Attracting members who are interested in things musical/trumpet

Kehaulani

This will, no doubt, elicit a knee-jerk reaction from some who are either offended or who wonder who the heck I think I am. Fair enough. But I think this needs airing.

There is value on any forum for a Lounge, to let members let off steam and to discuss things that do not fall under the general category of the Forum's main intent. This Forum, however, has begun, and stayed, in the realm of "Loungeism". Jokes, pretty pictures etc.

As long as there is no widespread interest in pursuing questions about trumpet pedagogy and musicianship, it will not grow. I've noticed that there were members in the former forum who no longer participate. It seems sort of self-evident.

BigDub

@Kehaulani said in Attracting members who are interested in things musical/trumpet:

This will, no doubt, elicit a knee-jerk reaction from some who are either offended or who wonder who the heck I think I am. Fair enough. But I think this needs airing.

There is value on any forum for a Lounge, to let members let off steam and to discuss things that do not fall under the general category of the Forum's main intent. This Forum, however, has begun, and stayed, in the realm of "Loungeism". Jokes, pretty pictures etc.

As long as there is no widespread interest in pursuing questions about trumpet pedagogy and musicianship, it will not grow. I've noticed that there were members in the former forum who no longer participate. It seems sort of self-evident.

I feel where you're coming from, Kehaulani. Keep in mind, though, there are forums and sites THat do take the serious side of trumpet playing and music and are already quite established. There are threads for that here and any you care to start as well. Like this thread. I do agree, it is more lounge-ish, but I personally tend to like it. You probably knew that already. And, in conclusion, TH makes me want to go into a coma.

Hi Kehaulani,
Rome wasn't built in a day. There was a time when TM had very little. Just recently there's been a wonderful and helpful videos by Jens Lindeman, Jon Ruff A section on Scales, Analysis of Jazz standards (Take Five) and the list goes on. What do you wish to discuss as far as trumpet pedagogy? Seriously. I never come to the table with a problem without a possible solution. You're smarter than the average bear and I know whatever you come up with will generate discussion.
Here's one if you're at a loss. Which takes more air, Middle C or High C, or Double High C and how do we negotiate the change if there is any?

J. Jericho

Maybe we should ask the usual questions and see what pops up as a discussion. I'll try a few and see what happens.

SSmith1226

@Kehaulani
It’s interesting that you bring this up. The 800 pound gorilla is now in the room. Trumpet Board started in response to the untimely death of Trumpet Master. Trumpet Master, like Trumpet Herald, had many members who were consummate professionals or semiprofessionals. It also had many members like myself who are comeback players and hobbyists that enjoy playing but never will play at a professional level, but enjoyed the camaraderie that Trumpet Master offered. Trumpet Master was a much friendlier atmosphere then Trumpet Herald and much less contentious. Trumpet Master had a lounge section where less serious issues and non-trumpet issues could be discussed among people who had similar interests. This included humor and many other subjects. This was not available on trumpet Herald.
I think with the collapse of Trumpet Master those of us that felt too intimidated to post on Trumpet Herald migrated to Trumpet Boards for participation when the opportunity arose. If the opportunity didn’t arise many of us would still be on Trumpet Herald, as I am now, but would primarily be lurking and not participating in the discussions. Frankly, there is little that I as a three and three-quarter year come back player could add to any discussion on the serious nature about trumpet playing. I think that they were many other people like myself that also lurk on Trumpet Herald. So the question is why is there so much more discussion on Trumpet Herald about serious trumpet matters then there is on Trumpet Boards? The answer I think is based on the numbers of registrants and participants. To my understanding, Trumpet Herald has literally tens of thousands of registrants. It is common to see the same names over and over participating in the discussions. If only 1% of every 20,000 registrants regularly participated in the serious discussions there would be 200 names you would see on a regular basis and a few other rare participants scattered in with them. I would contend that this is what you see, the same core group of discussants over snd over again.
Consider that Trumpet Boards is only six months old, not decades old. We have 208 members. Of those 208, 88 (42.3%) have never posted. Another 53 (27%) have posted 1-10 times, 28 (13%) posted 11-20 times, 5 (2.4%) posted 31-40 times, snd 9 (4.3%) posted 41-50times. 26 (12.5%) of us have posted 51-575 times If you look at these figures, including the 88 members who haven't posted, 182 (86.5%)of the 208 members have been inactive or minimally active. That means that for the most part 26 of us, most of whom are hobbyists with similar interests have been having nice relatively non contentious conversations in the lounge. There are a few professional players and technicians among the group and they have been very generous with their time and knowledge. The majority of the time they agree, thus limiting discussion and debate. However, until our young group grows, which it will eventually will, the posts will be dominated by the vast majority of us who like to hang out with people of similar interests, but are not knowledgeable enough to discuss the technicalities of trumpet playing at a high level. Growth will come with time and the distribution of discussion topics will change, but it will probably take a few years to do so. Can we effectively speed this process up? I don’t think so. What could we do to possibly speed this up? We could send invitations to respected teachers at the University level, their students, well respected professionals and private teachers to join, but I doubt that many will have the time or desire to participate. Perhaps however, it would be worth a try.
For what it is worth, that is my two cents.

