Found in a euphonium…

[MiBrassFS]

I occasionally will buy rejected instruments, usually as salvage. I do it just to have something to fiddle with. The instrument is usually something someone had for a while, but they couldn’t make work. They’ve almost always had technicians involved trying to fix them, but they just don’t play well. It has to be something of known good quality (which increases the mystery in a sort of “why does this one stink?” way). Sometimes it’s a leak or misalignments. Sometimes it’s something stuck in the instrument. Lots of weird, little reasons. The usually-very-busy-and-in-a-hurry technician sometimes just misses the problem. I recently picked up a couple of euphoniums to fiddle with. When I started working on one of them, I began getting what looked like rice coming out of it. Then I thought it might be bits of bone! I noticed that a snake would pass through it everywhere so I figured nothing was stuck in it. Then, pulling a dent ball through the upper bow to clear some deep dents, I noticed a scratchy sound. With a big yank to get the stuck dent ball out, a bunch loose rice/bone/whatever came along with a big hunk of that “something.” I called my wife downstairs and asked her what she thought it was and she immediately knew. “Oh, that’s a butterfly hair clip. They were big in the 90’s.” It must have lived in this horn for a long time as the spring is pretty rusty! It was shoved way up inside the upper bow. I imagine someone dragged it up there during an early cleaning. If I know who the original owner is I usually offer it back to them. Unfortunately, I don’t know who it is this time…

[bloke]

In your opinion, will that change the sound, and do you think it will change it for the better or for the worse?

[MiBrassFS]

In your opinion, will that change the sound, and do you think it will change it for the better or for the worse?

Ha! I hope for the better! Should I practice… this horn… today…?

[bloke]

In your opinion, will that change the sound, and do you think it will change it for the better or for the worse?

Ha! I hope for the better! Should I practice… this horn… today…?

Yeah, if you are headed out to fish at some getaway for the weekend, just take a practice mute and your Charlier etudes book or something.

[MiBrassFS]

In your opinion, will that change the sound, and do you think it will change it for the better or for the worse?

Ha! I hope for the better! Should I practice… this horn… today…?

Yeah, if you are headed out to fish at some getaway for the weekend, just take a practice mute and your Charlier etudes book or something.

Will I need to buy a fishing license for the horn, too? So many worries now. I better stay home! And not… practice…

[bloke]

I haven't read the latest revisions of the hunting and fishing laws, but I believe that if you have a practice mute lock installed on your euphonium and do not have the key on your person, you are allowed to take it with you fishing without having to purchase a license for the euphonium...

... or something like that

[MikeS]

Will I need to buy a fishing license for the horn, too? So many worries now. I better stay home! And not… practice…

Only in New York. In New York anyone who assists you in any way, for example netting the fish or baiting your hook, has to have a fishing license. Just in case this inspires @bloke to talk about Yankees passing way too many silly laws, keep in mind that there is a law on the books in Tennessee making it illegal to catch fish with a lasso.

Hers’s my pro tip for avoiding practicing. Queue up every Jason Bourne movie in order. Have at least a couple bottles of your favorite spirit handy.

Every time you can't tell what's going on because the camera's too shaky, take a shot.

Whenever Damon knocks someone out with a single punch, take a shot.

Whenever he clobbers someone with a makeshift weapon, Colonel-Mustard-in-the-library-style, take a shot.

Every time he vanishes into the crowd, take a shot.

Whenever someone says Bourne's full name, take a shot.

If there's a close-up of a computer screen doing stuff that doesn't make any sense, take a shot.

When Damon looks like Jeremy Renner, turn off the TV. You've gone too far.

[bloke]

It's also illegal to fish in Tennessee using nuclear weapons, but - in reality - the law says that recreational fishing only involves a rod, reel, and a hook (as a way to make it illegal to empty out a pond or a stream via huge nets, dynamite, or whatever) rather than mentioning anything about lassos or nuclear weapons. The "no lasso" thing - of course - is ridiculous/fake news, doesn’t appear in the code, and completely reminds me of Facebook "fact checkers" type of completely misleading rhetoric. ie. "huh-huh... Check out these dumbasssouthern goobers in Tennessee...huh-huh."
...but (finally) just as a reminder, the 10th Amendment tells us that laws regarding really specific things are reserved for the states, and fishing laws are the types that should be state laws and local laws, and really not federal laws.

Other than Shelby County and Davidson County, Tennessee is a relatively good state - as far as individual liberty/sovereignty are concerned. I don't even have to notify anyone legally when I build an out building, as just one example. I'm also not required to contract with the local government - nor even a private company - to have someone other than me haul away rubbish. (I carry seven or eight 55 gallon bags every couple of months to the landfill and pay them about $4 when I do that. When I have metal refuse, I have a man to call who picks that up and recycles it. As far as brush, thatch, and things such as that are concerned, I trailer that stuff over and into washes - in order to discourage, reverse, and prevent erosion.

Other than those two counties where there's so much theft, assault, and murder, the state is heavily Republican run. I don't claim that to be a good thing because - after all - Republicans are politicians. Politicians are inherently evil.

For a number of years, there was a warming trend - which was really great, as far as mild winters were concerned, but sadly that trend has apparently passed. More like when I was growing up, we are getting some fairly significant and multiple winter snows again. Rather than at least a couple of days each summer topping 100°, we haven't had any for at least the past couple of years. I believe over in the adjacent urban county - where they generate a lot of air conditioning exhaust and car exhaust heat - it barely hit 100, one day this summer.

There's already a big problem of refugees from the adjacent blue/crime/murder county swarming into this over 700-square-miles county (which formerly housed fewer than 40,000 people), and we don't have the infrastructure to handle all of the blue county refuges, so I'm not going to brag about anything else - and particularly nothing about how astonishingly low the property taxes are. (ie. I would really discourage died-in-the-wool "progressives" from moving here; they would just hate it...It's just so insufferable, here... )

bloke "who knows how to troll a troll"

[MikeS]

It's also illegal to fish in Tennessee using nuclear weapons, but - in reality - the law says that recreational fishing only involves a rod, reel, and a hook (as a way to make it illegal to empty out a pond or a stream via huge nets, dynamite, or whatever) rather than mentioning anything about lassos or nuclear weapons. The "no lasso" thing - of course - is ridiculous/fake news, doesn’t appear in the code, and completely reminds me of Facebook "fact checkers" type of completely misleading rhetoric. ie. "huh-huh... Check out these dumbasssouthern goobers in Tennessee...huh-huh."

I would really discourage died-in-the-wool "progressives" from moving here; they would just hate it...It's just so insufferable, here...

bloke "who knows how to troll a troll"

Noted. When visiting Blokeplace I will leave my cormorants at home. As for moving there, if the local gas station doesn’t stock my $60/liter Yuzuco juice, I really don’t think it’s a viable option.



Mike “who appreciates trolling when it is a quality product”

[bloke]

When I have no idea what might possibly trigger someone, I just pull out ALL the damn stops...

[Heavy_Metal]

Back on topic- there are plenty of stories about finding stuff stuck in horns. Here's one I documented back in 2016 on the old board:

http://forums.chisham.com/viewtopic.php ... 9&p=572497

[MiBrassFS]

This isn’t the only nor the worst thing I’ve ever found in an instrument. Sometimes you just have to wonder how this stuff gets in there! Unfortunately, I can’t see pictures on that other site. I don’t have a login.

[bloke]

In the early days of public use of the internet, we stuck a picture of a dried up rat that had come out of a four-valve Reynolds recording bass bottom bow. It (the picture) went all over the place, even though the internet was not as sophisticated as it is now (no Facebook).