Electronic Tools for Hornists
by Erika Binsley
T
echnology is a (usually) welcome invader in most aspects
of our lives, from the way to do business to how we stay
in touch with family and friends, along with our enter-
tainment and education. Perhaps because our instrument has
hardly changed in a century, horn playing has been slower in
adopting new technologies. However, we can benefit from an
assortment of new electronic tools.
Most of us own a laptop, smartphone, and/or tablet de-
vice, so here is a selection of my favorite tools for these devices.
My list is just a sampling of what is available as of August 2013,
and my intent is that it will encourage you to explore what else
has been and will be created.
Mac/PC
If you have a laptop, I recommend keeping a TV tray
(about $10) in your practice space. Unless you are very tall, it
is at a good height for viewing while seated and using head-
phones while standing.
SmartMusic (accompaniment software,
$36 per year, smartmusic.com)
SmartMusic has been available for Mac and PC for over a
decade, but it is still one of the best tools for musicians of all
levels. It features hundreds of digital accompaniments to major
solo and ensemble pieces, in addition to thousands of exer-
cises – all for only $36 per year! As of July, it is also available
for iPad. One SmartMusic feature that I have discovered only
recently is the ability to create your own accompaniments.
Any Finale file can be exported to SmartMusic for use as
an accompaniment, so it is perfect for any pieces that you or a
friend may write, but you can also use it to create accompani-
ments for well-known pieces that are not already in SmartMu-
sic. For example, I was working on Cherubini’s Sonata No. 2,
and I used a free trial of Visiv Sharp Eye (PC music recogni-
tion software, $169, visiv.co.uk) to scan the score into Finale. I
put SmartMusic Markers (for pauses, tempo changes, etc.) in
and exported it to SmartMusic.
Audacity (recording software, free, audacity.
sourceforge.net)
The most technology-intensive lesson I have ever had was
with David Wakefield at the Aspen Music Festival. He kept his
laptop on a table during the lesson so that he could record any-
thing that I played and let me hear what actually came out of
my bell. Recording oneself is one of the most elucidating prac-
tice tools, and Audacity makes the task very easy. It is a free
program that is simple to use, with lots of tutorials available.
I also use it for lightly editing audio recorded on my Zoom
Q3HD (portable HD audio/video recorder, $300, Amazon.
com).
Bamboo flute (PC charted tuner, free, www1.ocn.
ne.jp/~tuner/tuner_e.html)
Mr. Wakefield also showed me this program. It was cre-
ated for testing bamboo flutes, but it works well for our pur-
October2013HornCall.indd 63
poses too! While it listens to you play, your pitch is charted
in relation to equal temperament. You can watch it while you
are playing, like a traditional tuner, or as Mr. Wakefield did,
it can also be used to show the pitch of an Audacity recording
played back over the computer’s speakers. Unfortunately, it is
available only for Windows, but Mac users can get a similar
program called Vocal Lab ($6.99, Mac App Store), though, this
one does not show the rhythmic durations of notes.
Mobile Devices
Tempo Advance Metronome@ ($2.99, iTunes
store/Google Play)
I use this application more than any other on my iPhone.
Many metronome apps are available for mobile devices, but
my favorite feature of this one is its ability to go down to 10
beats per minute. This means that you can set it to 12 beats per
minute and practice the low tutti in Shostakovich’s Fifth Sym-
phony with one beat for every two bars.
Cleartune – Chromatic Tuner ($3.99, iTunes store/
Google Play)
This tuner application for iOS is popular. It has a straight-
forward display, and it can transpose, produce drones, and
change calibration and temperament.
Genius Scan (scanner application, free, iTunes
store/Google Play)
Because of this application, I do not anticipate ever buying
a new scanner. It uses the back camera on your device, and it
makes sharing high-resolution scans of sheet music easy. I use
it mostly for emailing non-copyrighted music to people, and I
also send music from my iPhone to my Kindle Fire, which has
a large enough screen to read comfortably. This is helpful for
example if you have one or two favorite exercises in a large
method book and do not want to haul the entire book around.
Mahler Translations (electronic phrasebook,
$3.99, iTunes store)
When the Wichita Symphony played Mahler’s Symphony
No. 4 last year, I was so thankful that I had this application! I
do not speak German, so even looking up Mahler’s instruc-
tions in the A to Z of Foreign Musical Terms would have taken
a while. However, with this application, it took me only about
half an hour to translate all of the German in my part. It con-
tains most of the complete phrases in the parts, and when it
does not have an exact phrase, a similar enough one is always
available. Unfortunately, Mahler Translations is available only
for iOS devices.
iMusic Dictionary ($0.99, iTunes Store)
With this iOS application, you don’t need to carry a physi-
cal book of foreign musical terms anymore. While this specific
app is not available for Android devices, comparable ones are
available.
The Horn Call – October 2013 63
9/9/13 11:44 PM
 Electronic Tools for Hornists
Multi-system IMSLP (online library, free, imslp.org)
Audition “Mixtape” Having a score at a rehearsal is always a good idea, but
who wants to lug around heavy scores, let alone pay hundreds
I assume that everyone is aware of the wonderful Hornex-
of dollars for a collection? IMSLP.org provides access to hun-
cerpts.org. If not, it is an online collection of the major horn ex-
dreds of thousands of scores and parts for free. They are on the
cerpts with images of the parts and multiple audio recordings
site in PDF form, so they can be easily printed or loaded onto
for each excerpt (with a few seconds of orchestral introduc-
most devices. While I always print my parts, I like to look at
tion.) Making your own custom portable version of this using
scores during rehearsals from my tablet device.
your favorite recordings is easy. All you need is a .wav (con-
vert your mp3 files in iTunes by right clicking on their titles
Erika Binsley plays in the Wichita Symphony and Lieurance
and selecting “Create WAV version”) copy of a good recording
Woodwind Quintet, and is a graduate assistant at Wichita State Uni-
and Audacity. Open the file in Audacity and find the excerpt
versity where she studies with Nicholas Smith. Erika is a graduate of
within the piece. Select the section that contains the excerpt,
the University of Southern California, where she studied with Kristy
with several seconds before it, and copy it into a new file. Save
Morrell and James Thatcher. She is currently learning the Objective-
it as an mp3, repeat the process with the other excerpts on your
C programming language to create new software for musicians.
current audition list, and then you will have a playlist that you
can listen to anywhere.
One-Note Ear Training (mp3s, $9.99-24.99,
muse-eek.com)

