The Low Horn Hangout

Stars of the low horn world from far and wide gathered on Wagner´s birthday for this special Low Horn Hangout. Low horn mouthpieces, lips, studies and orchestral excerpts were discussed, and a world premiere of the beginning of Rheingold a la Zoom was attempted. Prepare to be amazed! Starring: Denise Tryon, Rachel Childers, Barbara Jöstlein Currie, Joseph Miron, Jim Smelser, Greg Roosa, Jason Snider, François Bastian and Adrian Diaz Martinez. May 22nd 2020

Transcript

Auto-generated from the live stream, expect the occasional robot mishearing.

You hi everybody nice to see you welcome to the horn hangouts it’s fantastic that you’ve joined us for an evening of low horn specialized whatever we’ll see what it’s going to be I was just saying to all the guests today it’s amazing could you imagine a few years ago even collecting a whole group of low horn players who are proud of being low horn players to hang out together live online with all of you and without further ado

I would like to introduce to you all of my wonderful guests for the evening hey guys where are you how are you doing today isn’t there a song that goes how low can you go how low can you go it’s absolutely wonderful to see your I can’t actually see the fit the feed on Facebook I’m not sure why that is so if you’re watching on

Facebook then great if you’re not then I’m yeah then it doesn’t matter then you’re not with us anyway George maybe you could have a quick look at that I cannot see the Facebook feed but whatever I can see all of you on on the live chat it’s amazing how many of you have joined us we have Katherine woo we have

Sam from Cumbria in the UK Alexandra’s again back mature from Stavanger in Norway Phillip is drinking vice for Gunda yeah from Sydney that’s a very late one in Sydney hi Elliott hello from Germany Cincinnati I mean this is really quite amazing you guys talking talking amongst ourselves discussing what you’re drinking yeah I introduced you one by one to my amazing guest before we get to our low horn our low horn questions where are we so actually

I’m going to start on my picture because my picture on the left of me is Adrian Diaz Ahmad is that the right ideas there you are Diaz Martinez and algae on is Spanish and is low horn in the end they air the Nord Doha rundfunk and it’s actually quite funny because there are four to play low horn and

German orchestras but and none of us are German so we’ll discuss that later Adrian welcome it’s great to hear my other side is somebody with a harp and that’s Barbara just flying curry with Ricky actually you’re the most German of us all right yes I also have my my what is this my dear Lena yeah gotten yeah quickly and

I hope that’s real beer and they’re not operational yes welcome welcome down one line I have Jim smellsearch second horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Jim this is such an honor you’re not such aa what have you got okay Diet Coke in a beer mug okay well almost Jim’s pretty German as well he can actually we actually speak in

German when we is just for the fun of it Tim’s mind shots welcome Jim you’re not a big social media guy so it’s a real honor that you’re with us thank you next next Jim in my picture anyway is is Joseph Mirren who’s low Horn in the day or so the deutsche symphony orchestra hi Joe no welcome this is you watched the hangouts all the time

I know you do you’re a great supporter but it’s your first time on one is it scary oh yeah not yet okay and then we have Rachel Childers hi Rachel so nice to see you from the bottom Boston Symphony Orchestra second horn and I know there’s so many great horn players out there but today I just invited the ones that

I’m that I’ve played with recently like Rachel and Jason and some brother knows so I hope no one’s offended I love you all but tonight that we just thought would keep it keep it local and keep it in the family Rachel it was amazing playing with you this summer it was a real treat it really was so much fun

I brought gucchy kombucha okay very healthy that’s very good then I got Francois Bastian hi Francois Bonjour best what are you drinking gin tonic I hope we have a gin tonic history France law and I all very kosher don’t worry Francois is second horn in the bow via a Bavarian radio Orchestra the buyer she wouldn’t funk and he’s a

French French horn player a true French French one player Jason Schneider hi Jason Hawthorne in the Boston Symphony Orchestra who played second when I came to visit because I was too scared to play any other any other part john william night and then it all turns out to be the same because it’s all unison yeah but I didn’t know that before

I was still happy to sit down on the end and just hang on yeah that was totally a total total career highlight thank you for that you guys really want to that’s great and the infamous famous amazing awesome Denise Tryon hi Denise Denise years okay what are you drinking Rose a all day oh I that sounds pretty good to me that sounds pretty good to me anyway just a welcome

George if you could check the Facebook feed we are not live on Facebook I don’t know why it’s not the end of the world because we can put it on Facebook after but it would be nice if we could check that all of you on the chat welcome thank you tell your friends to come over here and watch it on the chat on the on the on the on the website website

Facebook Twitter Instagram it’s a nightmare you guys it’s a lot of social media anyway last but not at all least Greg Russa outside in his garden in LA second horn of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and you doctored your t-shirt for us Greg stay on so how do you go to corrode okay I’m just going to to work out this this

Facebook little Facebook problem we have and but I would what I’d love is you guys say where you met where you met each other loss for example Deniz and bar yes okay I I start only because I’ve already had some beer and that’s how we met we were both auditioning for Andre’s the job that Andrey got low horn

I think it’s already five years ago which is crazy to be here I don’t know where he is that’s just like never mind so I decided I had about three weeks notice to go to go audition and I borrowed an Alexander from Paul Ingram and just kind of learned how to play that horn very quickly and not very well unfortunately but

I met Denise at the audition I was so happy to see to see you and to meet and have another another girl there that was nice as well and the way had a beer and we had a beer and then we played quartets with Stephan and Fergus that’s right you were you took over the horn room and those two never hang around they but they really when

I came in as like who are these people playing quartets and it was Stefan a Fergus so you encouraged them to hang on on the play really great I mean we got to you know state afterwards and we tried their their Alexander’s and on the on the stage for a while and I was a little bit mortified because

I just had not played very well a petition but then we played quartets and it was great and it was a really fun hang and I was so impressed by your horn room yeah it’s a bit I went in there the other day and it’s a bit it’s a bit sort of Muffy it’s like muff it’s like it smells of horn players that use just sweat in there a lot the

Francois you know don’t you you’ve been that you’ve been in there and out Diane as well and Joe am i exaggerating because it’s like we one day in there when you get invitation to play in your case files like the first dates more important to have been in the room than twerking stay with okay well next time we’ll clear up before you combine if it’s so important to ya and

