James Boldin's Horn World

Thoughts on Teaching and Playing the Horn

Posts filed in Technology

Free Arrangement: Duet from The Pearl Fishers, by Bizet

April 17, 2020

Going back through some of my old arranging projects, I came across quite a few things that were more or less finished, but not quite cleaned up for publication. I may still publish them someday, but for now I thought it would be fun to share a few, including this duet, “Deep Inside the Sacred Temple” from Act I of George Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers.  Originally for tenor and baritone voice, the duet works very well for a variety of different brass instruments, and makes a nice segue from my previous post, which featured another arrangement from the same opera (by Mason Jones).

The music is in the public domain, and you are free to download and use any of the following arrangements as well as the piano accompaniment audio file. If you enjoy playing it, consider donating to a charity or non-profit organization of your choice. If you decide to make a multi-track recording like the one below, please do share it with me as I would love to hear it.

Free Arrangement of “Deep inside the Sacred Temple” from The Pearl Fishers, by George Bizet.

In related technology news, I’ve solved (or at least figured out a workaround) to the audio/video syncing issues I was having with Final Cut Pro X. The solution: use another program! The video below was created using iMovie, another Apple program that has some similar features to Final Cut Pro. Using iMovie, the syncing issues disappeared…must be a settings issue within Final Cut, which I will try to figure out. For the time being, iMovie works just fine.

First Solos for the Horn Player: Andante from Horn Quintet, K. 407, by Mozart

April 6, 2020

Up next in the First Solos for the Horn Player series is the second movement from Mozart’s Quintet for Horn and Strings, K. 407. It’s a fantastic piece, easily the equal of any of Mozart’s horn concertos . For more information on this work, check out John Ericson’s article at Horn Matters.

The slow movement is the most difficult selection in First Solos for the Horn Player. At first I thought the book was organized chronologically, which would explain the Mozart’s inclusion near the beginning. However, that’s not quite the case, so perhaps it’s included early so that anyone casually thumbing through would see something they recognize in the first few pages.

This one took me a while to work up, and though it’s not perfect by any means, I’m satisfied with this recording with SmartMusic accompaniment. On the technology front, I’ve come to the conclusion that it would be better at this point not to stress over the video/audio syncing issues, and instead to focus on making good recordings and including some public domain images to accompany the audio. The syncing issue was never a problem before I started using a Blue Yeti USB microphone, so I presume it will resolve itself when I go back to using my normal audio interface and XLR microphones. For now, though, my current setup will suffice. For the especially curious, here are the technical fixes I’ve tried (unsuccessfully):

  • Set Logic Pro X sample rate to 48 kHz (default is 44.1), and the Blue Yeti specs list its sample rate at 48 kHz.
  • Set Q2n-4K audio sample rate to 48 kHz

Neither of the above resolved the problem, although I have noticed upon further inspection that the camera records at 25 frames per second, and Final Cut Pro adjusts it to 23.9 fps. This may be the problem, but it will take me some time to work out a solution. If anyone has other possible fixes, I would be grateful!

Textbooks, OERs, and a Free Scale Book

May 13, 2019

The end of our spring semester and academic year is a good time to reflect, and this post will focus on a couple of things that should be of interest to college students and teachers. Last fall I joined a Faculty Learning Community (FLC) at my university, tasked with discussing and developing Open Educational Resources (OERs) for current and future courses. While I was already aware of OERs, this faculty group gave me the opportunity to delve into them in much greater detail, and discuss other pedagogical issues with colleagues from across campus. In addition to myself, the members included a diverse group of faculty from education, health sciences, history, political science, English, communications, chemistry, psychology, and mathematics. We ranged in experience from first-year Assistant Professors all the way to Full Professors with decades of teaching experience. Participation in this FLC was a year long commitment, with monthly meetings. It was a great experience, and I would recommend it to any university faculty who have the opportunity to participate in a group like this. *One perk that we did not know we would be receiving prior to joining was a new Samsung tablet, and a stipend(!)

One of the driving reasons behind the formation of this FLC is the rising cost of college textbooks. If you haven’t bought any yourself or paid for someone else’s lately, you are in for some severe sticker shock the next time you visit a college bookstore. There are several reasons for this high cost, but they are beyond the scope of this post, and were beyond the scope of our FLC. To sum things up, many college textbooks are far too expensive for students to reasonably afford, with the end result being that many simply do not buy them. As you can imagine, this impacts passing rates, retention, etc. While faculty have the academic freedom to choose the textbooks they feel will best fit their courses, it is important to at least consider the financial burden on students. This is where OERs come in. While music as a discipline is lucky when it comes to textbook costs – if you don’t believe me check the cost of an introductory biology book, for example – I was able to find and present on several great OERs for music. I have used many of them in the past, and in many cases they are as good or better than their paid (or higher cost) counterparts.

