Keep your spit to yourself…
The horn is a beautiful instrument, and the sound cannot be compared. Even the style of the horn, with its intricate tubing, is attractive. But there is a side of the horn that can detract from its beauty if in the wrong hands, and that is the spit valve.
It’s not really the valve itself that is disgusting. In fact most horns don’t even have a spit valve. It’s usually a custom attachment. The disgusting part is the emptying of spit from the horn itself. Blowing hot air into a metal tube creates condensation, and eventually it builds up large enough to actually create pools of water in the horn itself. For trumpets and trombones, emptying the spit can be done so in an inobtrusive manner. Players can lean down in front of their stands, press their spit valve and blow out the condensation that has accumulated.
Emptying spit from a horn is a much more delicate process. In order to empty a horn, one must pull out individual slides of the tubing itself and turn them over to “pour” out the spit. It is quite gross and is not subtle at all. Every now and then, condensation makes it all the way to the bell of the horn, and a horn player has to turn his horn over and over three times to make that all come out. The French Horn has over 20 feet of tubing so there are a lot of places for the condensation to collect, and sometimes players must remove each of the seven or more valves one by one to locate the spit.
Am I saying this to be a martyr? No. I’m simply stating that the ability to play the horn is a wonderful gift, but the ability to empty it in a manner that doesn’t detract from the beauty of the horn is just as great a gift. So keep your spit to yourself horn players of the world. Nobody wants a wet shoe.