Jim and a Greg woman’s last time you saw each other you guys I was thinking it was the one doing uh for Dale Clevenger’s retirement party was the last time did I saw Jim but before that it’d been like tooth out I left Chicago mm in a while right that’s right and Greg’s the tallest the tallest one here and

Jason I know Jason from from lyric in Chicago and he was there when did you leave Jason what did you go to Boston 2007 I know Denise cuz she came to DePaul gave a great master class for our students she’s famous and I know the other names but not in person except for my screen here so Oh well

Jim really thank you for coming because I know you really don’t do this sort of thing very often actually never we did hang out you did you did I I was honored that was actually really nice getting all you guys together in Chicago in person in the days where we could travel and Rachel and and Jason how are you going to know when’s the last time you saw each other

I guess in person well my son went danger biking downhill biking on a sledding hill and was overconfident and crashed and had to the ER and had a concussion we were having a social distant that day and then yeah adventurous end to our to the last time I saw my son’s okay he was running around the next day he’s totally fine but we live really close just like not even a five-minute walk from each other yeah and who else have we got that had that

Joe do you know have you met anybody before I’ve met ah where do you guys meet each other with the Philadelphia a few years ago he played in the concert house yes have you had hamburgers afterwards yes but a huge bill no and I’ve met fun spots and call out to my colleagues in Boston I studied to

Harry Shapiro oh well you see you and I’ve heard James from the audience we got Jim you can say due to him okay Royston station nice to meet you you too okay so everybody sort of knows somebody that that’s good that’s good can we uh Dylan Hart and Annie bosses are watching in LA hey hello you guys you’re on is watching in

Greece Laura Brennus is watching who knows Laura that’s so great and Heidi says where looks like we’re ready to celebrate vogner birthday well actually we are we can’t wait so um hang on I’ve just got a I’ve got George is trying to log into my I’ve got it ah okay so now we might this might work on

Facebook hang on a sec bear with me this is quite stressful I must tell you I must say I know you do this effort after we’ve been trying with mentors and we had such a bad snap food last weekend we know we are online on the website and it’s no problem it’s just Facebook there’s been a zoom update and

Facebook is being a bit funny these days so anyway we’re alive and we have a lot of people watching um and we have a question actually from Joan she says hello de lo horns tend to play different equipment than their high horn counterparts who would like to take that question not me go on Jason Oh Jim Jim okay great first time

I have a very easy answer it’s in Chicago the answer’s no exactly the same equipment so wait we played Rachel I play the same horn in the same mouthpiece as the rest well I mean they’re not the same brand but two horns we play or a different brand just by coincidence I’m not sure but you know we planned these alaskey mouthpiece that

I don’t even know what they’re still making them anymore but uh we play on route double horns and yeah I’ve had people ask me like we for recycling chamber music we just stay on the same equipment that it’s too complicated to switch around and you never know from week to week if you’re gonna need high notes or low notes so

I I switch it up you’re here Boston Symphony Orchestra has to play all the aloha all the movie stuff and it was so high oh my goodness Greg you know all about that as well no second or fourth ones in that actually Greg I must say Francois Adria and Joe Greg is one of us Greg tell us why oh he’s frozen

I’m one of you oh well yeah with your equipment yes so yeah a couple years ago you helped me hook up with a nice Alex oh and of course Andrew Bain plays an Alex he’s played with forever so it’s much easier I think and it’s trying to get was adjustment for me because I played guy Arab Yoram it orange forever so it’s definitely a new bag of tricks to play it so but

I think it helps match everybody but we have a mixed section that’s so we you know we have Louis and we have a couple a couple of rock and a hill and a couple Alex’s and so we’re kind of mix mixed bag of sections doesn’t sound like it though I love playing with you guys I should be there this week

I know we miss you and you know I missed the LA Philharmonic cake that’s well when you come back we’ll have a bundt cake every flavor they makes okay that sounds good to me that sounds very good to me so the questions coming in of course about the mouthpiece do we need bigger mouth your needs what would you say to that we’ve got to have a mouthpiece question yeah right

I mean I don’t think you need bigger mouth beats in order to play in the low register I think it’s whatever works for you I do know that I tend to play a very large rim but but I have quite thin lips and it works for me up in the high register so it’s whatever works for you anybody want to add any mouthpiece things to that don’t be shy for me at the met

I know that Google and I both play the lowly font mouthpieces how do we say that sounds perfect so I play I mean I love I love the store there in Paris toots they have so many Alex’s to try back there the last time I was there I just tried so many wonderful horns and I wanted to buy all of them but um

I couldn’t but yeah so I think Google is also playing maybe a beat and I’m hanging a 10 and I definitely know for at the met that Eric and Javier the first and the third played tripplehorns and they have a smaller mouthpiece Eric’s is a little bit smaller but you know he’s always playing all those really high notes and you know

I try to stay below a third space see whenever possible is that your motto in life it’s Michelle Baker used to always say my contract to play high whatever note yeah but you know what then you we wouldn’t last the moment in the in the in the Boston noir or LA Phil I’ll tell you truth be told

I was actually always more of a high horn player well you played first Owen actually a lot of you played first horn her for a lot of the time you were the first one in Jerusalem right third horn and associate yeah but oh yeah and Joe I played in Jerusalem - I know every position I played I was hired on third and then the principal horn at the time didn’t want to play things like you know the

Midsummer Night’s Dream and stuff so he said hey I’ll let you play it and so I wonder if it’s the same Prince before oh maybe Deniz there’s a question for you coming it’s not a mystic question it needs to be answered said no there’s some sort of crackling going on I don’t agree with it I think it might be you barb is it can you hear that we banned

Greg had wind chimes and we banned those anyway no problem okay ready for this Denise in New Jersey has asked what color is on the room he loves it it’s sort of a teal sort of color I love really like a brilliant color and actually in my normal non-music reading glasses which I have my music reading glasses on now but my normal glasses have nice nice blue in there so blue is definitely my favorite color so you meant to fool

I match the wall always gonna blend in okay we’ve had mouthpiece question and we’ve had we’ve had the color on the wall question I’ve got another question for you guys I think everyone’s gonna have to answer this if we have a break do we have a break I mean a break in your mouthpiece not a break in the hangout what notes do you shift that

Adrian you go first you know he’s already me no you don’t have a break actually I don’t have in the lower register no he really doesn’t this guy does not have a break oh of course there’s some notes I don’t like a note but but I don’t have a break I would say when whenever you have a break just the way