OERs aren’t the answer to everything, of course. Developing quality course materials is a time-consuming process, and the convenience of well-researched textbook and ancillary packages from big publishers can’t be underestimated. It is a thorny question, and our FLC did not come up with all the answers. However, we did our part to present the issues to other faculty in our respective departments, and discovered (and even created) some new OERs.

To finish out this post, I am including an OER developed a few years ago, a book of intermediate scale studies. My original thought was to publish this text at some point in the future, but I’ve decided to share it here as an OER, under a Creative Commons Attribution License.  Provided that you give appropriate attribution, you are free to do the following:

  • Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format

  • Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.

You may already have developed something similar for use in your own studio, but if you are looking for something or simply want a change from your current materials feel free to check it out! DOWNLOAD HERE: Intermediate Scale Studies for Horn

Here is a list of other free (or low cost) OERs for music. There are of course many more, but these are the ones I use on a regular basis.

Naxos Music Library *Free access if your university has a subscription.

SmartMusic *Student subscription ranges from $4 to $12/year

Sight Reading Factory *Student subscription as low as $2/year

Horn Matters *Free

Hornexcerpts.org *Free

IMSLP *Free

 

Performing from a Tablet

April 26, 2019

I took the plunge recently and performed from a tablet. Overall, the experience was very positive, and I thought it might be worth sharing some thoughts. I’ve noticed my colleagues and others using tablets for the past several years, and while I understood the benefits – convenience, organization, etc. –  I just didn’t have a compelling reason (until now) to make the switch from paper.

The impetus was an upcoming performance of Dana Wilson’s song cycle for soprano, horn, and piano, Love Me Like a Beautiful Dream. After preparing the horn part individually I realized in rehearsals that my performance would benefit from using a full score, which I’ve done many times in the past, especially with new music. However, the page turns were so fast and frequent that it proved difficult to do so with a paper part. After considering a few other options, such as reducing the part and attaching the pages to a large board (percussionists do this frequently), I decided to explore the tablet option. Here’s the equipment I used:

  • Tablet – Galaxy Tab A 10.1 with S Pen 16GB (Wi-Fi) – I already had this model in my possession, courtesy of a program from my university. While not a top of the line tablet, it was more than adequate for my needs. Its 10.1 inch screen makes it one of the larger tablets out there, without getting into significantly higher-priced iPad Pro territory.
  • Footpedal – PageFlip Butterfly – Not the priciest model, but a reputable brand with lots of good reviews. The bluetooth connection is strong and dependable, and setup is very easy.
  • Operating System and Sheet Music Software – Android OS and MobileSheets Pro – I had to do a bit of searching to find a suitable music reader for Android, as the most popular app, forScore, is only available for iOS. I wanted an easy-to-use app that would allow me to make and save annotations using my tablet’s stylus. After trying the free version of MobileSheets, I upgraded to the paid version.

First, the positives:

  • The performance went very well, with no malfunctions or user-error with the tablet, footpedal, or software.
  • Page turns with the footpedal were easy and seamless.
  • Annotations in the score were easy to make and save using MobileSheets. The zoom feature allowed for precise markings.
  • Backlit screen means no worries about lighting.
  • Don’t have to worry about loose pages getting out of order.
  • Easy to organize and transport hundreds of works – anything in PDF format can be imported, and the software’s import and organize features are user-friendly. I can easily see myself using my tablet in lieu of a stack of books and solos, especially on vacation.

And now, some drawbacks:

  • Coordinating the footpedal for fast page turns took some practice, especially when standing. By the time of the performance I felt pretty comfortable with it, but in order to have my right foot poised and ready to tap the pedal, I ended up putting more weight on my left foot. This created some fatigue that I don’t normally experience when standing. Using the footpedal while seated avoids this issue though.
  • Despite the screen being larger than many tablets (with the exception of the iPad Pro), I still found the display a little smaller than I was used to seeing with printed music. You can zoom in, but then the entire sheet does not fit on the display. A tablet with a larger display is an option, but not one I’m willing to consider at this point.
  • While I didn’t experience any issues with this, I would stress the importance of making sure your tablet and footpedal are fully charged before a performance, and that all alerts are turned off. *Bluetooth must still be enabled in order to connect to the footpedal though, and set your display not to automatically sleep.

