by Ralph Lockwood

Ralph Lockwood and two of his favorite McCracken custom piston horns.

As a hopelessly right-brained, intuitive musician, I found in George McCracken (1931-2024) the perfectly balanced creator who could bring into reality his ideas, his curiosity set in tangibility—a transmuter of “lead into gold” through the alchemy of his (master) mind. I remember vividly having a horn quartet session in his basement in East Cleveland in the 1960s when George brought the prototype of his newly designed Eroica horn. We all played it, and we all despised it. It was like blowing across a coke bottle; there was no resistance (impedance) at all…nothing for the lips' vibrations to “grab hold of” or on which to gain a footing. George was as pleased about this as we were appalled. He averred that he would now take the horn and build in impedance, resolute that it would improve the design. And this he did, and the rest is history. For many years, he was chief designer/engineer at the King Instrument Company (now United Band Instruments) in Eastlake, Ohio, a place which became almost a second home to me. George turned his hands and brain and heart to the designs of trombones, tubas, and, certainly, horns, and he was also able to finesse some notoriously squirrely Wagner tubas with his acoustic tinkering. The Strobo-Conn and the (dreaded) anechoic room were invaluable tools; innumerable discussions ensued through the years. Dr. Arthur Benade entered the picture, and we became friends as a result, and more elucidating conversations with this immeasurably wise factotum transpired. But that is another story, and this is about George.

There are all sorts of "intelligences" in the universe. George's merger of the practical with the artistic was a true marriage of right- and left-brained brilliance. One time, he sold me a King horn hand-picked off the line, and I played on it for weeks, then returned it to him, saying, “This horn drains me; something is wrong. I think the bell is too thin!” “Impossible!” exclaimed George. Well, to make a long story short, after much hemming and hawing, I asked, “Please just get out your micrometer and measure the thickness of the bell throat.” He did, and, sure enough, it was several thousandths too thin. The intuitive part of me “felt” something was awry. George, always the true investigator, keyed into the mysteries of metals and the vagaries of instrument design, and his insatiable intellectual curiosity was part-and-parcel of his consummate skills. It was so valuable to be able to play for him, and for Dr. Benade, at their respective laboratories, to get expert advice and feedback. I tried so many mouthpipes and bell flares through the years in countless permutations; it’s enough to make the brain (and chops) swim.

My favorite horn for many years was a single F Conn piston horn, built in 1918, with extenders to pitch the horn in E, E-flat, and D. (It is now in the Selch collection at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.) The efficacy of the piston valve seems a no-brainer to me, and so George designed and built first a wonderful B-flat/f alto descant horn with pistons, and then a full double piston-valved horn. The aforementioned Conn single was the cognate for these. Exceptional designs and horns, these were a joy to play.

Genius is a not a term to be lightly bandied about, but it may be applied to George without reservation. Veni Creator Spiritus shouts the chorus in the opening of Mahler's 8th Symphony, and that creative spirit is an indelible part of George's indomitable persona.

by Inman Hebert

Do you have difficulty negotiating fast passages or rapid valve changes? Sluggish valves harm precision and can negatively affect pitch and tone. By not fully or quickly engaging, sluggish valves create improper airflow, leading to inconsistencies in playing. Whether or not our horn-playing has come to the point of showing these symptoms, we all need to incorporate regular maintenance for rotary valves into our routine. Understanding that the accumulation of dirt and debris, along with insufficient oiling, causes this sluggishness helps us identify some simple solutions.

For the buildup of dirt and debris, consider whether your horn has had a professional cleaning in the last year and whether you periodically have your own gentle cleaning routine scheduled. We must also not forget that a critical part of our maintenance routine includes oral hygiene. As students, we often eat on the way to class or rehearsal. Dirty buildup comes from our own mouths! Brushing our teeth or, at a minimum, thoroughly rinsing our mouths before playing will cause fewer problems with our horns.

Even though we may be busy, we should maintain a regular and sufficient oiling routine. Typical rotary valves need to be oiled first at the top (under the valve caps), as this location best allows the valves to rotate freely. Recommendations on the frequency of this range from daily to at least once a week, depending on a variety of factors, such as (primarily) the age of your horn. Remove the valve cap and place a drop onto the raised center of the bearing. A slightly heavier oil helps reduce noise and creates a tighter seal between the valve and the cylinder, but the viscosity needed varies by horn. Before replacing valve caps, check the notches on the center of each bearing for correct alignment of the rotors in their canisters; improper alignment adversely impacts airflow. Finally, gently tighten the valve caps or rotor movement may be restricted. 

