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	<title>Horn Matters | A French Horn and Brass Site and Resource | John Ericson and Bruce Hembd</title>
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	<description>John Ericson &#38; Bruce Hembd on the French horn, brass related topics, and the field of classical music.</description>
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	<title>Horn Matters | A French Horn and Brass Site and Resource | John Ericson and Bruce Hembd</title>
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		<title>The Very Important Topic of Who to Tune to in Orchestra</title>
		<link>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/08/the-very-important-topic-of-who-to-tune-to-in-orchestra/</link>
					<comments>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/08/the-very-important-topic-of-who-to-tune-to-in-orchestra/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Ericson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 23 Aug 2026 16:36:13 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Playing in Orchestra]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hornmatters.com/?p=47883</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The following is a slightly expanded version of a story told many times to my students as they were starting the year in their ensembles. This was my solution to a common problem we face. Certainly, other pro horn players might propose a different solution. But you do no matter what have to decide where [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">47883</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Let’s Talk About Slurs on the Natural Horn</title>
		<link>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/07/lets-talk-about-slurs-on-the-natural-horn/</link>
					<comments>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/07/lets-talk-about-slurs-on-the-natural-horn/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Ericson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Jul 2026 22:00:58 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Natural & Vintage Horns]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hornmatters.com/?p=47877</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I wrote in a recent Instagram post that One of the most basic techniques of natural horn is to match the sound of natural slurs and slurs that you have to legato tongue. This exercise is by Duverony and is an excellent one for matching types of slurs on the natural horn. I should add [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">47877</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Musings on 1,000 Articles and Google AI</title>
		<link>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/06/musings-on-1000-articles-and-google-ai/</link>
					<comments>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/06/musings-on-1000-articles-and-google-ai/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Ericson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 21 Jun 2026 23:40:07 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[News & Announcements]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hornmatters.com/?p=47841</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve been working on a horn related writing project off and on these several weeks. Occasionally I&#8217;ll do searches. Most of the time, out of habit, I&#8217;ll use Google Chrome. The current version of this will give you as the first result an &#8220;AI Overview.&#8221; Horn Matters is number one First, I do want to [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">47841</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>More on Mouthpieces and High Range Intonation</title>
		<link>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/06/more-on-mouthpieces-and-high-range-intonation/</link>
					<comments>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/06/more-on-mouthpieces-and-high-range-intonation/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Ericson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2026 23:50:38 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Mouthpieces]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hornmatters.com/?p=47831</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Last year I figured out that many of my mouthpieces were flat in the high range on my main horns. I could make them all work, sure, but it was like lifting weights to get the intonation up. Only a small subset (especially the vintage Moosewood mouthpieces) were in tune in the upper range. An [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">47831</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Easy slurs must feel easy to play</title>
		<link>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/05/easy-slurs-must-feel-easy-to-play/</link>
					<comments>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/05/easy-slurs-must-feel-easy-to-play/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Ericson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 30 May 2026 00:59:13 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Tips]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hornmatters.com/?p=47826</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Do you fight your horn to play slurs? One topic I have mentioned a few times here in Horn Matters is that of easy music in relation to testing horns and mouthpieces. But it is a topic mostly buried in other, longer articles, deserving of a dedicated article. The ability to play easy music easily [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">47826</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>PSA: No Loose Pencils in your Case</title>
		<link>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/05/psa-no-loose-pencils-in-your-case/</link>
					<comments>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/05/psa-no-loose-pencils-in-your-case/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Ericson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2026 23:43:08 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Repairs & Modifications]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hornmatters.com/?p=47820</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Back some years ago there was a long running series on Horn Matters by Dave Weiner, the &#8220;Ask Dave&#8221; series that you can look at in full here. Many highly interesting articles! One of my favorite titles of all the articles in the series was this one: Ask Dave: Hidden Dangers: Your Horn and The Occult [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">47820</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Accuracy Extra: Breath Attacks (Sub Tones) and Your Horn</title>
		<link>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/04/accuracy-extra-breath-attacks-sub-tones-and-your-horn/</link>
					<comments>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/04/accuracy-extra-breath-attacks-sub-tones-and-your-horn/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Ericson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:14:21 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Accuracy]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hornmatters.com/?p=47816</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[A professional level horn will allow great breath attacks. What? I’ve written about breath attacks multiple times, most recently in the Accuracy Encyclopedia series (here). However, there is an angle on the topic I had not before very recently given much thought to, a hugely important one. In short: Breath attacks will feel easier or [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">47816</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Sabbatical Extra &#8212; Reworking the &#8220;Conversion Horn&#8221;</title>
		<link>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/04/sabbatical-extra-reworking-the-conversion-horn/</link>