Though I haven’t decided to scan and import all of my sheet music and books to a tablet, I have been using it frequently for works that are already in PDF format. This list is continues to grow, and I foresee myself using a tablet more frequently in the future.

Comparing Microphones for Recording Solo Horn

October 29, 2018

Here’s a video comparing three different ways to record a solo horn.

  1. MXL R144 Ribbon Microphone – placed approximately 6 feet in front of the horn.
  2. Samson C02 Condenser Microphones – stereo pair in XY configuration placed approximately 6 feet in front of the horn.
  3. Samson C02 Condenser Microphones – stereo pair in NOS configuration placed approximately 6 feet in front of the horn.

The above are three common microphone techniques. There are many more, but my limited skills and equipment prevented me from exploring others.

This little project came about for three main reasons:

  • While I am most certainly not a recording engineer, I teach an Introduction to Music Technology course, and have an interest in recording techniques. I enjoy learning about the equipment and principles, and used this video as a way to put some ideas into practice.
  • Back to back comparison of the two types of microphones I own – ribbon and condenser. I’ve used both in various situations, but had not compared them in this way. For more information on microphones, see here.
  • I also wanted to try out a new way of recording – using independent audio and video equipment, rather than the all-in-one approach I have used for years. Though it took a little more time to set up, I think the end product was pretty successful. Syncing up the audio and video was less tricky than I anticipated.

Before getting into more discussion of the results, here’s the video. Separate audio files are also embedded if you would prefer to listen to those. I chose an excerpt from Otto Ketting’s Intrada because I’m performing it in a few weeks, and also because it has lots of contrast in a short amount of time.

Ribbon:

Condenser Pair XY:

Condenser Pair NOS:

Even with the extremely low cost equipment I am using, hopefully you can hear a difference among the three techniques. To me, the XY configuration has the best overall sound, although there are elements of the ribbon that I like quite a bit. Ribbon microphones are very popular for recording brass instruments, because of the warmth they bring to the sound. Higher quality microphones should of course yield more perceptible results, although my cheap MXL ribbon is ok for my purposes. I hope to do some more videos like this in the future, with different techniques and ensembles. In case you are interested, here is the equipment I used (microphones are listed above). Assuming you have a decent laptop, all of the other gear is very reasonably priced.

  • Audio Interface/Preamps: Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
  • Computer: 13 inch, MacBook Pro, ca. 2012
  • DAW: Logic Pro X
  • Video Camera: Canon Vixia, ca. 2009
  • Video Editing: Final Cut Pro X

While there are some great all-in-one recording products out there, if you do lots of audio and video recording of your horn playing it might be worth exploring some of this equipment.

Gear Reviews: Stand Light, Bluetooth Speaker

June 4, 2018

Two items I’ve recently added to my gear bag are a battery-powered stand light and a Bluetooth speaker. I initially purchased each of these items for specific purposes, but have found them so useful on a day-to-day basis that I thought it would be worth sharing. Click on the image or name of each product for a link.

Kootek Clip-On Book Light

I originally bought three of these to use for our brass trio recording back in January. Most stage lights make noise, so the lighting during a recording session needs to be minimal. They came in very handy for the session, and for several other performances afterwards. The multiple LED bulbs have two brightness settings, and the battery life is quite good, several hours per charge. Charging takes a few hours, and it comes with a USB charger and A/C adapter. One note about these lights is that they should NOT be operated while plugged in, as it can damage the battery. The base includes a large clip for attaching to a music stand, but it is also sturdy enough to allow the light to stand on its own for table or desktop use. For the price these are great lights!