My voice teacher at the University of Southern California

recommended this set of 96 mp3 files for extra help with ear

training. Each track contains a cadence in C Major, played on a

piano, followed by a randomized pitch, a silent moment, and

then a verbal naming of the note. The goal is to hear how the

note relates to the Key of C, and guess the pitch before it is

spoken. What makes this tool remarkable is how easy it makes

practicing ear training. I set it on shuffle on my iPhone while I

am at the gym, cooking, folding laundry, or in the car. While it

is not a complete ear training regime, One-Note is a fabulous

supplement to traditional practice.

Cello Drones (mp3s, $9.99, iTunes Store)

One of the best ways to work on intonation is to play with

a drone. This set of drone mp3s is played from a computer or

mp3 player and can be used for scales, intervals, improvisa-

tion, etc. One advantage of this product over the drones pro-

duced by traditional tuners is that beats in the sound are easier

to hear.

Music Bullet Speaker ($13.49, Amazon.com)

Finding a metronome that is loud enough to be heard over

a chamber ensemble can be difficult. However, this inexpen-

sive portable speaker is loud enough for an octet and can fit in

a pocket. It can be used with any device that has a headphone

jack – not just Apple products. I also like to use it for listening

to recordings as a group.

Decibel meter
IHS Life-member and Alaska Area Representative Dan Heynen
When I was at the Kendall Betts Horn Camp, Randy Gard-
spends most of his summer driving tourists around Alaska in motor
ner suggested that all horn players be able to play in tune from
coaches for Holland America Princess. After a photo or lunch stop,
70 db to 115 db. Lots of decibel meters are available for around
his guests quickly learn that the horn is their signal to reboard the
$20-30, but free decibel meter applications are available for mo-
bus. The other drivers all have horn envy. This Kudu horn plays
bile devices. I like Decibel 10th (free, iTunes Store) because it
“Reveille,” the alphorn call from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, and
charts your volume, and you can use that feature to check if
the theme to Superman.
your long tones are objectively even. Many Android decibel
meters are available as well.

64 The Horn Call – October 2013

October2013HornCall.indd 64 9/9/13 11:44 PM

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