Then, turn the horn over and oil the other end of each rotor, the bottom of the rotary valves, at least 3-4 times each week. Whatever oil you choose, use a needle-tip bottle to ensure the precision placement of one oil drop in the small gap between each valve post and the turning rotor spindle (to which the lever is connected). Upon completion, pull out the tuning slides a little without pressing the levers to create some suction that will pull oil onto the bearing surfaces. Finally, wipe stray oil off the outside of the horn as it can damage lacquer. Oiling the tops and bottoms of rotors on the recommended frequent schedule means that a thinner oil may be used.

Methods vary on the choice of using the valve slides or the slide tubes to oil rotors, but in either case, removing slides while pressing the corresponding rotor starts the process. If dropping oil into the inner slide tubes, keep the levers upright and then insert the slides all the way into the horn. Rotate the horn so that the oil runs from the slide tubes into the rotors. Rock the horn back and forth and press down on all the levers repeatedly to ensure that the oil is distributed to all the rotors. Drain any excess oil. If oiling via the outer slide tubes, remove the valve slides, hold the horn so that the levers point to the floor, and use an eyedropper to squeeze oil as far down the slide tubes as possible onto the rotors, then return the slides. Again, rock the horn to disperse the oil, and don’t forget to return slides to in-tune positions. 

As students, we understand that only through consistent practice can we improve and maintain our playing ability. Similarly, rotary valves need regular cleaning and lubrication to prevent sluggishness so that our playing is optimized. As lubricant maintenance protects your horn against internal sludge and oxidation, its playing life is prolonged. By adopting these maintenance practices, we can ensure a responsive horn that allows for consistent and precise control.

Editor’s Note: Related issues include misshapen, worn, or poorly-sized bumpers and old or worn lever springs. Have your teacher or a repairman help check for these issues at least annually. Also, snake out the leadpipe and clean your mouthpiece frequently; dirty buildup starts in these places.

• IHS Premier Soloist Competition (March 18)—prizes of up to $1000 and additional prizes provided by Jeffrey Agrell, Medlin Horns, College Prep for Musicians, and Dylan Skye Hart.
• The Jon Hawkins Memorial Award (March 20)—up to $1500 to be spent on the costs of attending IHS 57, as well as a solo performance opportunity at the symposium, instruction from a symposium artist, a copy of Werner Pelinka’s Concerto for Jon, and a one-year IHS membership.
• Newly revamped for 2025: The Paul Mansur Award (March 20)
  This award, named for the longtime Editor of The Horn Call, Emeritus Dean, and IHS Honorary Member, Paul Mansur, will provide opportunities for full-time music education students to receive five mentorship calls from a mutually agreed-upon mentor.
• New for 2025: Michael Hatfield Service Award (March 20)
  This award was created in 2024 in memoriam of Honorary Member Michael Hatfield, who was recognized as a dedicated teacher and distinguished performer. The Michael Hatfield Service Award will be awarded to a high school or university undergraduate student who has contributed in service to the horn community or to their community-at-large.

Full details of all IHS Competitions and Awards are available at Awards & Competitions - IHS Online.

by Adam Unsworth, IHS 57 Featured Artist

Each year, I offer a Jazz Horn Seminar to members of the studio at the University of Michigan. It’s quite basic and intended for horn players who are new to playing this style of music. While participation in this class often sparks interest in taking Jazz Improvisation 1, offered by our jazz faculty, the aim of the seminar is not necessarily to create future jazz horn players. Instead, my hope is to provide the horn students an opportunity to approach their instruments from a new angle and with a different mindset. The first step is to largely put aside written notation and rely more on our ears than our eyes. We begin with familiar diatonic warm-up exercises like scales and thirds while learning to play a credible swing feel. Continuing off the page, we memorize the melody and chord changes to a simple jazz standard (My Funny Valentine is our first tune this semester), talk about how to make sense of the chord progression while improvising, then use the melody as a launch pad to generate ideas. 

This class includes plenty of listening. I find that great jazz melodists like Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Art Pepper, and Stan Getz, to name a few, are more relatable to us horn players than highly technical improvisers. We also explore many jazz horn recordings and enjoy the variety of highly personal sounds produced by these artists. It’s amazing the wide range of tone qualities produced when players aren’t concerned with fitting into an ensemble horn section. The ultimate goal of Jazz Horn Seminar is for students to begin to embrace the role of musical creator, rather than their customary role of musical re-creator, where notation serves as the rule book. This is quite a challenge for most horn students and a new skill that requires the willingness to take risks and be vulnerable in front of their colleagues. With practice and repeated reminders to view this musical world as one of freedom, most participants get a nice glimpse of what it’s like to let go and be the originator of their own ideas. 