Kujo20

The way I see it...TB is a community. Yes, we all share “trumpet” in common...but it is not all that we are. I don’t think any of us eat/breath/sleep trumpet 100% of the time.

As mentioned already by other members, there are a handful of music, theory, and legit topic threads started. Added members and increased participation from those members will grow the entire forum.

Give it time and continue to contribute to the topics you’re seeking.

J. Jericho

@Kujo20 You will recall my saying that TH is a forum, whereas TM is a family. I get that same sense here at TB, and I appreciate the lack of histrionics that could devalue the experience at TH and TM.

fels

I just came home from a rehearsal of a community band. We are reading through potential pieces for our fall concert. I am the trumpet section leader. We are reading grade 4 + pieces. As i talk to the individual members of the section, I know that i am influenced by what i read in TB. I am registered at TH but don't post because i have little to add to that group. I don't post often here at TB; I enjoy reading the various topics, and I pass on the good stuff to the others that i come into contact. Thats cool.

Kehaulani

I come mainly to learn trumpet and musical techniques and usually to learn from others.

My background is in composing, conducting and playing woodwinds. I've got tons of experience in those. I studied trumpet and played in Lab Bands at UNT as a student and played trumpet in the military for one tour in and in soul bands.

So, most of my experience, and I can share in those areas, are as stated, while trumpet experience was as a professional, too, but much less than the other areas.

I do think the TM crowd is less hard-core than the TH one, but I still see the Lounge as a fleeting diversion, not as a replacement for musical/trumpet subjects.

@Kehaulani said in Attracting members who are interested in things musical/trumpet:

My background is in composing, conducting and playing woodwinds. I've got tons of experience in those. I studied trumpet and played in Lab Bands at UNT as a student and played trumpet in the for one tour in the military and in soul bands.

Holy SH**!
Your background is in composing and conducting! For Pete's sake you could be showing us how Bach is put together and why it works. You could be showing us how to approach Paganini. Damn it Man, your a wealth of information in a desert of dummies and I'm clearly one of the bigger dummies. You could be giving us advice on not just how to play a piece but how to "think" about a piece." You could be showing us how to listen and what to listen for in a particular piece. You're just not another Saturday night horn blower, you're a trained conductor and composer. There's a button called New Topic. Share some of that stuff between your ears and make us all better for doing so.

Richard III

Here's the thing for me. TrumpetMaster discussions often devolved into silly humor. What started out as a serious discussion of technique or hardware would often become something I didn't care to read. That just seemed to be a characteristic of the site and the personalities involved. I can see that the site delivered to those people something they enjoyed. That carries over somewhat to TB.

TrumpetHerald rarely goes there. However, these days TH has also a very large contingent of younger players asking questions pertinent to their high school concerns.

The combination of both of the above situations means I spend very little time with either one due to a lack of relevance to my interests.

Kehaulani

@Dr-Mark said in Attracting members who are interested in things musical/trumpet:

@Kehaulani said in Attracting members who are interested in things musical/trumpet:

My background is in composing, conducting and playing woodwinds. I've got tons of experience in those. I studied trumpet and played in Lab Bands at UNT as a student and played trumpet in the for one tour in the military and in soul bands.

