[jay-anderson]

When I was young taking horn lessons my teacher told me that being too close to the timpani can increase your chance to miss notes. This paper is useful in showing some evidence for that. This problem is more unique to the horn as its bell points backwards (and to the horn player's right side). From the audience and conductor's perspective (the house) the horns are usually center or on the left side (stage right) of the stage and the timpani are on the right (stage left) so it isn't an issue. However sometimes you show up and you're pointing right at the timpani or bass drum. I played in one group for a while that did that and it was very frustrating working with them to change it (it never happened). They squeezed us in so tight that it just didn't work well for the horns. To be effective the horn really needs some space and good surfaces behind to reflect the sound into the hall.