Wow, the viva brass secontion has gone dead. I'll write this topic in hope for it's recovery.

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I was in easons today and i bought a new french horn folder.

I'm very happy with it, before i kept my sheets in my tenor horn case (they got all crumpled), then i was given a new tenor horn and it had a pocket to put music in.

Then i switched to french horn and became accustomed to keeping music in my school bag (Not a good idea, they ripped, just by sitting in there!!)

I was lent a brand new book from my teacher and after about 4 weeks i gave it back in a terrible state - I don't think he trusts me anymore!

Over the holidays i had to buy 2 new books, and i thought i should keep them in good condition.....so.........

I bought a nice wee folder that is slightly bigger than A4, so my books and sheets fit in nicely. It zips up completely too! good protection!!

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Also, my mum lifted my french horn case while it was open and the horn fell out. There are now a few pock marks and a medium-large dent at the bottom. aah!

I'm hoping my horn teacher doesn't see it, i want him to trust me, but this may have ruined it all!

That sounds like a considerable improvement, but the benefits come with disadvantages. The largest sizes of sheet music (especially French) are much bigger than A4, and you have two items to carry to your gigs.

Back in 1972, I went to Alexander Brothers in Mainz (my job took me to nearby Darmstadt frequently), bought a new horn (the Bb/F alto that I still use) in a new case, and left my pre-WW2 103 to have a new bell fitted. I picked up the 103 on a later visit, and brought it home in its ancient, disintegrating case.

Since I often travel with more than one instrument, I like to have everything related to one of them in as few packages as possible, so when the old case finally fell apart, I decided that the new one had to have the following characteristics:

1 Enough room for the horn, two mouthpieces, music, music-stand, grease (for slides), oil (for external rotary valve links), paraffin (for valve interiors) and mute;

2 Securely free-standing;

3 Holding the horn the right way up when standing, so that condensation drains away from the valves into their tuning slides;

4 Convenient when open, and so organised that if it is not properly shut, nothing comes to harm when it falls open from the standing position.

I had no hope of buying anything that met all these criteria, so I made my own case, mostly from plywood. The base is 8 mm ply, hinged at about the 2/5 point; the bell end is the same. The sides are mostly 1 mm ply, with reinforcement at the joints, the top is 3 mm ply, doubled at the points where the handle (saved from the old case) is attached. (Dimensions from memory; I'm away from it at present).

Of course, even this design has its disadvantage; the consequence of the greater capacity is that when you carry this case, it feels uncomfortably wide, whereas a normal horn case is narrow at the point that comes beside ones knee. Perhaps I should give it wheels and a tow bar.

He/she is going to see it, believe me! Time for a trip to the repair shop?!

If I lent a book to a student and it came back in a completely dilapidated state, I would charge them for it. I think it is a bit of a cheek to borrow something and not look after it properly.

Kenm - I'm fine with my folder. This is the first time i've had to buy my own books, otherwise i would've gotten a smaller folder that used A4 sheets, but couldn't fit the books. I don't need anything bigger, and if i require something bigger......i'll cross that bridge when i come to it.

My case doesn't allow for all of that. I have room the horn, two mouthpieces (I only have one), and small things like grease and oil. There is no room for music. But i'm still a student, and i'm using a borrowed horn, so i can't complain. I think when i do G5 or 6 then the horn has a music compartment and a back strap! I don't completely mind carrying the stand as well, I have a case for it. The only 'gigs' i'd go to would be in-school lessons (stands are there, music in my schoolbag), wind band (stands are there, we don't bring our music home with us, it stays there) or something in our church community. (I will always get a lift to one of these, so it's not a great discomfort carrying my stand or music through the door.
I once had to carry a tenor horn, stand (without case) and folder to brass band practice every week. It was very hard, but i managed.

I also couldn't make a case myself. I wouldn't trust it to keep the horn, or anything else inside safe or secure.


SueHM - If i am charged for the repair, I actually won't mind paying for it. It's an education board instrument, by the way. A similar happened to someone at my wind band practice. Her horn was sitting on the seat, someone walked past it and knocked it over, there is a canyon sized (and shaped) dent in it, a lot bigger than mine. But the next week her teacher said it will be all right. The person who dented

And the book wasn't that bad. It had quite a few folds though. For some reason books get ruined in my school bag, on their own, but recently I backed all of my books or sorted them into folders, now they are well protected.

Woohoo! A spark of life in the Viva Brass section!



Hmm, I think I will have to invest in such a thing at some point. I have a new case that has no room for music so I keep it in a folder in my college bag. However I have a regular A4 folder and I think that wresting my A3.9 music books into an A4 folder does more harm to them than if I were to just leave them loose in my bag



Ouch
Is it your horn? Does it have insurance?
If it's a county music service instrument then they should be able to get it repaired (not sure though ) .
If it's your instrument (I'm assuming it doesn't have insurance) then you will have to decided if you want to pay out to get it repaired. Dents are only cosmetic unless they are really big.

Your teacher will understand (eventually ), the worst thing about brass instruments are the dents they can pick up (my tuba seems to dent if I just look at it, I've just had to pay out to have some taken out) and as an experienced brass player your teacher will have had their own dent dilemmas many times before!

Don't leave instruments in cases that aren't shut! It's so easy for you or someone else to go to pick it up and have the instrument flying across the room. My old teacher did exactly that with his trumpet during my lesson, luckily it went unharmed.

Yeah, my books are also slightly bigger than A4, but the folder can fit them. It might be a good thing to buy, it would also keep your music organised in one place! (I have to spend about half an hour searching for my piano books before my lesson.)

It isn't my horn, it's the region music service. The dent isn't that big, but it isn't tiny either.

I didn't leave the case unshut, I'm always careful about that, but i have a fair idea of who did..

Yeah, my books are also slightly bigger than A4, but the folder can fit them. It might be a good thing to buy, it would also keep your music organised in one place! (I have to spend about half an hour searching for my piano books before my lesson.)

It isn't my horn, it's the region music service. The dent isn't that big, but it isn't tiny either.

I didn't leave the case unshut, I'm always careful about that, but i have a fair idea of who did..

most people would say they didnt leave there case open
But sorry to hear about that, hopefully it doesnt affect the sound?

No, i'm serious. I know why it was left open, it wasn't my fault.
Probably my fault though that my mum picked it up...but we won't get in to that.

No, the sound is fine.

no i meant instead of saying it was unshut, they would say it was open

Atleast the sound is fine though, hopefully the CMS can sort it.

no i meant instead of saying it was unshut, they would say it was open

Atleast the sound is fine though, hopefully the CMS can sort it.

Oh. That's ok then.

I don't think the music service will try to fix it. It's not that big, and a lot of their instruments have been far dented. (I've seen from other horns borrowed from them). I think they only try to fix the instruments when they are dented all over, or unplayable.