Kendall, I must say I am inspired! I look forward to trashing my next Lawson which will, I am certain, trash perfectly in tune, with the most efficient conversion of energy into trash and with excellent projection to the back of the hall.
Dave Weiner Brass Arts Unlimited -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [email protected] Sent: Tue, 5 Feb 2008 11:53 pm Subject: [Hornlist] (no subject) ORN TRASH y Kenny B. There is much to be said about the trashing of the horn. I will give you ome thoughts on the subject now and you will be able to read about these in reater detail upon the publication of my soon to be completed book on the ubject. I have not decided on the title yet but I have narrowed it down to he ollowing three: "The Art of French Horn Trashing"; "On Trashing the Horn"; Grand Theoretical and Practical Method for Trashing the Horn". Here are some xcerpts from my manuscript. hapter 1: To Trash or Not To Trash? think that most horn players have a latent desire and ability to trash. hether you ecide to trash or not is a personal decision and you make this choice based n your own instincts, passion and circumstances. Don't be ashamed of your eelings, as you are not alone in them. If you have the overwhelming desire o trash, then perhaps you should try it once to find out if trashing is the ight thing for you. There is nothing wrong with this if you use discretion. ou can make the momentous decision of whether to trash in public, as I do, r whether just to keep your trash in the closet until after you have gained xperience with trashing over time. I myself trashed in private for many ears before my public debut in Tallahassee in 1994. Whatever you decide is est or you is the proper choice. hapter Two: Why Trash? rashing can be one of the most satisfying experiences a horn player can ave. Whether you are an amateur trasher who only trashes occasionally for fun or a professional trasher like me who has to do it every day, trashing the orn is a great stress reliever. Some experienced horn trashers I know say hat trashing is the best part of their day. Depending on your emotional state, you may be trashing for fun or in anger. As a professional, I trash mostly n anger. I can tell you that there is no more satisfying experience in life han smashing and ripping apart one of these buggers whether the horn belongs o you or someone else. I know that was apparent in Rochester in 1997 when ripped Prof. Hans Pizka's horn to shreds with my bare hands after he ruined y IHS International Workshop conducting debut by playing his stupid iegfried call over and over again during the world premiere of a very onumental ork of music by Milt Phibbs. At the amateur level, you will find that once you start trashing, you will continue to love it and have fun with it, possibly or your entire life. hapter Three: When to Trash our first trashing is your most important one as your life will be changed orever. A lot of trashers I know did their first one after a really bad esson. Others after an embarrassing performance. Many more after a failed udition. I know of one who even went pro on his very first trashing when he hrew his horn at the conductor during a rehearsal. The best time is whenever he spirit moves you and you have the opportunity. Remember, the desire to rash is a natural manifestation and it is nothing to be ashamed of. hapter Four: What are the Best Horns to Trash? ny horn can be successfully trashed. Remember, it's not the horn, it's he trasher. With proper training, practice and experience you will find what s best for your own trashing situation and circumstances. I have trashed any different makes and models of horns with the utmost of success and atisfaction. Accidental trashings unfortunately do occur and usually to good nstruments. These are usually repairable and/or replaceable. For intentional rashings, just about any old piece of junk is satisfactory but I prefer to rash single F horn as I am a great admirer of the Viennese School of Trashing hat was so renowned in the late 19th Century. Mellophones are also good to rash, though you may want to just keep playing on it as that is trashy enough n itself most of the time. You can find many suitable instruments for rashing at Public School System Auctions, flea markets, cheap antique stores nd n eBay, where even new, imported instruments are readily available at argain prices! These are also the only instruments, except for perhaps some talian instruments from the mid-late 20th Century, that are specifically ngineered for this purpose and are fast becoming "The Professional's Choice." Chapter Five: Trashing Techniques s with most activities, there are many different and successful techniques. Some are simple and quite easily learned; others are extremely difficult nd take not only athletic ability but years of training and practice to evelop. A good one to start with is the simple "horn slam": grasp the horn irmly nd with a controlled overhand motion of the arm simply slam it into the loor. Do this several times and then move on to your first "wall banger": tand eight to ten feet from the wall, grasp firmly and hurl the instrument ith ll your might against the wall (try to avoid hitting any furniture, artwork r windows as this may diminish the amount of damage done to the horn). ext, try "the bowler": grasp firmly and then with a forceful underhand motion, roll the horn down the hallway or across the stage or parking lot into hatever gets into the way. For variety, mix in an occasional "stomper" to elp aximize your pleasure. These four simple techniques come naturally to most orn players and will get you started in your trashing career. You will see a reat deal of damage to the instrument and feel the indescribable warm glow f satisfaction that results with successful trashing. With experience and ractice you can move on to: "the Stairmaster", "the Frisbee", "the drop kick" which is wonderful to do on the football field with a mellophone), "the occer pass" (also mellophone recommended), "the gig bag three point attempt" he slam into the can" (which I so successfully demonstrated during my debut at HS 25), the "Nolan Ryan" (which I invented in Rochester) and the “Jersey ump” (which was an improvisational inspiration at the Eugene Symposium in ‘ 8. Another technique to inject into your routine is "the tooth puller": ccasionally wrench off slides and tubing and toss them around as you trash. alter Lawson, also in Tallahassee, showed us this and then finished with a rilliant "blind, over the shoulder, double reverse tuning slide hurl into the an" hich is one of the most difficult techniques to master. Another very dvanced technique is the "Michelin Mash,” (aka “Firestone Flattener,” “Cooper rusher” “Dunlop Decimator,” and “Bridgestone Bastinado"): place the horn ust behind either back wheel of your car or truck, place the transmission in everse and back the vehicle over the horn; then try changing gears from orward to reverse creating a gentle rocking motion over the horn (like getting your car unstuck from the snow). Also, always keep in mind that trashing is a pontaneous event, so feel free to experiment. This will increase your nowledge, pleasure and satisfaction. Also, if you are so inclined, you may ncorporate other outside means besides vehicles into your routine: hand and ower ools, baseball bats, heavy construction equipment, hockey sticks, irearms, Lacrosse rackets, incendiary accelerants and plastic explosives eadily ome to mind. It's also fun and satisfying to burn or shred a Kopprasch book r wo during a prolonged session if you are really into it! hapter Six: Some General Rules lease trash responsibly. Clean up thoroughly after you trash unless you till live with your mother. epair and/or pay for any incidental damage that may have occurred during he trashing. If you are trashing professionally in public, always tip the tage crew generously. Recycle trashed horns in accordance with local egulations (keep in mind that sometimes trashed horns make nice artwork and hould e kept on display). bove all: PRACTICE SAFE TRASH! **************Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music. http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp003000000025 8) ______________________________________________ ost: [email protected] nsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/brassartsunlim%40aol.com ________________________________________________________________________ More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - http://webmail.aol.com _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
