Happy New Year!

Its been a great year out here in Indiana! I wanted to start out with a recap of some highlights from a great 2010!

Attracted professional interest- This was a huge benchmark for me and let me know that my philosophies for building horns and working with players was a good and sustainable one. I mailed a horn to a member of the Sydney Symphony, the retired principal of the North Carolina Symphony and took orders from members of the Cincinnati, Portland, and Dallas Symphonies. The fact that professional players are willing to trust my horns with their careers is humbling and something that I plan not to forget.

Switched to Meinlschmidt valves- I am enjoying the new valves, they are well finished and accurate. It makes building good parallel valve slides much easier because I can use the spacing jig that I built for every slide and know that it will fit every valve section that I use. They also wear extremely well and should be at least 20 year valves.

New mouthpipe designed and turned- The new pipe is a mathematically improved version of the old mandrel that I discovered while working in Rick Seraphinoff’s shop a few years ago. The pipe had amazing qualities but was rather bumpy as the lathe it was made on was too small to do an accurate job. I used some calculations to get the taper dimensions and then turned a new mandrel on a much larger lathe. The new pipe has the same great intonation and complex sound but has a more stable note center and better accuracy.

Moved into the new shop- My moving the shop eliminated an hour and a half daily commute which has contributed to more horns being made last year compared to 2009. It is filled with machinery and tools that I picked or made to combine my love for artisan craftsmanship with technology that helps me make accurate, repeatable parts. Come for a visit!

2010 was a great year and I am looking forward to an even better 2011!