I like to think is to be brave and and being more offensive with that or not not like a break like ya know he really plays very very organically through it we’re jealous of that France well what about you meet between F sharp and G address low register so Shostakovich v and donkey shots you know it if not my not my cup of tea yeah what do you do about it

I do what you told me it’s like I want from the shots is like doing with more with more insisting more yes and yeah Adrian already said just you have to make a bet or better with your model is you know I have actually quite a few breaks just meet but many ones Greg how about you do you have a

Greg Greg has an amazing show because Greg actually insets here your your phenomenon I think for me I have a switch like at the bottom of you right at the bottom of the stack it’s only four if you’re trampling loudly I have to kind of shift a little bit to really get a loud sound out but otherwise

I try and just kind of work through it yeah okay Jason it’s like it’s like show and tell you and then you yeah we’re airing our dirty laundry oh great yes we are that we’re on a horn hangout well I have one that kind of exists in between a harmonic really like between the middle C and the e

I have to kind of adjust my jaw you know on the f4 and it kind of is there on every horn that harmonic so I use different fingerings to get around that there’s certain harmonics that are harder to bump through for me so I try to dodge them if I can and I have a little bit of a break at the top of the treble staff too like all right between

E and F once I’m past that into the high range I feel much better but when I was a kid I had a setup like Greg was talking about up through grad school actually where I set the mouthpiece into my bottom lip and I didn’t have a break up until the top of the trouble stop all the way down

I could play things that gave a lot of the other most people trouble I didn’t have the break and then once I sort of fixed that embouchure setting I got all the same breaks that everyone else had and I had to figure out how to smooth through them so you guys I have good news we are live on

Facebook finally well done George and then welcome can we maybe actually welcome our Facebook listeners how we welcome the website listeners come on to everyone on Facebook we are holding a low horn hang out hang out learn horn blow horn horn hang out ready one two three [Music] how did that sound please let us know it’s so nice to see you we had a few

Facebook problems Zoomers done an update and everything’s different but I you are live on Facebook and and we done all the introductions already so if any of you watching can help us with the introductions on Facebook you can write who everybody is and where they play okay that’s your trivia quiz for now on the live Facebook feed so

I see all these people jezus joined from from Birmingham and pange a lot is Sarah fellow police the names are really actually quite hard michael barnett sada pereira rodriguez coroner folker google Valverde is watching Oh logo from the left so oh go could you write in the chat please who everybody is because we we’re a bit late getting onto

Facebook and we’ve done the introductions already so maybe you could explain who everybody isn’t where they play that would be amazing we are talking about embouchure brakes and we’re airing our dirty low horn laundry and we’ve actually you’ve missed it do you okay Joe Joe you look like you smell dirty laundry are you about your great oh yeah it’s been so long since

I’ve played that I don’t know where it is I think it used to be B yeah I had trouble going from the low C to the D but I just worked through it you just go slow and I I find I I had to start doing something with my jaw I didn’t start out as a low horn player but

Norwood help mum told me are you happier to be a lower one player oh oh I had to figure out how to do it and a lot of it involves actually putting the jaw out a little bit and changing the Airstream good good tips by the way someone wrote in and said is Norbert help I’m going to be on your low horn hangout and

I had to sort can you imagine explaining how to get onto a zoom chat to Norwood help man no can you imagine anyway we love nor but um but Norbert has never you duck can’t even use his mobile phone but it’s his birthday tomorrow true so who hasn’t outed their brakes yet Rachel Rachel I have one no

I also was not a natural low horn player and so mine was always the a below middle C so Brahms tragic overture like shot pain through my heart whenever I tried to play it still don’t like to play it ace what are we you typing what about your tricks what are you well kind of like Francois just like ironing it out the ironing out on either side and really just playing it as loud as

I possibly could now that’s really important thing that’s getting on to that in a second um Jim any breaks well it it used to be more like a trench it used to be the G below middle C and the G flat those are the G was partially there the G flat was just not there and so basically from a flat to

F it was just a real gamble and I have to take a breath to reset and and find some excuse and so I thought this is never gonna work so what I did was push the brake up into basically as I said iron it so it’s not a break so now I know I’m comfortable to play on a low setting as high as an e above above middle

C and and then push it back down so just depending on how loose you are how stiff you are you can kind of decide where you’re gonna need to shift so I feel comfortable to go over that traditional area that used to be a break but it used to be really really hard aids were starting to get hard as

Rachel said G’s was just pretty bad G flat gone until you could take it in Jeff farm so just basically iron it out and and I’m with Jo push the jaw a little bit and just muscle muscle through it and practice being able to play middle c d e loudly on the low setting that just kind of helped just kind of erased that that break idea but yeah but it used to be the 38th parallel it was there’s no there’s no processing it easily

I don’t know it’s hard to believe if you if I if you know you’re playing but ya know I I know exactly what you talked about Denise how about you because you spent many years is fourth fourth Horn of Philadelphia and now you’re doing a lot of solo stuff did you find did you find that sort of power low horn stuff that you were doing every day in the orchestra did that help a break or do you

I know you have a very special technique of switching we’re about is that when you want to explain that well when I was in school and probably up until I was about 30 it was right at the G the first note of Shostakovich five so that G was on my loss and everything above that was on my high set and it felt very limiting and so

I I decided to try and work it up just as Jim was saying it’s like I dragged that low set up a little bit higher so I have more flexibility and now I can I can play and a-flat still on my high set but it sounds pretty bad so for me there’s there’s a range I can play up to probably about an e at the bottom of the treble staff on on my low set nobody wants to hear me hold a note it’s not so pretty but yeah and for me when

I go into my loss and it’s definitely bring the jaw out and I jokingly say that for a lot of people when they bring that jaw out their corners come down so I talk about that frown with especially with kids to try and give them something a little bit funny to remember so they can work on that yeah good advice who who ever missed anybody

Bob yeah same same thing like like everybody here we were all you know high run players and maybe that’s just because that’s what we were taught for me it’s more like from between the middle C and the note below the B natural right in there that’s where my ironing has to happen and I think I think the best thing of this discussion is to tell students that if you have any of these breaks it’s okay and it’s normal because we’re all human and we all have similar but different you know facial structures we all have a jaw we all have two lips and cheeks and