					<comments>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/04/sabbatical-extra-reworking-the-conversion-horn/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Ericson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 18 Apr 2026 22:39:57 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Sabbatical Horns]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hornmatters.com/?p=47793</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[During my 2021 sabbatical from Arizona State I worked on horn building projects, documented in a category here in Horn Matters. The final horn I worked on that spring, it was a bonus horn, done using parts I had on hand with the idea of making a Germanic style, large crooked valved horn &#8212; combining [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">47793</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>More on Heavy Metal Devices</title>
		<link>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/03/more-on-heavy-metal-devices/</link>
					<comments>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/03/more-on-heavy-metal-devices/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Ericson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Mar 2026 22:21:37 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Mouthpieces]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hornmatters.com/?p=47782</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Back in 2009 Bruce Hembd posted an article with the evocative title &#8220;Heavy Metal Devices,&#8221; which goes into topics including stem weights and heavy mouthpieces. It&#8217;s a good article well worth checking out: Heavy Metal Devices Me and &#8220;heavy metal&#8221; While this is something Bruce experimented with, I think at that time I was maybe [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">47782</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Another Kruspe Single F</title>
		<link>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/03/another-kruspe-single-f/</link>
					<comments>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/03/another-kruspe-single-f/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Ericson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Mar 2026 23:43:11 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Natural & Vintage Horns]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hornmatters.com/?p=47770</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Back in 2024 I posted about a nice vintage Kruspe single F. Around that time I purchased one of these too, of a bit different design. It was not playable, but looked like it had potential as a project. In the spring of 2025 I got it to the point seen here. From the front [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">47770</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Let&#8217;s Talk About Dynamics and Your Horn</title>
		<link>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/03/lets-talk-about-dynamics-and-your-horn/</link>
					<comments>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/03/lets-talk-about-dynamics-and-your-horn/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Ericson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 22:47:03 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Equipment]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hornmatters.com/?p=47756</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Is it your horn? A recent article focused on the topic of dynamics in large ensembles. But there is a proverbial &#8220;elephant in the room&#8221; related to this topic &#8212; it just may not be possible to play loud on your horn, at least loud with a good tone. What makes for a &#8220;professional horn&#8221; sound? [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">47756</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Practice Topic &#8212; E Major and your Horn Playing</title>
		<link>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/02/practice-topic-e-major-and-your-horn-playing/</link>
					<comments>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/02/practice-topic-e-major-and-your-horn-playing/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Ericson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 23:11:43 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Horn Practice]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hornmatters.com/?p=47750</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Something I say to students surprisingly often is how once you work out E major real well everything is easier. As I say that, I&#8217;m thinking not only of the patterns in my technique book, but more specifically Pares Scales #99. I mentioned in a very recent article how I was working to perform the [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">47750</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Musings on Horns and Memories of a Dvorak Serenade</title>
		<link>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/02/musings-on-horns-and-memories-of-a-dvorak-serenade/</link>
					<comments>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/02/musings-on-horns-and-memories-of-a-dvorak-serenade/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Ericson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2026 23:19:33 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Random]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hornmatters.com/?p=47742</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The Dvorak Serenade for Winds, Op. 44 is a wonderful work I&#8217;ve played a few times. The most memorable performance certainly was for a recording session at IU, with a group that was mostly IU faculty. For this the horn section was: Myron Bloom John Ericson Michael Hatfield Playing with style At the time I [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">47742</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Let&#8217;s Talk About Ensemble Dynamics</title>
		<link>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/01/lets-talk-about-ensemble-dynamics/</link>
					<comments>https://www.hornmatters.com/2026/01/lets-talk-about-ensemble-dynamics/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Ericson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Jan 2026 23:45:46 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Playing in Orchestra]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hornmatters.com/?p=47736</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[One topic that comes up often in lessons is that of dynamics in ensembles, especially large ensembles. While in typical etudes the dynamics are pretty clear cut, dynamics in reality are a moving target that change greatly with the musical context. Two sets of dynamics Farkas must also have experienced this same conversation in multiple [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">47736</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Schmidt Dreaming, Pan American Edition</title>
		<link>https://www.hornmatters.com/2025/12/schmidt-dreaming-pan-american-edition/</link>
					<comments>https://www.hornmatters.com/2025/12/schmidt-dreaming-pan-american-edition/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Ericson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Dec 2025 14:16:06 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Cool & Odd Instruments]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hornmatters.com/?p=47705</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[One of the original, iconic double horn designs was developed by German horn maker C. F. Schmidt in the early 20th century. The use of a piston valve for the thumb valve allows for a unique &#8212; and in ways probably ideal &#8212; airflow through the horn. But also that same thumb valve is the [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">47705</post-id>	</item>
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