BARNSLEY Metropolitan Band received a blow when a new £2,000 cornet broke this week days before the band’s most important concert of the year. The new Schilke soprano cornet came apart at one of the joints and now makes a rasping buzzing sound. It will not be a major repair and is covered under warranty, but it comes just before the cornet’s first major test - Bandfest 2007. Bandfest was started in 1997 to celebrate the band’s £70,000 lottery grant to buy a full set of instruments. The event has now outlived some of those instruments, and now even outlived this second replacement. Conductor Alex Francis, who also plays cornet for Brighouse and Rastrick band, said: “Hopefully a bit of chewing gum or blue-tack will stop it buzzing and get us through the concert before we send it away. It’s not ideal when we’ve paid all that money though. “We want the band to play on the best professional standard instruments but it is unlikely we would get another grant to replace them all again, so we’re trying to replace them bit by bit.” The Schilke Soprano is the instrument of choice for the very top musicians in bands like Grimethorpe and Brighouse. The bell of the cornet is made from beryllium rather than brass, which is a softer metal and gives a brighter sound. But it is very delicate, which may be why one of the joints has already come apart. The band has also bought a new Besson Prestige cornet worth about £1,500. Bandfest takes place at Elsecar Heritage Centre’s building 21 tomorrow from 5pm and will include Barnsley Town Concert Band, South Yorkshire Police Band, Barnsley Metropolitan Band and championship section Pennine Brass, currently 1st Section national champions.