The muscles and it’s nothing to be ashamed of really just to work on it though and to not be so worried about it for me slurring helps a lot and at the met you know where I was getting the hand like you know to be quiet not mad I always say oh he’s trying to high-five us we had from

Claudio Bobby Cisco ya know but I think the hand is not a high-five it’s more like like you said we don’t want to hear you guys so I had to develop the technique to play very quietly very quickly which was kind of scary so if I have something like a middle C and then maybe going down and it’s pianist

ECMO I definitely use my low setting even if I go up a little bit higher there’s there’s a kind of a terrifying little thing interest on that I don’t know if you remember that forth yeah yeah I know that one yeah yeah Francois did you have to play forty no not yet I would recommend being sick when that happens you know the other one that

I it would absolutely make me die I would rather be sick for the whole week than play the second horn bit in master singers it goes do do do do do do all by yourself and in the problem is that it’s usually with if you play with anybody at all it’s with somebody on the other side of the pit so you don’t even hear them so it’s like why am

I sitting here playing these repeated you know to know whatever notes sharps and stuff so yeah that that’s one of my biggest challenges for sure speaking of scary vogner opposites actually pardners birthday today which is why this is my tribute to Wagner the Valkyrie perhaps best I could do and actually Adrienne has a tribute to vogner as well can you show us get that in there [Laughter] by way to be a cool show us again

I took my biggest book to put my letter on mine vegetarian cookbooks um what have you got in the back what flag is that actually Bob Greg do you have anything var denarian order your Docs what do you have we’ll use them for later okay well everybody watching by the way we have some real prominent people we have we have stuff on your tier skiers watching nice to serve on no highborns allowed but it’s really nice of you to watch watching

Kayla versus watching Runyan a shot who’s a horn player from Baghdad woman in a true man’s world and I admire her so much so hi to Baghdad Rania we also have Hilary Harding from the president’s own band who’s watching which is great and Jezebel jazz I told you fourth horn in in in Birmingham SAR burger from Ensemble

Maidan and Sergei said gain naked nah carry a cough you know Sergei these are trumpet player and he steals all our pieces plays all sorts of horn stuff on the trumpet so that’s a little bit mean at home but anyway lovely just viewed so um people are saying thank you very much for all these all these tips

I just wanted to ask you guys something I found when people say what is the secret of of low horn playing happy place so loud and then then you say well do you practice loud oh no why not doesn’t sound very good okay so so this is this is like the the vicious circle has practicing I find it incredibly beneficial to practice the low notes loud to get over to iron out that break

Joe what what do you think well of course you have to practice loud but like any notes I start at a comfortable dynamic and I do long tomes and I try to open them up I don’t I don’t force them at the beginning at some point you have to force and really whack it but I think it’s important to work on quality and opening it up yeah yeah no absolutely of course

I mean quality is good but I found actually breaking in notes I don’t know anybody comments yes I mean you don’t need we we want always to have the big French horn sound when we play in the middle register or maybe register but I need more and sorry you told me you need more focus and maybe open the hand little bit more and actually

I had a very very good exercise from Stefan door years ago and he told me to practice without the hand just to have this feeling that everything is buzzing and so you can develop your your amateur little bit more okay I don’t would I can’t member which exercise that is he’s got so many good ones but like literally he practices his lower range every day it’s like

I don’t know it’s like with you guys I have to practice my high notes because if I didn’t I wouldn’t have any left ever Jason you’re nodding oh absolutely I I get my low practice at work and at home when I play a tune sight I rarely I mean unless something specific is coming up that that I need something special for

I usually try to do things in the mid and upper range to balance things out and it’s all so much more fun I wanted to say the way I look like I tried to sprint always I I like to talk about priorities always for me like the first priority in the lockers of course in every register we play but even more in the low

I like to see like the first priority like stability and then maybe a nice sound of course but maybe the fault of the fifth priorities should be like like to play loud but I think now that people want to play loud and maybe that’s amazing for the warming up room but maybe when you when you I think no horn section the world won’t stick together it doesn’t matter now you play so

I recommend always like to keep this purity like to play like with stability and then from there like build up there like you say no like pick up the dynamic that’s always with with stability and that should be like the step one and then from there like build up to not try to play too loud too soon because then it goes like no

I agree and I want to make sure that there wasn’t misunderstood what I said when I for example when I was at the Opera I spent ten years at the State Opera in Berlin and then got was auditioning for the job in the Berlin fill and I knew that they thought I couldn’t play loud enough and I couldn’t you know in the operas you say barb you always get the hand you know it’s just like you know

Berenbaum you do not want to get on the bad side of him so we didn’t play too loud but so I really needed to I needed to beef it up but I’d already had already had that that that stability from having a job for so long but I had to beef it up and to beef it up

I had to practice loud but you always have to play with the best sound you can I mean that’s even as little players right guys yeah I think the biggest advice is just if you lose it if you don’t use it you know and the more you use it the low-range it’s the better it will get just like lifting weights or something you know it’ll it’ll get better so practice scales maybe the perez feels down the octave slur it if you can’t play to get through the breaks and then and then really staccato with it with much more air than you think you would need

There is version for the sound you can practice also stop notes in a low register and you don’t have to carry about abroad the sound about the quality is just to have the good feeling and you develop even more and just stopping that’s a really great idea I’ve got a very interesting question I’m not quite sure I’m just trying to imagine this maybe you guys can help for amateur shipping he says so it should feel like opening the embouchure up from behind where the jaw hinge is like a snake swallowing an egg

Wow anybody anybody uh hi I’m not quite sure anybody want to take that one well for what for me I would say that that’s what kind of well it sounds like it sounds like they’re just trying to open their jaw way too much and for me that doesn’t work for me the sticking out of the jaw works better than just completely opening the

John that’s as I think Barbara saying everybody’s a little bit different we all have different physical setups different oral cavities so whatever works for you to give you the sound that you like do that but for me completely opening my jaw just doesn’t work Jim you had something yeah you know I think besides the the the the constant aspect of beautiful sound and even sound

I mean that’s it that’s a given that has to be there but I’m with with Adrienne’s about stability because for me you you have to be able to have this exactness of attack and sustaining I mean there are a lot of lyrical studies to work on tone and just general overall flexibility that gets back kind of to the gap but if you can’t play things solid with some sort of pop and snap its it will never be loud and and that’s something