Bose SoundLink Micro

I picked up this speaker to use in a “Smart” classroom that was having technological difficulties with the sound system. It was a bit of an impulse buy, and I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting. I wanted something powerful, but still portable enough to stick in my bag and lug back and forth to various classrooms. This was the first Bose product I’ve owned, but the company is well known for their high end speakers and noise-cancelling headphones. I also figured that if the speaker turned out to be a dud or simply not right for my purposes I could always return it. As it turns out, this device has become one of my most-used pieces of technology. Its dimensions (3.87″ H 3.87″ W 1.37″) make the SoundLink Micro incredibly portable, and the rubberized outer layer protects it from the inevitable bumps and scrapes that come with frequent use. It is advertised as waterproof, but I have not had the opportunity to put that claim to the test. In addition to classroom use, I use it regularly in my practice sessions at home, as well as in sectionals and chamber music rehearsals to play my metronome and tuning drones. It connects very quickly to a smartphone and/or laptop. Battery life is excellent, and setting up the Bluetooth connection is fast and easy. However, the best feature of this speaker is the sound. You really do need to hear it to believe the size and volume that it can produce. It will fill a room – not as well as a full-blown stereo system, of course – but what it lacks in power it more than compensates for in portability. One drawback to the SoundLink Micro (and all Bose products) is the price tag, which is significantly more expensive than other similarly-sized Bluetooth speakers (see the JBL Clip 2). I would be interested in comparing the JBL Clip 2 to the SoundLink Micro. My suspicion is that the Bose sound would be superior to the JBL, but maybe not by much. Regardless of the pros and cons of this particular product, I highly recommend a Bluetooth speaker for any serious musicians. I’ve used mine so much over the past several months that I replaced my office stereo system at school with a larger Bluetooth speaker, the JBL Charge 3. It’s less portable than the Bose, but since it will primarily stay in my office that’s ok with me.

 

 

Book Review: The Creative Hornist, by Jeffrey Agrell

May 21, 2018

During the summer months I usually make it a point to read both for business and pleasure. Throughout the academic year, many great books, articles, websites, and other forms of media come across my desk, but alas most of them get put aside in favor of more pressing tasks. Thankfully, the summer allows me to relax a bit and catch up on some reading. First on my list this year is Professor Jeffrey Agrell‘s new book The Creative Hornist: Essays, Rants, and Odes for the Classical Horn Player on Creative Music Making , which actually fits very nicely into both the business and pleasure category. His writing is well thought out, eminently practical, and just plain fun to read. It is an excellent companion to his book Horn Technique  (see review here), and contains both expanded versions of previously published articles (see The Horn Call) as well as new material. Those who are familiar with Agrell’s work will know that he has an incredibly fertile mind, full of intriguing thoughts on both large and small scales. As with Horn Technique, my mind boggled at the sheer amount of ideas found in these pages, any one of which could become the basis for extended study. To me, The Creative Hornist  is less horn-oriented than Horn Technique, and provides a template for teaching and studying on any instrument. The bottom line is if you are a musician, you should read this book! The topics he covers range everywhere from reinventing the dreaded undergraduate “scale test” to general ideas on creativity (the SCAMPER method).

Other chapters address ways to incorporate technology and improvisation into the traditional paradigm of horn lessons, which Agrell dubs the “Chicago Model” – i.e. the path to becoming the next Principal Horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. This is a path which Agrell acknowledges has great merit, but which can also result in a relatively narrow range of musical skills.

One theme that comes through in every chapter is that creativity takes work! But Agrell’s book takes the mystery out of what being creative actually is. Because teaching and learning this way goes against the established paradigm in music schools, it may initially present some difficulties. However, it is  arguably just as effective at training competent players and almost certainly better (in my opinion) at developing overall musicianship. Needless to say, I am eager to try some of these ideas with my students this fall.  The Creative Hornist  is a great summer read to keep you inspired and give you a running start for the fall semester. For more information, visit the book’s website, http://thecreativehornist.com/.

Equipment Update: Budget Recording Gear for the Classical Musician

March 4, 2018

Departing a bit from my previous “Equipment Update” posts, this one is not about horns, mouthpieces, or mutes. Instead it is a basic introduction to recording equipment for the classical musician, with some inexpensive, but functional, recommendations. I’ve owned recording equipment of one kind or another since my undergraduate days, starting with a Sony Minidisc recorder paired with a small Sony microphone, and later upgrading to a variety of handheld audio and video recorders manufactured by Sony, Roland, and Zoom. These were all great devices; portable, easy to use and of high enough quality to use for auditions, recital recordings, and YouTube videos.

Recently, however, I began to wonder if it might be possible to purchase individual components and put together a relatively inexpensive system suitable for live classical recording. I knew from the outset that it was neither feasible nor desirable to purchase the high end gear I’ve seen professional engineers use. My purpose was primarily educational (I teach an Introduction to Music Technology class), though I do plan to use my equipment for some future projects. I’m happy to say that for around $300, I succeeded in finding decent components which get the job done at a level equal to, or better than, the handheld devices listed above. So, what will you need if you want to do the same? Here’s a quick rundown.

