TubeNet

To be honest, if it is possible, it is best to learn to just hold the horn and play (as if you were standing).


That is not always possible.


I had a cushion made for me by my grandmother. I went to a local fabric/craft store. Bought a bit of foam (its about 4 inches thick), some black felt fabric, and a zipper. My grandmother did the rest.

If you know someone with some skills as a seamstress/tailor, I recommend that route.

I do not know of a commercially available such cushion, but many people do the towel thing--that works fine too.

I use a leather bean bag I made. A little heavier than a foam pad, but stays in place, shapes itself to the euph, and looks nice.

Maybe RickF will chime in with details, but check out his solution (scroll down to get to it. In another thread, he noted that he used the 6" diameter noodle not the more common 3" or 4* ones.)

Hi euphgal88,

Yes the foam wedge I made from a 6" diameter swimming noodle is working great. It cuts easily with a serated knife. Another eupher in one of the bands I play in just made one for his Besson Sovereign. He used to use a Stewart stand but decided it was too cumbersome. The hardest part for him was finding the black Gaff tape (or is it Gaf tape?). Black Gaff tape is the stuff theatre crews use to patch a torn black curtain or tape down mic wires. It's about $20 a roll as I remember. Gaff tape is much better than black duct tape... which can ooze out some of its glue in time. The velcro strap I added keeps the wedge from slipping pretty well. It's easy to put on or take off. When I pack up my horn to leave it fits in the bell.

One solution I have used lately is to have a drawstring bag roughly the size of a cushion. Mine is dark blue, so it goes well with a dark outfit. Anyway, I use it to carry my stuff with me - valve oil, grease, cleaning cloth, extra mouthpiece, etc. I can adjust how full I stuff it and make it work very well as a cushion.

I took one of the large famous "Crown Royal" bags, stuffed it with 2 rectangular sheets of laptop computer packing foam (the gray foam that comes in the box w/ new computers), sewed a sheet of the sticky grip stuff you use to keep rugs from sliding around on hardwood floors, and sewed the end together. Voila! It works great. It squishes up to fit inside the bell to put in my case too.

Drinking a bottle of Canadian whiskey - the things we have to do for our love of the euphonium.

I'm always suprised these little babies have never caught on: It was invented by Glenn Call, it goes in the lyre holder on most euphoniums (at least the top-valve ones), and it works great for holding up the horn, it's small, unobtrusive and it stays on the horn. Only thing, I'm not sure where you'd find one nowadays.

I've been using foam brick that was professionally made for me by a cellist who makes and sells cello wedges. (You know those foam pads that are angled and allow a cellist to sit at an upright angle on their chair?) She made the first batch of 6 and I sold them to all my students and collegues. I still have half a dozen from the second order and would be happy to sell you one if interested. They're not cheap at $30(what I paid) but they're expertly made with two foam densities inside and a hand sewn cover with a zipper. I don't make a dime on them nor do I want to. The dimensions are exactly the size of a brick if you need a visual.

PKeen