I learned sitting next to and close to Dan Gingrich because it was a beautiful big sound but it had a smack in a power behind it like nothing else and listen to Bernstein’s Shostakovich seven recording when he’s playing fourth horn and and that that’s a good example of this this this insistence on really tight stable I guess

Adrienne was saying playing I think it’s really important totally view on that one and share is what Shanghai Annie I Tom Bona has said he said do for us low horn players do you ever do we ever think bass trombone a beautiful bass trombone also I don’t know what do you guys say when when I’m playing the vogner tuba then

I definitely listen to the tuba because you know they’re often in unison but not so much bass trombone player I sat in front of Charlie Vernon the first time I play with Chicago company Jim I will never forget that experience when he when he breathed in all my hair was sort of like he could like a feather in the wind right not quite not quite based on it but here’s a great question yeah

Matthew Haislip says Dan grit Gingrich’s his favorite eight overnights fourth horn solo dan dan could just do any anything he really really can so Hanna would like to know what are the best exercises to improve articulation in the low range does anyone have any sort of secret tips I asked you guys to all bring your favorite it chews for low horn maybe we can go through those and talk a little about articulation because no horn when

I when I started sort of specializing a little bit low horn I realize most low horn players sounded muddy you know it was just like and the the absolutely that rule was here my predecessor who who we’ve settled the heroine hangouts already he played like this I could never play like that we need art we need our hands and it was it made it suddenly

I was listening to low horn that was clear Manfred clear get it well sorry so exercises etudes Greg Clevenger about playing low horn and he’s barred the story about how and Dan Gingrich won the fourth Horan spot or moody fourth part he played we should play everything down or not like Mozart solos and a Tunes anything you play and

I started thinking about that as well on so I think when you play promotes our concerto you you’re thinking about your articulation and all that so when I play whatever solo could be summed up melody out of the Arbenz book or whatever I try to play it as if it’s an octave higher as far as articulations so you don’t sound money like you were talking about so just try to in especially playing second horn you want to try and match the first foreign players articulations so it helps you to play things that you would play an octave higher just normally play that an octave lower

And try and play exactly that same kind of articulation I’m gonna write down all these this is great I’m gonna use all of this anyone else got anything for us next yeah Jim go I think you know back to the based Rumble and imitation idea I don’t for me that that presents kind of like a like a floppiness of tone as opposed to making rich an octave lower than the first horn part as as

Greg just said that’s kind of along those lines but for me articulation I know some mate may consider the gnarling things just etudes for me they’re not they’re introduced to me by byes eyford who could play anywhere and everywhere I’m kind of like Dan and approached him in a very lyrical style so for me those are a really go-to thing because you could you can really sustain things work on your tone work on who was it was was it

Jason who said about the stop notes I think and basically somebody said bus stops wha yeah absolutely in those knurlings a lot does a Fairmont stop notes but the articulation aspect of the NOI Lang and don’t look at the scale study in arpeggio study look at is a piece of music make it make it lyrical although the demands are you know specific centering of notes for me that’s that’s the thing also also

I think there’s lots of things I do and work on something from Schweickart swarm up number four from the ward fern book I don’t know if anybody uses that very often that’s it that’s a lyrical thing I don’t prefer Roche ooh that’s a little too slippery for me it’s great for tone and flexibility but I think for me it’s a great no but it’s great it’s it’s great music making you know the

Hackerman things are also kind of a good combination of all those things a little not as dry as noisy bar yep yeah I just have three things that I think are amazing um from Julie Landsman from the Caruso’s there’s a series watching by the way hello Julian so the noodles they’re called noodles in it and it’s not pasta but it’s connecting the higher register like a second line

G with a G below slurring that and then articulating the low G is fantastic from michelle baker the remington it’s a trombone exercise the remington where you slur all these arpeggios and then you articulate the crap out of them um and then the third thing I would say is from from rosenkavalier if you can get the four corn part and there’s a little duet with the tenor which you know about which was actually on the

Berlin Phil edition it’s this really wonderful moment where you’re it’s legato it takes a tremendous amount of air and you just slur from low to mid to low to higher and it’s it’s a great way to get your flexibility going if any of you watching this on the website can put any of the links to these or can you repeat the the names of the books so that we’ve got them all for reference later

I certainly want you to write them all down so that I can get the ones that I don’t have not may be really slippery but maybe there’s an is MP in MLP linked to the to the Rosenkavalier I think there is maybe someone could put that on because that’s a really good thing we’ve all gotta practice that tomorrow

Rachel what would you order what have you got in your low horn bag of tricks I I also I like the bro shoe or air and tone and ease of playing I just I think they’re very like meditative lovely I play everything down the octave I like to play Kling the Mueller gal a those you know kind of standard etudes as written and then also not too below as

American I don’t know about you guys I play a lot of b-flat horn in the orchestra and in real life down there which I think helps a ton with the the clarity and getting the same kind of paying in the articulation that helps with you know the actual job of matching but I think you know did sometimes students think that you don’t you can’t be musical down in the lower range really should just just sound like the same thing

I think yeah yeah I completely agree with that every time I hear people come play for me their number one objective in the low range is to play like loud and very muscley and I like the idea of just taking everything that you work on any kind of concerto any etude and play it down an octave or two and work on the same musical ideas same clarity that you that you would work on if you were in the appropriate octave but for me the the book

I like the most is that is the hackle men book his low is low book I feel like it has a nice combination of lyrical but also some articulated some jumpy some more linear so for me that’s that’s one of my favorite books yeah Joe do you have a favorite book sorry idea n-no it’s fine mm-hmm no

I’d like to just take the standard down an octave or transposed M into C or whatever yeah you don’t you don’t take specific low horn do you play more second or do you may pay more for others it’s your job tifa’s horn low horn it’s no one but I play a second maybe percent of the time yeah yeah so you you would recommend taking taking standard attitudes and just putting them down down an octave and being as musical as you can like

Denis Denis suggests it’s absolutely fantastic advice yeah yeah playing out down in the low range is fun but it’s really not everything and the last thing we want to hear an audition is someone that goes in that’s the last thing we want to hear you we want to hear all the notes in the middle Adrian you wanted to say something no no

I just wanted to say I love also the Huckle man also like the rubix part and for to work this kind of articulation things with which are more difficult in the lower register like like Paris I’d like to go from from from the legato feeling like to open up and maybe the people focus really much to play short in the low but always like to play with with twice or three times more man is good

