Instrument malfunction

[bobchilds]

I think I heard some horn malfunctions during America The Beautiful at retreat this year.

[CrunchyTenor]

I think I heard some horn malfunctions during America The Beautiful at retreat this year.

Nope, that was on purpose. Attitude malfunctions, maybe. Sportsmanship malfunctions most likely.

hmmmm....and who could have done such a thing? why, didn't we have perfectly good line markers....in someone's trunk....no where near rehearsal....?

jan

yep, you know....

I know, honey, I know. I really should have fired that guy that summer. Sorry.

Garry in Vegas

Edited September 29, 2008 by CrunchyTenor

[Scooter Pirtle]

I was a mellophone soloist, and was emptying the 'water' out of my horn a few bars before the solo began. The ####### water key got stuck and, after a few whacks, would not budge.

So, as I walked to the front to play my solo, I grabbed a soprano from my friend Larrie Dastrup and jammed my mouthpiece in. I made the entrance and played the solo. No one knew why I had grabbed a soprano until we came off the field.

Solo went well, and we won the California State Championship..

Sounds like one of those cop movies when the detective flags down a citizen’s car to commandeer. I can’t imagine what was going through that trumpet player’s mind when you approached him!

A friend of mine was a baritone (maybe it was a euphonium) soloist at Madison in ’86 (Dean Smith). If you remember, they had that nifty running rotating block to start their show. Dean uncharacteristically busted his butt crashed his horn. It was a show in Ohio (not finals) and his bell was closed down like a clam. I think he got through the show and his solo without switching out horns with anyone.

[Dir_en_X]

The most I've had heppen was a couple of stuck valves. Nothing like playing every 5th note of the show!

[acanadeanhick]

All these posts about sticking valves on baritones/euphoniums remind me how my rookie year on euph I had a terrible problem with valves sticking, but once the staff cracked down on my posture I learned to rotate my hips under me and keep a flat back all the time in horn arc and the valves became smooth as glass. It allowed my hands to relax and push straight down on the valves instead of slightly at an angle, which shaves off bits of metal, causing the valve to get stuck. Watching the bari/euph section over the next couple of years, the people who had the most systemic valve problems also had tended to have the worst posture (those extra dusty days aside), and those who were afflicted never quite seemed to get the correlation

The point is: maybe some of the common instrument 'malfunctions' are actually due to bad posture or bad technique on the member's part.

[07-Socks]

All these posts about sticking valves on baritones/euphoniums remind me how my rookie year on euph I had a terrible problem with valves sticking, but once the staff cracked down on my posture I learned to rotate my hips under me and keep a flat back all the time in horn arc and the valves became smooth as glass. It allowed my hands to relax and push straight down on the valves instead of slightly at an angle, which shaves off bits of metal, causing the valve to get stuck. Watching the bari/euph section over the next couple of years, the people who had the most systemic valve problems also had tended to have the worst posture (those extra dusty days aside), and those who were afflicted never quite seemed to get the correlation

The point is: maybe some of the common instrument 'malfunctions' are actually due to bad posture or bad technique on the member's part.

You bring up a very good point. I never looked at it that way.

[Piper]

I had a corpsmate who was a sop player and the spring broke in one of his spit valves. It was just hanging open bleeding air, so he reserved the "right to remain silent".

[liebot]

My first valve slide popped out after a horn move during a run-through at rehearsal. A staff member ran out and gave it back to me during the scatter form in our ballad but I couldn't play pretty much all of the opener, the entire second song and the beginning of the ballad. The slide got dented when it was on the ground so it wouldn't move at all, which made the show that night a complete ##### because I had to bend all the pitches in tune instead of using my slide to adjust pitch. It sucked.

[taters]

Oh you name it I 've had it...stuck Valves, Broken Spit valves, Corks fell out leaking air, lost valve cap bottom, lost Valve stem once

never in finals show though. TH eworst thing I lost was a shoe on a muddy wet field. Now that sucked big time~

[84BDsop]

Oh you name it I 've had it...stuck Valves, Broken Spit valves, Corks fell out leaking air, lost valve cap bottom, lost Valve stem once

never in finals show though. TH eworst thing I lost was a shoe on a muddy wet field. Now that sucked big time~

That happened a lot at 87 DCA...the field was a mudhole!

Fortunately, a valve problem never happened to me in drum corps....although it DID happen in college concert band once....when we were recording!