited Warmup" which I use daily in one form or another, and it addresses trills directly.

Get this facewash Amazon link best facewash I've ever used, (I regularly go to a dermatologist)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/BobCat-BMP-Bobcat-Mouthpiece-Puller/dp/B002Q0WTGA

Or use the door trick. *This can damage the door, the door frame, your instrument, yourself. Have done all of the above to myself/students' horns.

I’d recommend a Schilke mouthpiece, I played a size 28 from high school and through my first year of college. Price point is around $70, and there’s pretty thorough descriptions of the sizes on their website

(Schilke website: https://www.schilkemusic.com/products/mouthpieces/french-horn/)

Schilke French Horn Mouthpiece (3528) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002F6QJM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_TCWQ6TFB2ZTCBVWMYQ7Q?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I mean, we had many discussions in undergrad about musical canon in Western Art Music... this is just an extension of this, no?

If I were you, and you're truly interested in this subject I'd pick up a few of those standard horn albums. Also at the back of Douglas Hill's book there's some pretty clear lists. I think books by Bob Ashworth, Frøydis Ree Wekre, etc. may ahve them too. Richard Seraphinoff wrote a whole damn book about it...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Guide-Solo-Repertoire-Indiana-Guides/dp/025301929X

I'm in the same boat. I've just ordered this. My horn case (fixed bell) has no external attachments whatsoever, but I figure I'll be able to manage something with bungees or whatever (duct tape? Hmmm ...) once I see what I'm working with.

I made this a few years back to get more detailed information like this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.horntuning.free

You can even play with interesting things like changing the tuning of the horn to pull or push in individual slides or more drastic changes like using the ascending 3rd system.

Also keep in mind my tuning app and this chart are assuming equal temperament. This is often not what you actually want.

In my personal opinion, this is the greatest solo horn album ever recorded.

You can pretty much only get it second hand these days. It was out of print for a long time, came back under a different name, and I think may be out of print again. Snatch up one of these used copies while you can. Most digital music and streaming services should have it, I think.

Nothing pastoral about this one, though.

I've been using a Glory Silver Plated Mouthpiece, here's a link

I've been using this for a short amount of time and it seem's to be working a bit better than the Stock mouthpiece that I was using before, I'm open to recommendations though!

Seconding the advice to get repair kit tools, and would add to get a little case to keep them in that'll fit in your horn case. I use a sleepytime tea tin to hold cork, a couple flat razors, and some string. And definitely, definitely get a pencil holder both for your horn* and for your stand at home.

*the horn clip I have fits on the inside of my main slide, not right next to the mouthpiece like the picture shows, thankfully.

I believe Rachmaninoff's Vocalise stays fairly low, although there's a bit of challenge from the key signature.

This book also has several great mid-level solos in a reasonable range. (Looks like the Amazon link I'm giving you doesn't include the horn part, though, so I'd look for it at a music shop instead.)

You could look into Caruso exercises. They put a high emphasis on embouchure stability. His book is here.

Try this out, it really helped me.

Here's the Amazon listing. This is a FANTASTIC record. These British concertos are all fantastic. I think this disc only has the first Arnold Concerto. Either way, great music! British Horn Concertos Edit: Just saw FVmike's comment above. Sorry for stealing your thunder!

I'm assuming this is the H&B you're talking about: http://www.amazon.com/Humes-Berg-Stonelined-Non-Transposing-134/dp/B0002DV5QS

What advantages does a tunable mute have? Is it not enough to tune the horn?

Instead of a warm-down, I just make sure my warm-up loosens the lips up for the day. I currently use the Verne Reynold's warm-up from "The Horn Handbook", and sometimes throw in the DeRosa routine instead.

The mic I used was a Blue Yeti. It was very easy to set up, I pulled it out of the box, plugged it in, and was recording within five minutes.

Thanks! If you're interested in jazz horn have you listened to any of the recent CDs by Adam Unsworth? You may want to check them out: http://www.amazon.com/Excerpt-This-Adam-Unsworth/dp/B000FTVWF8/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1330980282&sr=1-2

It's good, but I love my other books much more....

Pares Scales (Don't love it, but it's a necessary "evil"), Rochut (bass clef trombone etudes), Maxime-Alphonse (there are six), Koprasch 1 and 2, and Doug Hill's "Collected Thoughts on Teaching, Learning, Creativity and Horn Peformance" (LOVE it). http://www.amazon.com/Collected-Thoughts-Teaching-Creativity-Performance/dp/075790159X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339294400&sr=8-1

I've also heard that Doug Hill's book on extended horn techniques is pretty awesome, too, though I don't have it.