I love the clean ones it’s like an opera Aria there’s a couple of really nice of and then the Vern Reynolds Francoise have you got any secrets for as you play you play more second horn right and I learned over the year to play also with more articulation I study with money with Monica and Adrian - and she wrote is like the first it was like 2004 and she was thinking okay and

I checked like six six month later what Winkle can you explain that to us the corners and the children yeah because we we have the tendency to believe that we we have to open the mouth to play in a low register but we only have to vibrate the lips in at a lower frequency then and then in the high register so we need more space and actually

I use my mouthpiece I really lock in my mouthpiece - - and then open my open my job so I don’t open and then puts mouthpiece I go in the Maltese and try to have as much meat lip meat as possible to have something to vibrate and I think that’s a normal lip it’s only there for the stability so

I’m going in the middle and then down the stability and let the upper lip table right that’s really good advice absolutely good on my louisa she was always about the being the chin down her that’s a really big thing wasn’t it with my for her for her touching jinda but also i find some students they they think okay they’ve got a cut and then here’s too tight and if here’s too tight you can’t get your chin down it must be more of a pool muscle it less is more oh we’ve got it we’ve got it we’ve got a

Gatecrasher posture an imposter in our midst hello Stefan I’m not here you naughty trumpet hang up I’ve told them that you practice your lowborn everyday as well dude here it comes I think we’re gonna switch your oldest Wagner’s birthday today do you have anything to add to that I think I think I’ll switch him off actually you guys got a screenshot of this get a screenshot now before some pasta

I’m turning him up now hi Stefan thank you you can come back when the hangouts finish we’re gonna have a drink okay good watching the National Theatre on the other thing okay see you later [Laughter] that was nice huh hi-c someone had to play a I see it wasn’t gonna be me Francois where were we we’re talking about um corners who hasn’t

Jason did you tell us what your favorite a tubes are uh I I hate to say what everyone else is said but a toots down an octave I I’ve always used these gal a you know these 40 these were always the high ones the unmeasured ones I love you know I used to practice these when I was a student especially

I would I would practice them as they were written and then I would get too tired and I felt like I wasn’t done practicing for the day but I didn’t have any endurance left to play it the way I wanted in the high range so I would just drop them down an octave and then I found that

I could go back to the upper octave for a little bit and I would just switch back and forth and try to make them sound similar and that’s something that I a lot of students come to be wanting some specific answer some magic answer and I just fell into it because I was too tired to play high horn anymore and so

I would practice low horn because that’s all I had left and I always I found that to be interesting preparing for a low horn on because you can beat your face up for a long time playing low and stuff yeah and high horn stuff you have to meter it out a little more carefully you can’t just beat your face up cuz the next day it won’t work but low burn playing you can really kind of beat your head against the wall until it sounds the way you want you probably won’t damage yourself that’s mostly my my prescription for low horn practicing just play down there

A lot yeah and having a lot of music you know cope rush down a fifth down a fourth down an octave and the minute you get sick of that slip over to something else just I don’t stick with one thing too long I just I just keep going until I like the way it sounds the great thing over the years over the last few years is that we’re getting more luck we have those low horn jazz issues that

I Ricardo did Richard Bissell wrote that great peaceful Oh horn Joshua Davis did matilda and is a new one coming out he’s promised us we have a new low horn feature coming a quartet and there’s a Denise has done a lot for for low horn repertoire I mean it’s really we’ve got great stuff now I mean if any of you watching have have any tips what we can practice then tell us we want we want to know there’s a really good question that

I’d like to came back to it it’s like 500 questions ago but I’ve kept my finger on it because I thought it was a really good one from Jason froggit he said do you rely more on the sound or on the technique when changing registers through the brake range that’s a really good question Denise do you have a good answer for that the answer is yes it depends on what it is that’s lacking when

I’m working on it so if I really feel like I’m struggling to sort of figure out how to get over the brake range or hit B smooth through it then I’m gonna try and as we’ve said many times but iron it out a bit and if my sound is suffering it feels like the technique is working but my sound is suffer

I’m gonna focus more on that so it really depends on what is presenting itself to me when I’m practicing something yeah good answer she’s good at this great answer I’m buddy ciske says only one octave down why not two octaves down hey I said two octaves down come on people I have another yes that’s right I don’t know if you guys know that book it’s great the

Ken Pope had these at his shop and I don’t really haven’t heard of them other than just running across them but they’re all really short just these little tiny four line etudes and they all do could you hold it up again it’s called ear worm yeah ear worms for low horn and they’re all short and I can practice my

Germans but they all have their cliches there they’re basically one four five one the chord progressions are really basic and I actually think for younger players if you’re working on your low range keep the music simple like don’t try to approach hard music and take it down an octave play something simple something beautiful so that your ear is already there because then you can be you can critique the sound you you know what you’re looking for if it’s a familiar tune or an obvious - and

I think you’re gonna get better faster and so I like things that are mostly simple I don’t I don’t try to get too complicated and in the orchestra most of our low playing is simple quality it’s whole notes and half notes and quarter notes it’s not you know except for you know Don Quixote and a few things it’s mostly stability yeah and like we said

Jason about the slow practice I think that’s so much more important than trying to speed through things and kind of pretend that your problems don’t exist if you do it slowly you can really find slurring slowly from one note to a half note away where the problem is and where maybe a shift is is occurring or a break whatever you want to call it so that that you can really pinpoint ah here’s the moment that it is occurring and then you actually have control over it and not be as intimidated as before

I like Olivia Martinez posted the the link for the earworms michael d says Mozart Violin after E minor works really well on low horn I’m gonna check that one out k 304 let’s let’s get let’s check that one out of course the bass cello suites in in in the original key right oh I think um there’s a lot of talk going on about our lips people people are saying that they’re trying to see if there are any physical things about us which make us good low horn players are our lips thicker a big jaw square no

I have ten lips yeah Jo you’re going let’s see then lips I’ll do the end you’ve got a beard you don’t count Francois - who else got a beard not me after Corona I tell you it’s how your lips are they made for low horn playing oh thank you darling so do you have to have big lips to play little horn is this something we need oh no you know

Norman Norman Schweickart had former second horn CSO had very thin lips like and in a thinner mouthpiece it was like a razor you could slice salami with that thing and so I don’t think so and I once saw him I once saw him take Dale Clevenger’s shulkie what’s that peashooter is it a twenty seven one hundred and seven thousand and seven ponies

