I second the idea of giving your horn another chance. I´ve been totally in your situation, several times: - switching from flugelhorn to tuba was the biggest challenge timing-wise - adding CC to F was a challenge as well - switching from 3/4 CC to 5/4 BBb even more so. Don´t over-analyse it. Find an ...

Pebble finish?!?
Is that the bigger brother of sand blasting, the latter being used for satin finish?

...erm, not for me, I guess. I didn´t like golf-ball style motorbike helmets, either

While both versions are more than presentable,
I liked the French C-Tuba version better.
Compared to the F-tuba, it sounded more like "home range" of that instrument (a somehow more resonant sound, if that makes sense).

I use lip slurs all the time and have been spending long hours practising them. As well as breath attacks in favor of tongued articulation, which comes in handy, at times. But I find myself tongueing fast slurred runs for clarity of timing and pitch and to avoid a general impression of sloppiness ...

It hasn´t, really, so far.
Setting dynamics aside for a while and playing stuff in a healthy mp is going a long way for me.
That and making a good breathing plan.

On the other hand, I´m not playing overly challenging stuff most of the time.

Uncle Beer, you´re correct, of course. In order to take care of that, you don´t lean the horn against a wall, but into a corner of the shower booth. That way, the horn has sufficient resting points to stabilise its position: - bottom bow rests on the ground and won´t slide because of the friction pr ...

If I understand correctly, the QHR is simply a short piece of hose with a mouthpiece shaft on one side and a screw fitting on the other. While that certainly offers a convenient way to flush an instrument, it may be a good idea to make some adaptations for home use: I´d suggest an electric-drill- ...

I´m too feebly educated in chemistry to actually shed light on this, so this post should rather be taken as a nudge to knowledgeable forum members to maybe chime in and help me out. To my knowledge, silver tarnishes faster with rising sulfur percentage in air, because it´s sulfur that forms silver s ...

I´m not sure I´d worry too much about absolute pitch fluctuations at practising booths due to temperature change. Maybe that´s because I´m among those lucky persons who do NOT have perfect absolute pitch and hopefully a decent relative one. - You´ll have to adjust to absolute pitch variations wher ...

Nice and relevant selection of testing literature. In my opinion You demonstrated that these are definitely no cheap pieces of junk. (And at over 8000 € they better not be, either) To MY ear the larger horn worked better both on the Faust excerpt as well as the Bierzelt-Funk :cheers: So what´s YOUR t ...

Follow-up on that rowing-thing: The water rower I ordered arrived last week. (wooden frame, plastic vessel with water and a rotating paddle wheel in it, your rowing energy will be dissipated by the water´s flow resistance). First impressions: Great machine, and immediate positive effects: After the ...

I´ll offer the German proverb "Ohne Ziel kein Weg" (in English: "There´ll be no path if there´s no aim) as a VERY short paraphrase to Bloke´s concept. Playing what you´re good at isn´t practising, it´s having fun (which, although ineffective for improvement, is still a great idea ´cause it may enhanc ...

You forgot to mention that ermine upholstery on the inside.
Looks good in hard cases, too. You only need about 300 of those critters.

In the early 90s, I had this videotape (yeah, I´m THAT old) of a Roger Bobo masterclass at Riva Del Garda, Italy. It had been produced and broadcast by ARTE, a French/German coproduced culture TV channel. Young Heiko Triebener was among the post-grad-participants, as well as two very promising and ...

Being on the heavier side of life myself, here´s what I experienced. Others have commented to that effect already, and what You state hints you´re aware of that as well. Anything that might facilitate diaphragm action should be embraced. Abdominal tissue and organs need to move in order to let the d ...

I own two piston-valved instruments. One was about 3 years old when bought a long time ago. From day one I gave it some blue juice every few weeks and never have to worry. The other one is brand new and has been consuming valve oil as if it were draft beer, beginning on day 1. When I return to it ...

As to accidentals in certain movements: Whether or not those "belong" in certain places seems a rather arduous discussion to me. And this sort of rhymes with what Bloke mentioned about the scientific approach to music THAT old: - Nobody but Bach himself can tell how many versions of each piece there ...

Unfortunately I´m not in a position to provide inside on specs that may or may not lead to this phenomenon. That immensely flat F happens to be a problem of my Willson 6405, though, and of other specimen of that exact type of horn to the point that it was referred to as the "Willie-F" by their ...

I´m pretty sure I own what I need. - 5/4 BBb with 5 valves for concert band literature and full-size band polka-ing. Built like a tank and harder to blow than others, but EXTREMELY grateful to some extra effort. This one makes conductors in the audience smile, a lot. - 2- to 3/4-ish BBb M-W 2011 FA, ...

I use a shoulder strap on each of my horns, adjusted to work best in sitting rather than standing position. That way both my hands are free to move slides, grab the pencil for on-the-fly notes or take a sip of water. This provides comfort as well as a feeling of safety: I can just let go of the horn ...