conemaugh

matthoffner

Congrats!

You probably don't need to adjust them daily. But you should take advantage of this amazing feature because it can really customize the instrument to your playing.

A lot of people have a testing lick that they use such as a fast crescendo from ppp to fff or sluring all of the notes in a partial. I'm sure people on this forum have their own tricks.

Another big factor is where the tuning slide is. Try not to let it go too far out. The horn will sound better this way.

GordonH

I tend to have my third tightest to be honest.

I have to loosen them and adjust them again weekly.
If I was moving the instrument through different temperatures it would probably need to be done daily.

rowuk

Conemaugh,
I do adjust them every time that I play, but have no idea if that makes a difference. I prefer the 3rd valve cap to be tightest when playing in big good sounding rooms (like the gig I had today). In small practice rooms, I do not tighten any down (just enough so that they are not loose).

The easiest way to figure out what works is to slur a g in the staff to the one on top of the staff. When the tension is optimised, it is noticably easier. After that slur 3rd space c to c above the staff: same thing.

godchaser

.

Was this your practice, with your previous Monette Robin? Did this progressively create sloppy threads over the ten years you owned it? If so, no matter?


C

rowuk

Chris,
Yeah, my Ajna2 behaved the same way although I would loosen the valves in medium small rooms too. The Prana3 only gets loosened up in the practice cell.
Just like my valve maintenance, the valve caps ALWAYS were properly greased. I noticed no wear issues.
Taking care of your horn is a great habit to get into. My students also get periodic trumpet cleaning classes. Even the 9 and 10 year olds have their act together.

GordonH

I have always greased my valve caps even when I had pretty worthless instruments as it stops them getting stuck.
It is really worth doing this when you clean the instrument.

dcbrown1

I just loosen mine each day when I'm finished playing my P3...my thought is that it takes the pressure/compression off of the rubber...thereby helping it to last longer. Just a theory. I find that adjusting them each time I play seems to help find the ideal sweet spot...based on which mouthpiece (STC 2 or 3) I'm using, tuning slide position, etc. Dave Brown

Pedal C

I don't always loosen them at the end of the day, but if you leave them alone for too long the horn starts to play as if they are all tighter than you mean them to be. If I loosen them and the rubber sort of pops loose, they've been tightened too long!

A way Tom Raney suggested to find the my best adjustment is to go valve be valve. Leave #1 and #3 just tight enough not to fall off, then check the second valve by quickly slurring (through all the partials) from low B to high B. You'll find a balance of flexibility and slots with a little experimentation. Then leave that one alone and do the first, then third. Honestly, I've never had great success with this method, but maybe you will!

I've usually just done it like they recommend, but it's really whatever works for you. A friend of mine had a lesson with Charlie Schlueter and he adjusted my friends horn. Then I tried it (not knowing CS had changed it) and asked him what was wrong with his horn! But CS is way better than me, so what can I say...

Rowuk...How are your first and second caps when the third is the tightest? I've never tried it like that.

Jason.

rowuk

They are just tight enough not to fall off or rattle. The octaves really pop out this way.

I experimented with the Ajna2 10 years ago with a lot of different tensions.

Since August 07, the gigs have been basically for a different horn every week (lots of nat and picc then a salsa gig then brass quintet, then symphony orchestra or wind band(flugel/cornet). I just have not had the time to work on "theoreticals". February still has a bit of free time, maybe I'll get a chance.