Bonita this cookie 27 yeah the silky 1027 micrometer is opening anyway i one time saw Schweickart take Dale’s mouthpiece and like start on a petal b-flat concert and just work his way down and just hand it back to him Costel was saying and until the you know the written c said that’s beneath my salary and you know frankly that accent and to me that mouthpiece so

I don’t I don’t think I don’t think there’s anything special about about the lips necessarily I may be bigger lips are a hindrance cuz Schweickart had really thin lips and he was a monster down there yeah he really was he really wasn’t I think for those who are interested not me to adjust the equipment you know spread out who was it was a

Denise that shit’ll wider rim yeah no you can find these things at work work to your advantage but I don’t know about the lips i think i think it’s just think the concept of sound that you did you start with and try to expand from those upper octaves down add some technique and there you go i think you need enough space inside the mouthpiece that the the width the

Diann width of the rim that’s where you need the space to be able to open up you know it’s not necessarily the the the thinness of it but it’s the the mouthpiece it’s the room that needs to actually in case everything you’re working with i think i don’t know what it is with greg greg you you have a you have a different set up yeah thinner rim helps with articulation i think but yeah i don’t know i think it’s whatever works right whatever sound wise works for you and everyone said everyone’s setup is totally different because of their their dental structure their mouth size everything

So you know i was the mouthpiece time not a triple player but you just kind of struggle through 300 which mouthpiece works and now of course it’s alex i’m gonna hold of holder of bag of mouthpieces for that horn as well but I think whoever work for you whatever you sound best on that’s how you work you work it out yeah everyone’s asking the mouthpiece question now they want to know what mouthpiece we all play on and if there’s a if there’s a general low horn mouthpiece that will make everybody play low horn well okay here we go is a mouthpiece question guys oh my

Horns for them that’s mine mines pretty dirty actually mine is a MacWilliam one from tilts with a Paxman 4b rim so it’s quite a sort of quite sort of rounding and I think there’s Mosley from this morning in there Oh yours is really big no no no it’s not MacWilliam one week ago Thrym Minnesota so the MacWilliam one seems to both pieces you gotta kill a up to high

B and meat oven seven etc yeah not a something when one has two votes what else have we got quite a new brand from Salzburg Binda and Binda it’s cold and actually you can separate all the pieces and you can you can set up your mouth is like you want a eighteen from three and four point five ball inside oh gosh

I don’t know that well done okay okay Adrienne’s making your face what is yours I hope I clear I don’t know I know my one a normal clear okay number on it the one ek okay good Jason what you got I think breaks and I play the same this is an old Scott laskie ATG okay years I think it’s very clean you all cleaned your mouthpieces that’s not fair

Rachel what did you say is 75 mics my 75 G Lasky okay I play a Howser it’s a GS which stands for gene Stanley and he also has gene Stan the GSL which is gene Stanley low but I don’t I don’t play that and the the rim is a copy of the Julie Landsman and the inner diameter is 18.75 so

I don’t know about but why are you making a face what does that mean big okay like your dough salt in it big okay well if it works it works you know Jim what about you how we doing it this is this is a copy 19 1995 I was made in Japan Yamaha made it and it’s a copy of an original

Farkas mouthpiece before they had all the the medium medium/deep Cup everything so it’s essentially a medium cup a little bigger than then they’re mass-produced medium cups and and the rim is is a little a little sharper on this edge the mass-produced ones is a little bit more rounded so a little less articulation possible so it’s basically the same copy the same my off because

I played since 1972 was never an experiment it’s just what my father brought home he’s my first teacher brought home that mouthpiece here you go kid that’s your mouth beats and that’s what Farkus used I mean it was just middle-of-the-road thing yeah Jim did you buy that from Houghton horns because we if the met upper horns we just did a an interview without an horns and they were just talking about the same thing no this this was 1995 we’re on tour

Gayle Williams and I went to Yamaha yeah yeah they make the best in Tokyo at that time this this was only available in Japan now you can gold on the inside there and they had they had at that time micrometer z’ to the millimeters to trace and copier your things I had a lot of copies made here locally every one was different and

Gayle played hers that very night in solid brass I tried and it just tasted bad so then I had it plated I’m just I’m giggling inside because I’m just thinking you know who would have thought that a bunch of low horn players would be talking about mouthpieces live on the internet and the people would actually watch I’m hoping you’re still watching do you have an

ID you haven’t switched off yet but actually very people are very impressed with the 18.75 I’m the ney and then some really good at youth suggestions are still coming in so I’ll share that all with you has anyone not shared their mouthpiece who would like to find today just clear that’s what Angie plays on for years yeah my rock as well

I played that and then it was easy conversion over to the Alex but then I’ve been trying these clears and so I’m not sure if I’ve singled out one I’m playing right now is it 2 CK a1 which I don’t know what that means and humm from the store and been trying them out so I don’t know

I haven’t decided well good this is amazing information I think the mouthpiece orders are gonna go up tomorrow for all these all these mouthpiece makers okay last one Barb and then we’re getting on to the last question of the night okay so again it’s the old leaf on a ten oh okay yeah aw which is I think great okay so uh and uh yeah

Madison wants to know okay just really quick favorite low horn excerpt go first meaning you can play it or you can’t play it yesterday we did enough to play it oh I know I know I have a lot of favorite ones that I be there they would only be my favorite if I didn’t have to play them okay favorite one and nightmare one okay anything in the

Ring cycle just practice custom um nightmare one I think we ready discussed so for me my favorite one is Brahms Hyden variations second horn parts variation six I absolutely love that that extra and my least favorite one is the stupid little to measure solo in Don Juan so why is that so hard for us can you can you explain that why it just is well for me in that triplet

I mean I think for most of us cuz we discussed where our break room where our break is but that triplet goes over the break and to make it sound effortless is is a bit challenging and so for me that’s it plus I have a sheet and if I can find it I’ll I’ll send it on maybe

Sarah to you and you can post it somewhere but I have a sort of a joke there like 50 different fingering combinations for this particular silly little soloing yeah yeah good and then also if the conductor wants a little rallentando with the second one you know daughter you the first one down da da da da do you think and he goes da da da da it’s like oh come on go ahead yeah

I hear you okay next oh oh oh I yeah maybe a bit of incest it’s one I like a lot a toven third yeah yeah funny you should say that thank you they tuned everybody stay tuned I’m Joe how about you mmm it’s not really solo but I really like the passage in hell didn’t leap and that begins on the low