Jazz Horn Seminar is not mandatory and usually draws interest from six to eight Michigan horn students. Many others are too busy to add this class to their schedule or don’t have interest in jazz. So how can these concepts be applied to the classical repertoire students are preparing for lessons? A good place to start is to ask a student what music they listen to when they want to relax at the end of a long day. The answer, often not classical music, is a clue to what music truly speaks to them and is often music they enjoyed at a young age. Their deep connection to this music makes it innately comfortable, and most likely the style where personal expression will come easily. In my case, I grew up with a father who played jazz piano and listened to a lot of jazz at home as well as an older brother who was on the path to becoming an excellent jazz bassist. As a kid I heard plenty of jazz and had fun playing electric bass in the school big band but concentrated solely on classical music with the horn. Only later while in college did I realize that jazz horn felt close to home for me, and that expressing myself in this style came quite naturally. A memorable a-ha moment came with the realization that the physical and mental ease I experienced playing jazz could be applied to classical solos and orchestral excerpts. This insight was key to my personal path to audition success.  

As teachers and performers, most of us have observed that works deemed important, i.e. Mozart concertos and standard orchestral excerpts, tend to take on a life of their own and can become more arduous than less prominent pieces. We tend to elevate standard repertoire because of the role it plays, or will play, in our audition and professional future. If I encounter a student who has the ability to play a familiar piece at a high level but is struggling with accuracy, energy, or musical expression, I encourage them to try a different approach, a pedagogical trick I call “Version B.” After their initial performance, we go back to the top and play the complete passage again, this time with a fresh interpretation. I tell them that the notes and rhythms are non-negotiable, but on their second attempt to experiment with all the other elements—tone, dynamics, tempo, articulation, phrasing, etc.—with the intent to create a new and spontaneously personal interpretation of this music. Essentially, the student is given permission to generate original musical ideas while continuing to play a piece that has become seemingly difficult and less enjoyable for them. It may take a couple of attempts before they have success with this unusual instruction, but most students get a hint of what it’s like to be inventive with a standard work and leave the lesson excited to try the approach further in the practice room. I should mention that despite my prodding, it is rare for a student to take their “Version B” rendition so far that the style of their Mozart concerto becomes unacceptable. Instead, while focused on the act of creating, their tone becomes more confident and personal while the phrasing expands and becomes more animated. The student’s attention has been drawn to interpreting the concerto rather than playing it perfectly, yet hours of practice, training, and instincts help them maintain the appropriate character. It is exciting to observe students as they renew their sense of freedom and fun with this familiar music. Once a student gets comfortable with the “Version B” approach, it can be applied to orchestral excerpts. Of course there is more to consider here, as being part of an ensemble requires solid knowledge of an excerpt’s musical context, close attention to detail, and the need to follow many years of established performance tradition. Score study and extensive listening are essential for younger players before adding one’s personal touch.

Beyond work with individual students, I’ve employed these concepts in our weekly horn studio class with a “Non-Classical Creative Project.” Students can choose to participate as solo performers, but more often form ensembles of varying sizes and perform as a group. The same instruction is given: consider the music you use to relax at the end of a long day, then write or arrange a short piece to play in class later in the term. Over the years, we’ve enjoyed original horn renditions of many pop tunes, movie music, and some country, rap, and hip-hop. Most importantly, this activity is purely fun and allows students to merge another style of music they love with their instrument. Although the following example doesn’t quite fit the assignment, one of my all-time favorite creative projects was conceived by a quartet of students who performed all four first movements of the Mozart concertos simultaneously! They each started at bar one of their respective concerto, counted their rests, entered when appropriate, and stopped when finished. The group began the performance without announcing the piece or concept, so it was a huge surprise, hilarious to everyone in the room, and even had some moments where it sounded respectable (when the person playing Concerto No. 1 in D was resting, of course).   

I hope the concepts above can give performers, teachers, and students some food for thought when experiencing the potential monotony or burn-out associated with repetitive practicing. While repetition in the practice room is an absolute necessity for becoming the best horn players we can be, a little creativity can make a world of difference!

Adam Unsworth
Professor of Horn
School of Music, Theatre, and Dance
University of Michigan