Why does my french horn make that popping noise?

Question

I play my french horn a lot and every 1-3 minutes, it makes that popping noise. I empty the spit out everytime it does it, and, yet it does it 5-20 seconds after that. Answers are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

you are not emptying ALL the spit.  First empty the main tuning slide(and water keys don't do a great job use the actual slide) and the F tuning slide, these are the most likely places.  Then the Bb slide, then 3rd valve slides, 2nd then 1st, if you do those often enough it shouldn't come out the bell, but if its still popping you may have to dump it out the bell.