How many is too many?

[Dale Proctor]

I think this photo shows the most I ever owned at one time.

[J. Jericho]

@dale-proctor The carpet's nice, too.

[administrator]

Is that 3 bugles I see?

[Curlydoc]

@dale-proctor What is second from bottom middle column?

[barliman2001]

@curlydoc Might be a Buescher #12, with a quick-change to A.

[fels]

Question for Barliman or others

I have acquired another Courtois Flugelhorn namely a model 152. Can you explain the differences and origin (beside the horizontal slides vs vertical) of the 152 versus the 157 (my other Flugelhorn ). Playing both, I think I like the 152 in terms of ease of play, timbre and intonation, but am continuing to evaluate.

[Dale Proctor]

@administrator said in How many is too many?:

Is that 3 bugles I see?

Yes. The top one is a Kanstul Bb field trumpet, the middle one is a U.S. Regulation G field trumpet, and the bottom one is a cheap copy of a Bb British duty bugle.

[Dale Proctor]

@curlydoc said in How many is too many?:

@dale-proctor What is second from bottom middle column?

It’s a 1923 Conn 22B trumpet with a rotary valve in the tuning slide to switch from Bb to A.

[Jolter]

@administrator said in How many is too many?:

Here's my "ideal" setup, with no horns just as "collectibles" (although, I don't think there is anything wrong with a collection):

2 - Bb piston trumpets -- 1 for classical / 1 for everything else
1 - C piston Trumpet
2 - Piccolo trumpets -- 1 piston / 1 rotary
1 - D/Eb trumpet -- either piston or rotary
3 - Flugelhorns -- 1 piston 3-valve / 1 piston 4-valve with large bell / 1 rotary
2 - Cornets -- 1 piston Bb (BBB-style) / 1 piston C
1 - Bb rotary trumpet
1 - C rotary trumpet

I think that just about covers it...I can't think of anything else I could possibly need off the top of my head. That's 13 horns right there.

Serious question: Why one of each piccolo type? I don't know that I've ever heard of different gigs requiring different piccs.

Why C cornet? Church gigs?

Rotary flugel, I wouldn't know what to use for.

@barliman2001 said in How many is too many?:

@administrator You forgot one straight cornet for jazz and big band work, one pocket trumpet for travelling, one multi-pitch trumpet by Jaeger trumpets, one old banger for the football pitch, one to scare the wife with...

Surely one also needs a beater hanging in the kitchen, for practising while waiting for the soup to boil, and occasionally stirring the soup with...
Well, I guess the football trumpet could double as such.

I need to get a picture of all of mine together, sometime.

[barliman2001]

@jolter It is a fact that rotaries have darker sounds than piston horns. That applies to piccs as well. So you could use a rotary picc very well on all of those high second trumpets in Baroque where a piston picc might accidentally cut through a piano by the first chair...
I agree that a C cornet would be an extrvaganza... with me (and I play a very wide spread of music), it would be the most unplayed instrument in my collection. I see a possible use in French symponic music of the mid-19th century, where many composers orchestrated for both trumpets and cornets, the trumpets - still valve- and clueless - for the signals, and the cornets for melody. Many of these cornet parts are originally written in C.
Rotary flugel - a real must if you want to play German Oompah music, as all the melody parts are written for a narrow-bore flugelhorn played with a trumpet mouthpiece (top C is quite common in those parts).

[Jolter]

@barliman2001 I might be narrow-minded but I had not expected an American player like our dear admin to be involved in Volksmusik .

I play in some small ensembles in Sweden where we try to use historical instruments, and the Swedish "kornett" are very similar in timbre to German flügelhörner, so I'm familiar with the sound. However we tend to use V-shaped cups, giving a bit more horn-like tone and making the instrument less suitable for upper register playing.

[barliman2001]

@jolter You would be astonished to see what things Americans (and British!) can get up to... friends of mine in Wales have banded together as "The Heidelberger Boys", playing German oompah music (not Volksmusik!!) at all kids of venues - they eeven played a mid-July "Octoberfest" at a British Regimental Reunion!
https://www.facebook.com/thebavarianband/videos/407999127615120

[administrator]

@Jolter I am very curious how that instrument plays. It looks like a natural trumpet bell on the body of an older German trumpet. Interesting.