  • Laptop or Desktop Computer For the amateur (as I most certainly am when it comes to recording equipment), this is probably the single most expensive component. Luckily I already own a slightly older, but still perfectly serviceable, laptop (13-inch MacBook Pro). A desktop computer would be just fine as well, although less portable than a laptop. If you are in the market for a new laptop or desktop, don’t worry about needing lots of computing power for basic recording needs. Games and other graphic-intensive applications require far more RAM and processing speed. My 4 year old laptop runs my recording equipment just fine. In my opinion, either Mac or PC is fine, choose the platform you are most comfortable using.
  • Audio Interface The next piece of essential equipment, the interface serves several functions: it converts the analog signals from your microphones into digital signals that your computer can process, provides phantom power to your microphones, and functions as a preamplifier. They can be relatively cheap (less than $100), or very expensive (thousands of $$). It all depends on what features you want and how many microphone inputs you need. After some searching around and inquiring from knowledgeable sources, I decided on the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, available for around $150. For my purposes – live solo or chamber music recording in a recital hall – I didn’t think I’d need more than two microphone inputs. I can always upgrade at some point if more inputs become necessary. So far I’ve been very pleased with the Focusrite, it’s sturdy, easy to connect and set up, and functions as advertised.
  • Microphones This is a deep rabbit hole, and my ignorance about them was one of the big reasons I avoided going beyond handheld recording devices. However, after familiarizing myself with the various types (see this tutorial video for a great introduction), I decided to take the plunge and purchase my own. As with audio interfaces, microphones can be had for $100, $1000, or $5000+, depending on the brand, type, and various other technical details. For brass instrument recording there are lots of good options, but I went with a matched pair of small-diaphragm (cardioid pattern) condensers, the Samson C02. These are definitely on the low end of the price spectrum, but they had good reviews and came with stands and cables (these are NOT the microphones pictured at the beginning of this post). Other microphones I considered at a similar price point include the Rode M5 and ART M-Six. There are certainly better microphones out there, but for the money spent, I think I got an excellent value.
  • Software (DAW) The term DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) is generally used now to refer to recording and editing software, but at one point in the not-too-distant past actually meant a separate device or devices. If you’ve been keeping up with the math, you know that I’ve already reached the ca. $300 budget mentioned at the beginning of this post. The great thing about the DAWs I frequently use is that they don’t cost anything, and are fully functional. For several years I’ve used Audacity, a free, open-source DAW that incorporates many of the features of more expensive software. It is user-friendly, and simple to set up with my audio interface. I have also been using Studio One 3 Prime, a free version of the popular Studio One software by PreSonus. GarageBand is free for Mac users, and is another great way to get into the world of DAWs. There are lots of great options out there, many with free trial versions. As a teacher, I prize ease of use pretty highly, and all three of the DAWs mentioned above perform well in that category.

So there you have it, a bare-bones but hopefully useful guide to recording equipment for the classical musician. There are so many other great tutorials online that I felt it unnecessary to go into too much depth about any of the various components. Far more knowledgeable contributors have written and recorded excellent demonstrations on a plethora of recording topics. Among my favorites is a series produced by Murray State University. See below for the links:

If you’re a novice like me, it’s perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed by all of the technical information on recording. However, as a 21st-century teacher and performer I felt I owed it to myself and my students to learn something about technology which has become so ubiquitous. It took me a little while to wrap my head around the basics, but now that I have a grasp on them I’m excited to experiment with different microphone setups and other parameters. If you are curious what the gear mentioned above sounds like, here is a rehearsal recording made using it. The excerpt is from the Trio for Horn, Trombone, and Tuba by Frigyes Hidas, which my colleagues and I will be performing this summer at the International Trombone Festival and the International Horn Symposium. It was recorded in a small classroom using a fairly close X/Y pattern microphone setup. So that you can get a clear sense of how the equipment performed, no editing has been done other than trimming the beginning and end of the clip in Audacity. I’m very pleased with how everything worked, and am looking forward to recording with this equipment in our recital hall and other venues.

