The design of the French horn makes it a little more trouble than most other instruments to maintain and the same design makes it essential to properly maintain.
Please take the time to do the procedures outlined below even if you are playing a school horn.
Description
Procedure
Frequency
Blow out
With the mouthpiece on the horn, forcefully blow air through the horn to clean the case fuzz and other stuff out of the
mouthpiece and bore. That stuff can hang up your valves.
before each use
Wipe down
Empty the condensation out of your horn. With a
soft, clean cloth, wipe the finger prints off. Securely store the
mouthpiece and other accessories in the case so that they can't fall around
and damage the horn. Place the horn in the case and securely latch the
case.
after every use
Oil
Take the valve slides out, one at a time, and while
holding the horn with the open tubes up, dribble a little valve oil into
each slide tube. Continue to hold the horn inverted and work the valve
a few times to distribute the oil.
Weekly
Cleaning
With the valves pressed, pour cool soapy water through the horn from the bell.
Leave the slides in place when doing this. Run a small diameter snake
through the leadpipe around the big curve, but not any small curves.
Pour more soapy water through and rinse with clear water. Pull the
slides and empty all the water from the horn and slides. Let dry.
Grease the slides and install. Oil the valves as in "Oil" procedure
but, in addition, take the valve caps off and put a few drops of oil in the
bearing. You can tell where to put it. Put the caps back on and
work the valves. On the other side of the valve, where the strings
are, put some oil under the stop arm. The stop arm is the thing that
moves back and forth when you press the levers. It is hard to get oil
into those places, but not impossible, and it needs to be done.
Of all instrumentalists, you, yes you, horn players must be meticulous about maintaining your horn. Heed these warnings.
French horns are the most ill-kept horns in the band. They shouldn't be. With a care routine, as outlined, they can be dependable.
The bell is very fragile. Do not put any pressure on it at all.
One of things that always happens to a horn is that the curve just above the bell gets pretty badly dented. This is because you let the horn fall off of your lap or off the chair. Wear a sax neck strap connected to something on the horn to prevent this, or pay attention to what you are doing.
Oiling the valves regularly will prevent corrosion from building in the valves and causing them to stick.
Do not try to pull a stuck slide by bracing the bell against you. The bell will collapse.
Please do not use super glue on your horn in any way, shape, form, or fashion. To do so will cause extra time and expense with repairs and will not be corrected under our maintenance agreement.
