Über travels: Our day at Ball State University

Greetings Blog Readers! We're writing to you from Kelly's CRV, cruising up I65 back to Chicago after an awesome day at Ball State University.  

Dr. Gene Berger was an Über host and Ball State University itself was a beautiful campus filled with welcoming and eager students. 

Our day started at 6am in Chicago, don't worry the early wake up call was worth it as we enjoyed a beautiful sunrise while traveling to the Hoosier state. 

Once we arrive we were treated to lunch (prime rib!!!) and got right to business. 

Kelly hosted (presented by Hoyer Horns) a class on "Tips, Tricks & Hoyer's". Students were lead thru a group trill lesson among other tips, but the most fun was had when they were encouraged to try the OPPOSITE style horn that they usually play. (Kruspe vs Geyer).  Then Dr. Berger volunteered to be the focus of our Über challenge. Were all those in attendance were asked to face away from the stage and see if they could hear the difference in the two prominent styles of horn wraps. The students were very discerning in their listening and some of the descriptions of the different models were spot on. 

Next up we all headed back to Sursa Hall where 6 different students played for us. We were impressed with their courage (it's not easy to get up in front of a room of hornists and perform, especially at that age) and their choice in music. 

We were delighted that each student was prepared in their musical selection. Lots of great talent there. Watch out folks. 

A quick break and the quartet took the stage to perform an hour long recital. Our program included Dennis LeClaire's Quartet, Kerry Turner's Fandango and Eugene Bozza's Suite for Four Horns. 

The audience was enthusiast and we were even able to take a photo with all the horn day participants at the end. 

We grabbed a bite at Panera and the Übers are now headed back to the Windy City. It's dark, the moon is HUGE and beautiful, and we're still talking about our favorite moments from today (our new shirts were a highlight) and looking thru our pictures. We hope to have some audio clips up soon from our recital. 

Until next time!!!

Liz, Anna, Kelly and Mary Jo

Getting into the swing of things! Rehearsing for our upcoming concert at Ball State University.

As the summer winds down, it's time to say goodbye to the beach and clear the cobwebs from our vacation chops. The excitement of a new semester and another orchestra season (not to mention the next installment of Downton Abbey) brings a fresh wave of motivation and inspiration. Uber Quartet is riding that wave in preparing our program for the upcoming season! We're having a lot of fun learning new music and getting creative with how to rehearse it. 

Now, most horn players already know that the horn is by far the most versatile of orchestral instruments (hate mail from trumpet players can go to icanonlyplaythreeoctaves@gmail.com). Exhibit A is Lowell Shaw's arrangement of the "Pizzicato Ostinato" movement from Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony. Originally written for string orchestra, (that's right - four different types of instruments) this piece showcases the range and flexibility of our amazing instrument. Uber has been working on keeping it light, bouncy, and driving. We're looking forward to showing our four-stringed friends how it's done.

One of the main pieces in our program is "Quartet" by Dennis Leclaire. The three movements (Fanfare, Fugue, and Chase) are all technically challenging with intricate lines passing among voices. Our task in approaching this piece is to convey the variety of musical moods without being obstructed by the simple fact that it's hard! We're asking ourselves, "How can we phrase this section to make it more ominous? What kind of balance do we need to build a quiet excitement?" These questions help us transcend the difficulty and bring out the quirky personality of the piece.

Kerry Turner's fun and animated "Fandango" has been another great challenge for the group. We started rehearsing somewhere below half tempo, and are getting it up to a speed where the insane joy at creating something so cool is kicking in. This piece is full of virtuosity, which can be intimidating, but we're remembering that bering immersed in the music and totally focused on the beauty is the best cure for trepidation.

We hope you're feeling as enthusiastic about this time of fresh beginnings as we are! Thanks for reading, and best of luck on your own season of starting anew.

Horn Maintenance!

Hello Über fans!

This month we’ve decided to tackle the sometimes gruesome topic of horn maintenance! The school year and regular playing season are quickly upon us, so now is the time to think about a clean horn to start your season off right. I am sure we all have times when we forget about taking care of our horn and then wonder why that valve gets sticky during the dress rehearsal. We’ve asked Jim Langenberg (personal repair man and husband of Über member Kelly Langenberg and owner of Brazen Bandworks) to give us his take on why, how, and when we should take care of our horns. Our thanks to Jim for such a lengthy and informative article! Enjoy! 