G how that state Beethoven seven I love it because it has a beautiful solo in the second movement and in the third movement so that’s my dream and my nightmare is Bruckner 8y Adagio Oh when there’s heart when the harp starts oh my god my heart goes like oh yeah I know I know and that’s right after you’ve had to do all the end of all the first movement and the sketch and it’s yeah

I hear ya Francois and my favorite one is Milan 9 and my least favorite is a donkey shots because of your break Rachel um I love makeup and seven love the first movements I hate playing the bullfrog solo bullfrog solo yeah I can’t I have trouble getting enough power at the end of it it’s always what feels like frustrating always yeah

I’ve got a good tip I I agree that it’s really hard to get the power but when I practice that when I practice it on the F horn and then it’s even harder you know to do that crescendo on the F horn and then to bora-bora bubble but really is a bullfrog but if you practice that on the

F horn then it’s suddenly if you play on the b-flat horn in the concert it seems like yeah a gift Jason how about you bait over nine into your favorite I heard play it in the summer and it was great oh thank you actually that probably is my favorite musical moment on 4th - aside from the nerves which are always there

I mean it’s a if you do that piece once or twice a year you’re gonna be nervous but the music is so beautiful I mean of all the Beethoven slow movements that’s one of the greatest so that’s kind of a savior but Jason can you really enjoy that because I must say I’ve never really enjoyed the first half of the slow movement abate over 9 because it’s the

I know the minute the second bassoon starts I hear exactly yeah I’m talked to our second bassoon and she gets just as nervous for that so everyone’s getting nervous and the great thing about the 4th one part of that is that it’s it weaves in and out of so many other lines it’s there’s really only one part that everyone in the orchestra notices and it’s the bar where everyone quit sighs

I definitely learned my lesson touch that bar beforehand make sure you feel confident because you can chip another note somewhere in the solo in in the five minutes but that’s the only bar that the string players will even know that you were that you were playing if there will straight players they will not turn it around they just know okay there was just so yeah okay who what will you played that what oh you just have that bar the fourth one so there was one bar that’s what everybody thinks yeah exactly but my nightmare

I think the one that I hate the most is Brahms tragic overture the second horn part the fourth one part for me sits all Rytas but the second horn part indeed is worse and the orchestra is so thick and loud there that you it’s like you got your tail between your legs because you think me and I should have prepared for this better it doesn’t come up very much okay who

Jim did you tell us yours I just make sure I’m on seniority leveland when the tragic overture comes up so I can’t I just don’t play it no I’m just kidding you know it used to be the the dreaded one used to be Bruckner 4 in the slow movement post chasm post break those G’s it just was really hard and it was just a mental thing but my favorite would would be

Z Krew to Dylan just that’s to me that’s the ultimate goal just to get everything in sync the breathing the tone and every every night is different you can’t make this phrase lame tonight what are you gonna do then what I’d really dislike it’s it’s you know it’s okay but I you know I’m okay but if I never play again food food food it’s hard to make that one sound nice isn’t it and where do you breathe for the low

B and C incredible I’ve tried everywhere every combination of taking your breath where where where but before before before the slurred and everywhere you breathed everyone can hear it there’s there’s one there’s just only one place to do to do and when the clarinet has a little spasm and that’s your moment cuz the focus the focus goes to the to the show off and that’s your chance and don’t don’t pass it up everybody watching on

Facebook and on the website it’s been amazing to have all your all your feedback we couldn’t of course go into an awful lot of detail I’m just so so happy and proud of these amazing low horn players to vol joined us here today they’re all such great friends and such amazing players and I’m sure you want to join me in thanking them all for it for their time and as

I said right at the beginning of the Hangout isn’t it amazing that little horn players are even doing a hangout and that you’re watching it because a few years ago horn hang low home was just something that the high warm players did when they couldn’t get the high notes anymore so now it’s a real art and I’m really proud of it and

I’m proud of us and and I want to stay proud of us in a minute we thought because it’s Vardhan his birthday we would like to play you out and what better way to play you out yeah everyone’s getting their horns and their [Music] view okay about to do selfies and sweet with us this would be your moment and we’re the animals by the way everyone once had animals where are they

I understand at my feet okay can you show us I will do that look I would just want to see and where barb was yours he’s gone he’s an English bulldog so he’s probably sleeping with this tongue stick and her baby she’s I think outside in the backyard garden there’s one an Adrian where’s your cat your cat suite famous okay are we gonna get the animals now that’s all yeah this cats right this cat travels to

Berlin when he comes in play all your sleep Greg they’re probably scared of your hat probably though because it’s about his birthday and we’re gonna play you out there we go hello pussycat yeah she’s not impressed she’s not impressed but at least she’s been on the horn hangouts is Ruby there she’s coming I don’t know what great oh that was

Greg’s head I thought it was his dog there I have now ruined oh there he is oh I love that dog oh sweet thing and great can you show there’s Riley hello Riley Oh big brother brother when you face their seedy face Australian Shepherds are so cute they are enormous and I hope everyone you can see a

Greg’s t-shirt it says le Phil on tour but we’ve blacked he blacked out amy-jo and his wife tape out on tour because of course none of us are on tour but you know you guys we we only saw each other on tour and isn’t it this is the one good thing about this terrible virus is that we can connect like this because we never would otherwise we just wouldn’t know it’s so cold okay right so here we go ready we are going to play you out of this low horn hangout the best way we know how or maybe it’s the worst way we know how

This is how vogner intended the beginning of Rheingold to sound right ready eight horns starting now [Music] horn out and hang out through you on varnas birthday thank you for joining us everybody addley and Barbara Jim Joe Francois Jason Denis Greg and Rachel I love you all thank you so much you’re Milo horn hero on Monday Radek

Barbra rock is joining us whoa so I don’t he’s never done the horn hangout and we’re very excited to have him on the horn hangouts so I hope you can all join us and you can all watch radix just done a concert with a mask on I don’t know if you saw that he literally played with his mask on it’s very impressive anyway you guys you’re the best

I’m hang on when we go offline because we’re gonna have a nice drink together right okay everybody so lovely to see you all thanks for joining us see you next time bye you

Horn Hangouts are created by Sarah Willis of the Berlin Philharmonic. Brassbanned is a proud long-time collaborator and streaming partner.