 

Kentucky/Ohio Tour and Technology Presentation

October 11, 2017

James Boldin, Jacob Coleman, Jeremy Marks (photo by Bradley Kerns)

October has been, and will continue to be, a busy month, with concerts and other activities happening every week. Last week my colleague Jeremy Marks and I shared a faculty recital at ULM (performance videos coming soon), and then traveled to the University of Kentucky in Lexington and Ohio University in Athens for some additional performances and masterclasses with their students. A huge thanks to our generous hosts Bradley Kerns, David Elliott, Lucas Borges, C. Scott Smith, Joseph Brown, and Laura Brown, for their hospitality and kindness during a very busy part of the semester. Both schools have very fine music programs – there is some great teaching and playing going on in the horn and trombone studios there! In addition to performing and teaching at these schools, I also gave a brief talk called “Technology and Horn Playing.” In my correspondence with David Elliott at the University of Kentucky prior to our visit, he requested that I speak to his students about my experiences using technology as a horn player in the 21st century. The presentation went well, and it is one that I plan to continue to develop in the future. Being somewhat familiar with technology, I created a series of bullets to use as talking points and as the basis for future discussion. Those points are listed below, with active hyperlinks where applicable and a few explanatory comments that weren’t in the original handouts. I hope you find them useful, and feel free to comment if you feel so inclined.

TRENDS

  • Mobile apps – ubiquitous
  • Facebook “Live” [for performance/audition preparation and promotional material]
  • Short Promo/Informational Videos (2 minutes or less) [Better to have several short videos on a topic than one long video. Research shows that shorter videos are more engaging to viewers.]
  • Texting/Messenger/Instant communication (Email old fashioned?) Snail mail now prestigious?
  • “Research” being done through social media (“where can I find…”)
  • Playing advice on social media [A mixed bag of sometimes helpful and sometimes irrelevant advice.]
  • Online lessons/master classes [More and more popular as technology improves and travel costs increase.]
  • YouTube great for discovering new repertoire – going to conferences is even better!
  • Death of compact discs – replaced by streaming services and websites like hornexcerpts.org

RECOMMENDED DEVICES

WEBSITES I USE EVERY DAY

  • www.random.org Create random lists of….anything! Sight-reading, scales, excerpts, etc.
  • www.toggl.com Time and task tracking software. Free, easy to use, with mobile apps.
  • www.drive.google.com Great for organizing/collaborating materials

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED WEBSITES/APPS

SOCIAL MEDIA…BE WARY

  • A powerful tool in the right hands, but can also be damaging to careers and personal well-being
  • Keep a tight rein on what you post, share, and/or like on social media. If you have to ask yourself “is this appropriate?”, then it isn’t!
  • Turn off commenting on YouTube videos [Some of the comments you receive will be less than helpful, and those who really want to reach you will use email or some other method of contact. In my experience, leaving comments on for YouTube videos invites trolls.]
  • I prefer blogging to social media – less reactionary, gives the opportunity for more reasoned discourse.

Review – MRI Horn Videos: Pedagogy Informed by Science

June 28, 2016

In Report No. 3 of my series on IHS 48 I very briefly mentioned a fantastic presentation by Eli Epstein and Dr. Peter Iltis titled “MRI Horn, The Inside Story: Pedagogy Informed by Science.” In short, they have been doing some groundbreaking research involving the bio-mechanics of horn playing, and have created a YouTube Channel devoted to sharing their findings. If you have not yet been able to attend one of their presentations, the videos will do an excellent job of catching you up on the present state of their research. Using some remarkable technology – Real Time Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or RT-MRI – Iltis, Epstein, and a team of scientists in Germany have been able to capture detailed footage of what happens in our bodies when we play the horn. There is much more research to be done, but their preliminary findings are very exciting, and have the potential to greatly improve our understanding of how to play (and teach) the horn. There are quite a few other MRI videos of horn players circulating on the internet, and they are all fascinating. However, the “MRI Horn” channel does the best job I think of providing the scientific and musical background for the study, and gives us a framework for understanding what we are actually seeing in the videos. Without further ado, here are the first two episodes:

Each episode is several minutes in length, but if you really want to understand what is happening in the MRI videos floating around out there you should take the time to watch them. One of the main goals of their study is to measure and analyze what elite horn players actually do when they play the instrument, and use those findings as a way to positively impact horn and brass pedagogy. As Epstein points out in the introduction to the videos, much of horn pedagogy is based on what horn players feel and think is occurring inside their bodies. RT-MRI technology shows what is really taking place, versus what we think is happening.

“But what about ‘Paralysis by Analysis’?” you might be saying at this point. “Won’t all this information just confuse students, when they should really be focusing on time-tested methods of teaching and playing the horn?” While I understand this concern, I think these videos and the MRI studies can actually help combat Paralysis by Analysis by helping us focus on useful information and eliminating extraneous physical concerns in our teaching and performing. But don’t take my word for it! Watch the videos yourself and come to your own conclusions!

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