Horn Maintenance and Thoughts on Ultrasonic cleaning

By Jim Langenberg, Owner, Brazen Bandworks

For several years now I’ve been working as both a professional brass player as well as an instrument repair technician. I had learned some things about maintenance from my lesson teachers, but to be honest, most of the information was incomplete and generally only came up when something wasn’t working. Looking back now as a brass repair technician, I am surprised I didn’t hear more about it. Our instruments are fairly expensive, yet many of us think of changing the oil in our car long before doing anything to our horns.

Let’s talk about what goes inside our instruments for a minute. We play instruments built of metal that we blow into with our mouths. As much as we may try to tell our woodwind and string friends that our instruments produce “condensation,” we all know some saliva comes out when we buzz. That saliva can be hazardous to your horn: your body’s acidity levels, oral cleanliness, and general health all contribute to the internal picture of your instrument.  Yes, the condensation being produced from our exhalation is not devoid of moisture, microscopic organic particles, and other bacteria. A good way to explain this to a student is point out how we can see our breath in the winter when the humidity level is at 0%.  

Ok, so I blow stuff in my horn… so what?

Well… all this stuff we blow in the horn is the problem. It collects in the valves, slides, rotors, and most of all, the mouthpipe. These locations are where many of our interior maintenance issues occur.  Our saliva is generally mildly acidic or neutral ph. Even if you have neutral body chemistry, the microorganisms in your saliva will break down the other organic materials and that will result in acid in your horn. This acid is the enemy. It eats away at the metal through corrosion. Corrosive buildup is also what causes rotors to hang up and slides to get stuck. 

So… what am I supposed to do?

Well, I’m sure we’ve all been told to get a snake to swab out our mouthpipes. Yes, that’s a good idea. It will get some of the bad stuff out. How often? Once a month is an easy interval to remember, but this varies based on personal body chemistry, how clean your mouth is when you play (did you just eat? Are you drinking coffee?), and how pitted the metal on the inside of your instrument currently is. Pitting is a term used for the craters or low spots that develop, especially in the mouthpipe, where corrosion has eaten away at the metal. The pits have a tendency to hold on to the moisture and other particles going through our instrument which in turn causes corrosion to occur more quickly. So, if you are getting a lot of stuff out of your horn each time it is swabbed out, step up your frequency and evaluate if you need to be brushing your teeth or at least rinsing your mouth before playing. To take this a step further, try using some Dawn Liquid Dish Soap (the blue stuff) on your swab and rinse thoroughly. I recommend against getting soap anywhere else in the instrument unless it is being fully disassembled including the entire rotor assembly. The soap will cause problems with your valves unless it is completely removed.

Past swabbing, the best thing you can do to try to keep corrosion to a minimum is thorough oil and grease application. Keep your slides well-greased with the thickest product you are comfortable using, same with your rotors and bearing surfaces. Of course, it’s unnecessary to go so thick that your valves are slow or it is too difficult to pull your slides in time to make that next entrance. The benefit of thick oil or grease is it will last longer and protect better until the next application. One shop I worked at would actually put some oil in the mouthpipes after being play tested to try to keep any corrosion from showing up in the new instruments. No one wants to buy a new horn that is dirty. I recommend oiling piston valves daily, rotary valves every week, and slides once a month. More often is even better. I recommend trying to stick with the same brand of oil to keep thing from gumming up. Not all oils play well together.

Ok, so, I looked in my horn and it was dirty, so I swabbed it out and now I see this white and green stuff in the slides… now what do I do?

Now it’s time to go see a professional. Unless you yourself are a brass repair technician, do not try this at home. Professional cleanings should involve an acid dip.  Acid causes corrosion, but acid is also how corrosion gets removed. Horns should be completely disassembled including removing the rotors and bearing plates as well as all moving parts before being dipped. Ultrasonic machines are also filled with acid so whether your preferred shop uses just a chemical dip or an ultrasonic machine, the same result will be obtained. Any quality shop will scrub out the interior of the instrument and neutralize the acid with soap and water before reassembly and oiling. In order to keep your instrument in top shape you should invest in a professional cleaning once a year. Again, depending on your personal habits and body chemistry you may need to go more often. Interestingly enough, if you play your instrument for several hours every day you may be able to go longer between cleanings as the constant movement of fluids in the instrument seems to slow the growth of corrosion. On the flip side, I have seen student horns that are not played often enough get rather corroded very quickly because of what is happening while the instrument sits between playings.