[Jolter]

@administrator said in How many is too many?:

@Jolter I am very curious how that instrument plays. It looks like a natural trumpet bell on the body of an older German trumpet. Interesting.

If you took your German rotary flugelhorn, took out your tinsnips and trimmed off about an inch or so of the bell flare, you’d have something very much like this instrument. (Except your horn would now be out of tune due to being about half an inch too short, and it’d be very fragile due to having no rim wire, but that’s beside the point.)

As far as I know, the sound is nearly indistinguishable apart from the effect of that v-shaped cup I mentioned.

[JRgroove]

I have 5 trumpets + a Conn 28A long cornet that seems very trumpet like. Sometimes I consider selling one of them but which one? I've had many horns but sold them all except these six. The only other horn I really want is a flugelhorn. So I guess 5 trumpets, one long cornet, and one flugelhorn is my limit before "too many." If I were forced to choose only one to keep long term It would be the Schilke B7.

[LongTones]

@jolter

I've been searching for an Ahlberg and Ohlsson swedish kornett for years. They always seem to disappear before I can secure one. I have a little brass quartet here in The States that plays out of the Svenska Messingskwartetten book that was recorded by members of the Swedish Radio Orchestra back in 1999. I'm also a huge fan of the Medevi Brunnsorkester and the whole Swedish brass tradition. You must have a blast playing!

My question is this: Where did you get your reproduction? Are they still being made? Would you happen to have any leads on a used A&O Bb or Eb that one could purchase?

Forgive me if this is too bold. It's just been difficult finding info on this from over here in the US.

Thanks so much for the help.

[Jolter]

@longtones said in How many is too many?:

@jolter

I've been searching for an Ahlberg and Ohlsson swedish kornett for years. They always seem to disappear before I can secure one. I have a little brass quartet here in The States that plays out of the Svenska Messingskwartetten book that was recorded by members of the Swedish Radio Orchestra back in 1999. I'm also a huge fan of the Medevi Brunnsorkester and the whole Swedish brass tradition. You must have a blast playing!

My question is this: Where did you get your reproduction? Are they still being made? Would you happen to have any leads on a used A&O Bb or Eb that one could purchase?

Forgive me if this is too bold. It's just been difficult finding info on this from over here in the US.

Thanks so much for the help.

Hi @LongTones,
It's cool that you're taking an interest! This is far too serious and interesting for the Lounge, so I'm going to move this out to a different thread in the Vintage Items forum: https://trumpetboards.com/topic/1278/swedish-norwegian-danish-prussian-brasses-of-the-19th-and-20th-centuries

[Trumpetb]

I have a sound that I create and I can create that sound on three instruments. The mouthpiece is a modern mouthpiece and can be easily replaced if lost or damaged the horns are not so easily replaced so I keep them all, -one trumpet and two cornets.

Instruments do occasionally need tech work so 2 standbys are always useful and I dont wish to lose the sound I spent 15 years refining just because I dont have enough instruments available when disaster strikes.

The rest I keep for sentimental reasons and for flexibility in the future along with all my mouthpieces.

Chet famously borrowed instruments when he did not have one to play a gig on.

If I asked to borrow an instrument to get me through a gig I reckon I know the answer I would get, so I keep three that all play identically and use one.

[barliman2001]

@trumpetb A to borrowing instruments... Ron Romm tells a story that once en route to the Soviet Union, the cases containing some of the instruments got lost in transit and did not reappear for several weeks, including all of Fred Mills' instruments and mouthpieces, and poor Fred had to play the whole tour through the Soviet Union on instruments and mouthpieces borrowed locally...

[Trumpetb]

The community standing together and supporting musicians in need when disaster strikes, I love that they did that.

If my case requests to borrow an instrument when I cannot be bothered to acquire a low cost backup instrument might fall on stony ground.

I know you were showing that as an example that all might not be lost if I lose my one and only instrument, because the community is very supportive, but I prefer not to take the risk.

The Dickens character Wilkins Micawber, when facing a crisis stated his principle in life of "Something will turn up." was simply trusting to luck. That is not for me.

I want to make my own luck and depend on nobody.