Strange Inhabitant Residing in Euphonium

[cricman]

I bought a used Bach Euphonium on eBay a few weeks ago to play a local Tubachristmas (The last time I did Tubachristmas was 1979!) In the first week of relearning to read music, my wife told me that the horn sounded a little funny. After trying to remove some dents in the main bow, I realized that there was something down in there obstructing the tube. I got my hands on an $8 USB endoscope and did some exploring. Low, and behold, I found the culprit. It took a minute to sink in exactly what it was, but it finally dawned on me that someone had left a binky in my baritone! One of the images is from the endoscope. After trying to push it out using several methods, I fashioned a hook from some TIG welding rod. Using the dent removal magnet, I finally got the hook in a position to grab, and out popped the binky! While my wife was as amused at this caper as I was, she still thinks I sound funny.


cricman

[graeme]

Never heard of a Binky Google tells me its a dummy (UK) Never too young to practice euphonium it seems.

[RickF]

A "Binky in your Baritone". Too funny.

That could be a song title.

[ghmerrill]

The word we want to think of here is "hydraulics".

A good way to get stuff out of a euphonium/baritone/euphonium (or any brass instrument) is to flush it out with water -- which can provide a lot of force across the entire cross section of the tubing and out the bell. Just flush with a hose through the appropriate valve circuit or from the receiver. It beats trying to think of some non-damaging way of getting something mechanical in there to "grab" some object you know nothing about.

[cricman]

The word we want to think of here is "hydraulics".

A good way to get stuff out of a euphonium/baritone/euphonium (or any brass instrument) is to flush it out with water -- which can provide a lot of force across the entire cross section of the tubing and out the bell. Just flush with a hose through the appropriate valve circuit or from the receiver. It beats trying to think of some non-damaging way of getting something mechanical in there to "grab" some object you know nothing about.

Hydraulics was my second method (after a cleaning snake failed) and I was sure this method would work. Unfortunately, it failed to dislodge the little booger. Because a corner of the binky had adhered to the brass and It allowed enough water to get by, it remained lodged in place after a flood just short of biblical proportions was unleashed. The change in bore diameter increases so much through that section, it made it practically impossible to get enough pressure behind the partial obstruction. The relatively soft hook attached to braided Spectra was my best option. The hook would straighten before it would become lodged itself. Plus, after studying the situation with an endoscope, I had pretty high confidence in my method and snagged the offending object on my third attempt. It may as well have been a world record fish on the end of my line!


cricman

[RickF]

Sounds like you went about the 'binky removal' in the right way. If the sound coming out of the horn is still not great, check for air leaks. The water key(s) could be leaking due to worn out cork(s).

[John Morgan]

Must confess to not knowing what the word "binky" is. Looked it up. Now I know. Back in the day we called it a "quiet plug".

[cricman]

Unfortunately, the horn is fairly airtight. The little bit of air it loses is from the main tuning slide, and it has been remedied with a firm lanolin-based lubricant. The source of the unusual sounds are directly related to me learning to play the baritone. I was first a trumpet, then a tuba player in school, and after many years of not playing brass winds (bass guitar, instead), I picked up a cornet a few years ago to play Christmas music. I got the bug to play Tubachristmas this year, and having both limited space and budget, opted for a euphonium. Playing the notes is the easy part, so I am working on my range, tone, and intonation. Hopefully, by mid-December, I will sound less "funny".

cricman

[ghmerrill]

The Tuba Christmas euph parts are a little odd in some cases, and the 2nd euphonium can be more challenging the the 1st -- and I like it more. You might look at playing the Tuba 1 part on the euph. In my experience with fairly small (~ 2 dozen players or fewer) Tuba Christmas events, there is usually a real shortage of people willing/able to play the Tuba 1 part, and it can be covered on a 4-valve euph -- though I don't know about that Bach instrument you have.