Do I need to worry about the outside of my instrument?

I recommend wiping hand oils and sweat off the instrument with a clean microfiber cloth. Like other body fluids, sweat can be acidic.  Just like the inside of the instrument, the acid can wear away some metal and cause corrosion. I’m aware that many players like the patina they develop on their instrument. Most shops require a polish as part of their cleanings. This is often done because after the corrosion is removed there is often a pinkish color left behind. That pink is not red rot, it’s copper that was left behind when the corrosion was removed. It can be polished away so it looks like normal brass again, or it will darken in time. If you prefer to have the patina left alone, most shops will agree to not polish. As a note, the patina will be lighter when you get the instrument back because the dirt will have been removed. The color will come back.

So, your title says something about the dangers of ultrasonic cleanings, should I be worried about them?

I use ultrasonic cleaning machines frequently and they can be very helpful with speeding up the cleaning process for a repair technician. I have also learned that cleaning an older instrument ultrasonically can cause damage because the metal has thinned by corrosion and general wear, and similarly for instruments already affected by “red rot.” If you have a new or fairly new instrument, you will be fine.

Hey, I’ve heard that term before, what’s red rot?

Red rot is a term that refers to the pink or reddish dots that can occur on an instrument. This is a specific issue with brass tubing. Brass is an alloy of primarily two metals, copper and zinc. Copper is more resistant to corrosion, but zinc tends to be very vulnerable to being eaten away by corrosion. You can’t predict if and where you will have an issue with red rot. As much as manufacturers try, zinc does not get completely and uniformly mixed with the copper. There will be small pockets of zinc in the brass. If the pocket is large enough it can go all the way through the tube. Often, when you see these red dots you will see a little white or green dot in the middle. That’s where the corrosion is eating through the metal and can eventually form a hole. This is often from a lack of maintenance. Unfortunately, even with good maintenance it can still occur. A very prominent manufacturer once told me they expect a yellow brass mouthpipe to last 10 years on average.  Having corrosion removed is the only way to slow the red rot process. Sometimes it is too late and it will be necessary to replace the tube.

Ok, so what’s the deal with red rot and ultrasonics?

Ultrasonic cleaning machines work by shooting high intensity frequencies into the acid bath to vibrate the dirt loose. As was mentioned above, having red rot does not guarantee the instrument has a hole. The trouble is, in my experience, the frequencies and vibrations from the ultrasonics often causes the red rot to open up more often than when an instrument is cleaned with acid alone. A coworker once showed me what happens when you put a piece of tin foil in an ultrasonic machine. When the cycle had completed, the tin foil was full of tiny pin holes. Now, if your instrument is in good shape, this is not an issue as instrument tubing is much thicker than tin foil. Because of this, my shop (www.brazenbandworks.com) only uses a small ultrasonic machine for cleaning solid parts. To be clear, I have full confidence in the ability of ultrasonic machines for cleanings, but my personal preference is to err on the side of caution and not use them on old horns or horns with any evidence of red rot.

In conclusion

The recipe for a happy horn includes:

1. Keep your mouthpipe clean by keeping what goes in the horn clean as well as regularly swabbing out the leadpipe.
2. Keep slides, rotors, and bearing surfaces well lubricated.
3. Plan an annual professional servicing of your instrument to remove corrosion and make sure everything is functioning properly.

Every Horn has a Story

It's pretty amazing to get five musicians together and be able to make beautiful music. Playing in a Brass Quintet or Woodwind Quintet is an experience for both the player and the listener. One of the unique things about those groups is the different timbres of instruments playing off of each other.  Composers can transfer the melody from the flute to the oboe and immediately the mood can change just because it is a different sound.  The unique sound of each instrument offers its own color and depth to the chamber group.  What is fascinating about a quartet of all the same instrument is that we are not looking for each instrument to have its own sound but create an homogeneous sound that different colors can emerge from.  Engaging the listener, bringing them to a specific time, feeling or painting with certain colors.  

