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davewerden

Review: Euphonium Lap Pad from Quick Horn Rinse

Rating: 2 votes, 5.00 average.
Our friends at Quick Horn Rinse have come up with another great solution to problems that many euphonium players face. The design and dimensions of modern euphoniums can make it tiring to hold them in the optimal playing position during concerts, rehearsals, and practice. Our tendency is to rest the bottom of the horn on the left leg. That relieves stress on the arms, but it usually places the mouthpiece too low, which results in players slouching to meet the mouthpiece.

So euphoniumists look to various accessories to help. One that I used for a couple decades is the Stewart Euphonium Stand. It does the job with a pair of attachments on the horn that position a long peg, which can rest on the chair between our legs. The attachments may mar the instrument, and the peg's extension makes it awkward to place the horn on the floor during breaks (because it is likely to trip someone walking pasts, damaging them or the horn!).

A more common solution has been to fashion a "pillow" to place on our leg and then let the horn sit on on the pillow. This works, but it can be hard to fashion one just the right size, and it can tend to slip/shift around during use.

So now we have available the QHR Euphonium Lap Pad, which currently sells for $44.95. I suspect readers may be thinking that is a lot for a pillow... but keep reading.

In the last 15 years I have been using the pillow method. I have fashioned two different ones from available bags, stuffed with a towel in one case and some cloth in the other case. Both are OK, but only OK. Either one can slip on my pants leg and the horn can slip on the pillow. One of the two is more-or-less adjustable by adding more padding; the other one does not have enough free space to allow very much additional padding.

The QHR pillow has non-slip surfaces which are much more effective than the fake suede on my other two. It really stays in place on my leg, and the horn just does not slip. Period. There is an extra section of padding built into the bag on the top side, which lets the horn nestle in place very securely. The bag comes with several different slabs of varied-size padding so you can adjust the height for different horns or for a young student's growth.

It is a simple design, but the choice of materials makes all the difference in the world. I have used it now through several practice sessions and for rehearsals and concerts. It is the perfect pillow for this use, and far better than the others I made.

I doubt a typical player could build something as effective. I think the expense is minor compared to the extra security and comfort when playing. I'm able to concentrate more on making music, because I need to concentrate less on keeping the horn from sliding around on top of a pillow. Bottom line: it's great!

Here is the link to the QHR page for this pad:

http://stores.quickhornrinse.com/lpt...onium-lap-pad/

Here is the pad/bag and the slabs of high-density foam that come with it. The varied thicknesses let you make the height exactly what you want it to be.

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Here is the pad next to my euphonium for perspective (note that my horn also has the QHR Wrist Strap):

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Updated 11-23-2021 at 06:55 PM by davewerden

Categories
Euphonium-Tuba Blog , General Tuba-Euphonium Blog , Reviews

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