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I have to drive through mouitanns a few hours to get to my orchestra job, so if there’s bad weather or traffic I only have time to jump onstage with a horn and be ready to go (face cold and mentally fatigued from the drive). I’ll do some quick stretches to get rid of physical tension and remind myself what good posture is like, then a quick breathing exercise (Andy’s is a great one!). A deep, relaxed breath from your core muscles is relatively quiet and lower pitched; if your breath is louder and has a higher pitch you have too much tension. For performances or rehearsals I’ll do some quick flexibility exercises or play a scale in the predominant key of the first work on the program if I have time after getting my breathing into shape. If it’s crunch time before an audition (after taking good breaths to get centered and ready) I’ll usually play a long tone to get a beautiful clear sound in my ears or place (not attack’ or hit’) the first note of an excerpt or solo with clean articulation and beautiful tone a few times to remind myself I can do it. The worst is when you’ve had to wait a long time on deck’ in a hall or the wings while the audition committee listens to candidate in front of you/deliberates/gets coffee/gripes about having to sit though a bunch of auditions/laughs at some private joke amongst themselves. Since you’re usually not able to actually play in that situation, I like to take a deep relaxed breath, set my embochure {corners} but leave a larger aperture {space between my lips} so I don’t inadvertently freebuzz’ and make too much sound, hold a hand in front of my face and then blow’ it away with a warm, concentrated stream of air while mentally practicing a phrase from an excerpt or solo I’m about to go play. This can help you feel focused and warmed-up in a situation where it’s easy to get distracted and feel unprepared. Mental focus, prior preparation, and good breathing/posture are essential for any hornist in a hurry.