As a horn quartet (with five players!) creating a seamless sound is important to us.  It is very common to walk into any orchestral rehearsal of any major symphony to find that the entire section plays on the same make and model of instrument, specifically to aid in making this unified sound.  Because Uber is not a full time orchestra our members play on instruments unique to them.  We are constantly striving to mix and match, which allows us to create that beautiful homogeneity of horn heaven when needed but we can also stick out when the music calls for it.  We have found that it has also allowed us to expand our "color palette" to paint with.  We often talk about what we each like about our own horns and how we came to own them and we thought you might find it interesting as well.   

Mary Jo Neher:

I started playing horn in the fifth grade and played school horns through high school. I had always dreamed of owning my own horn and in junior high school that dream became a reality when my Mom told me she was able to pay for a horn and that the local instrument shop in Anchorage, Alaska had two horns for me to look at. A brass Alexander and a nickel plated  Holton 379. Looking back on it I probably should have chosen the Alex but as a young person in junior high school I had always imagined a beautiful silver horn. When we walked into the store my material side kicked in. I wouldn't even pick the horns up to try. I was too shy, embarrassed, clueless how to play test them and overwhelmingly in love with the silver mass of metal in front of me. I became the proud owner of a Holton 379. That was my horn for use at home all through High school (I played on a school owned King, which I really liked, at school). I played this horn through the first two years of my undergrad at Boston University when my teacher (Seth Orgel) and I decided it was time to invest in a "professional" horn. Once again I had my heart set on a silver horn, this time a Conn 8D. Don't ask me why. But thankfully I was a little smarter this time around. Seth picked up a few horns for me from Ken Pope. A new one every few days. Each one was worse than the first. I think he did it on purpose because when he brought what would become my horn to me and I played the first few notes on it it was like the heavens opened up. Others in the horn studio joked that it was a “magic horn” also known as the “golden horn.” I never touched my beloved Holton 379 again and I sold it a few months later. I've played on the golden horn since that day in the fall of 1997 … Almost 20 years!!! 

So what is this horn? Well that's a great question. When I bought the horn it was sold to me as  Knopf-Schmidt copy. However after moving to the Chicago area and having some others look at the horn there seems to be a consensus that it is in fact an original C. F. Schmidt. One of my favorite memories around the parentage of my horn is from Chicago legend, Dale Clevenger. He always seems to admire my horn, every-time he sees it. But, the first time he looked at/played it, after playing a few glorious notes he pulled the horn from his lips and tipped the horn away from him inspecting the back of the instrument. He leaned in close to me, and in his famous southern Illinois accent said, “my dear, there is nothing Knopf about this horn!”. That was confirmation enough for me! Knopf or not I love this horn, and so does everyone else it seems (I've been offered a nice sum of money on more than one occasion from others who also fell in love with it, but I'd never sell it!)

Kelly Langenberg:

My Hoyer 801 and I have been a rather recent pairing. I have had the luxury of acquiring several excellent instruments over my tenure as a horn player: Conn 8D, Wes Hatch Horn, 1950’s era Knopf Horn and finally my Hans Hoyer 801.  To every horn player, each horn has a story of how it was acquired. For example: to save up for my first horn, I worked a summer job as a flagger with the Ohio Department of Transportation.  Each morning when I laced my steel-toe boots to stand on the hot pavement all day, I thought about what I was going to buy with the money I was earning and it motivated me.  I would then head home and get cleaned up for my evening job at the local bookstore.  It was a hard summer, but I made enough money to buy my first horn, the Conn 8D.  After that first purchase, it has been an interesting journey of bartering and saving to get the next instrument. 

A few years back I performed at the ITG Conference in Columbus, Georgia.  After the performance a representative approached me about possibly trying a Hans Hoyer French horn.  But at the time I had five month-old twins and absolutely NO time to pursue the daunting task of learning a new horn.  We left it at that, but a year and a half passed by and I found myself standing at the Han Hoyer Horns display at the International Horn Symposium in Memphis in 2013. I asked a few friends standing by to listen and they were ecstatic with the way I sounded on the 801 and so was I!  A few weeks later I couldn’t get that sound out of my ears, or that feeling that I had while playing the Hoyer horn.  So I called the Hoyer rep to whom I had spoke at the conference and asked if they still had that specific horn. Luckily, they did.  We set up an event at a music store in the area where I would play a joint recital with the Uber Horns, and Hoyer would bring their full line of horns for me and our audience to try.  After our dress rehearsal, I played each Hoyer available to me to play, about 8 different horns.  Through blind tests and in duet settings with my fellow members of Uber, we unanimously agreed that the 801 was THE horn for me!  Among the comments they made to me were things like, “It’s so much easier to play with you because there are more overtones”, and  “You sound better on this Hoyer than you do on your regular horn”…things that might have hurt a little bit had I not been so pleased with the Hoyer horn myself!  It was the sound that I couldn’t get out of my ear, and now it’s the sound I get to enjoy every day!  I am now a Hans Hoyer Horn Artist and enthusiastically enjoy my Hoyer 801 and being part of the Buffett Group family.

Jeremiah Frederick:

Any good story has a good beginning to draw you in. For me, it started on a Bb single horn. This is somewhat unusual as most students start on single F horns, but I think a Bb single has many benefits (we can discuss that in a later blog). Gradually I moved to a double horn and my 13th birthday present - a shiny silver Holton 179! I loved that horn and played it all the way through grad school and for a few years after (even with a lovely twist in the bell courtesy of the CTA!). Realizing that a better horn would make a lot of things a lot easier, I found my current primary horn in 2002.

Built in 1998, my current horn is a Hill Geyer model originally made for Gail Williams. As she was just receiving delivery of a brand new Hill, I was in the right place at the right time to purchase the horn. Why this horn? Besides having the history of once belonging to one of my mentors and a great horn player, the depth of colors and dynamics I am able to produce are phenomenal. I have made no alterations to the instrument except removing the duck foot and replacing it with a cloth/leather strap. It continues to be a reliable and exceptional horn 13 years after purchasing it.

Being the paranoid person I am, I chose to buy a back-up horn a few years ago. I found a great deal on a new Yamaha 667D online. It was greatly reduced in price because it had been damaged in shipping, but the dents were primarily cosmetic. After modifications by Wes Hatch last year (new bell branch, lacquer removal, new lead pipe), the horn is even closer to my primary horn and at the ready, just in case...

And in case you're wondering, yes, I have named my instruments - Lois (Hill) and Billy (Yamaha). Why? You'll have to listen to the next Über quartet performance and decide for yourself!

Anna Jacobson:

My horn is an S.W. Lewis horn, made right here in Chicago.  This horn was a long-overdue change when I got it -- I had previously played a Holton H179, a more intermediate/high schooler's instrument, well into my undergrad years, and then a Paxman 20L later in undergrad and all the way through grad school.  My teachers in grad school told me that any issues in my playing could be due to technique problems on my part, or they could be problems with my horn.  I spent a lot of time in grad school trying to fix the technique problems, and almost none trying other horns to get a sense of what I really like in a horn -- despite my teachers telling me to try every horn I could get my hands on.  I was really determined not to solve my problems with equipment; I wanted to be sure my technique was completely sound.  I really regret not trying more horns -- you never appreciate what opportunities you have until you're not in the academic environment anymore! 

Luckily, a few years after I finished school, I was playing with one of my teachers and he told me that a former student was selling two horns -- a Hatch and a Lewis.  I tried them both, and with the Lewis, was amazed at how much my low register could pop out and how far I could push the volume without the tone "breaking" -- two things I had struggled with on the Paxman.  Soft playing was also a breeze.  I bought it, and the rest is history!  The Lewis definitely takes some more work to play in the upper register than my previous horns, but it's all worth it.  The moral of this story is not "you don't need to try other peoples' horns to see what you like, because the perfect horn will find you."  But I'll consider myself lucky because that's basically what happened to me! 

Liz Deitemyer:

My horn is an original Geyer that was unplayed for about twenty years. The owner had stowed it at a friend's house while moving and subsequently stopped playing and forgot to collect it. When I met this mutual friend twenty years later and mentioned I was in the market for a new horn, she tracked down its owner, who was happy to collect some income on an item he had forgotten was his! My Geyer was a big change from my previous horn, a Conn 8D, which I played all through high school and college. Living in Chicago, the land of the shiny gold horns, I was definitely out of place with my 8D! The transition was long, but I'm very happy with my horn and love the rich sound and deep colors it gets.