Holy SH**!
Your background is in composing and conducting! For Pete's sake you could be showing us how Bach is put together and why it works. You could be showing us how to approach Paganini. Damn it Man, your a wealth of information in a desert of dummies and I'm clearly one of the bigger dummies. You could be giving us advice on not just how to play a piece but how to "think" about a piece." You could be showing us how to listen and what to listen for in a particular piece. You're just not another Saturday night horn blower, you're a trained conductor and composer. There's a button called New Topic. Share some of that stuff between your ears and make us all better for doing so.

I'm open to any questions. It seems to me, though, that the majority of posters just aren't interested in digging into any of this, that much. But, like I said, I'm open to all questions.

@Kehaulani said in Attracting members who are interested in things musical/trumpet:

I'm open to any questions.

When performing on trumpet, Bach's Gigue from Partita No.3 for Violin,
what should the mindset be with this piece?

@SSmith1226 said in Attracting members who are interested in things musical/trumpet:

What could we do to possibly speed this up? We could send invitations to respected teachers at the University level, their students, well respected professionals and private teachers to join, but I doubt that many will have the time or desire to participate. Perhaps however, it would be worth a try.

People want something for nothing. What we offer is humor, notifications and a smattering of advice. Something to ponder; What's the difference between a tutorial and advice? Basically nothing! We need to offer tutorials for kids of all ages. We can show them good stuff for competitions, how to use their air, how to hold the horn, how to effectively and efficiently read music, how a trumpet should sound, how to play in the upper register, and the list goes on. All we need do is to let the Facebook (for example) know that free tutorials can be had and we'll be off to the races.
I would suggest that the student be vetted as to how long they've played, style of music they play, can they read music? and what brings them to us. Once the real reason the person is seeking knowledge is uncovered, we can begin to advise/tutor. They pose the problem, we give them a solution. We then send them on their way to work their asses off and ask them to report back in a week or two to see if they have conquered what brought them here in the first place. If you're a member of Facebook, you may want to spread the word. Granted we can't see them but we can use our words to guide and advise and let's face it, no one can teach anyone anyway. Only the person who wants to know can put the knowledge between their ears.

Kehaulani

@Dr-Mark said in Attracting members who are interested in things musical/trumpet:

When performing on trumpet, Bach's Gigue from Partita No.3 for Violin,
what should the mindset be with this piece?

Man, that's a big order.

Well, like I said, I'm not a high-level professional on trumpet performance, but, musically, I would be particularly concerned with length of notes, the articulation, length of phrases, dynamic shape and sounding "trumpety" vs more string-like. I would also check the edition of the transcript.

tmd

Interesting thread. I participated much more on TM than I do here. And I agree that some of the content has been on the lighter side. That's not a bad thing, and there's definitely lighter stuff on TH, too.

Focusing more on trumpet pedagogy and musicianship is a great goal. But what will make this place an attractive alternative to TH (or Facebook)? My suggestion is to offer things that TH does not have.

Add a YouTube forum - How about a place where we can hear each other play. You can post videos of concerts, demos, or things you're learning. This practice (if I remember correctly) was discouraged on TM, and doesn't exist on TH. But it works well on other forums I belong to.
Add a reviews forum - There's already a repair/modification forum, which TH doesn't have. How about a section that includes reviews of equipment or trumpet modifications? It would be interesting to learn about what others have done to tweak or refurbish their horns, or about equipment they're using. For example, I posted a video review on sleeves a couple years back (google "Trumpet Mouthpiece Sleeve").
Add methodology-specific forums - TH already does this. Maybe there's an opportunity here.

Just some thoughts.
Mike

@Kehaulani said in Attracting members who are interested in things musical/trumpet:

Well, like I said, I'm not a high-level professional on trumpet performance, but, musically, I would be particularly concerned with length of notes, the articulation, length of phrases, dynamic shape and sounding "trumpety" vs more string-like. I would also check the edition of the transcript.

Those variables would go for just about any piece. I'm looking more for (for lack of a better description) what colors should be used to make this piece sparkle? What should I be saying (what did Bach wish for it to say) when I play this piece?

Kehaulani

@Dr-Mark said in Attracting members who are interested in things musical/trumpet:

Those variables would go for just about any piece. I'm looking more for (for lack of a better description) what colors should be used to make this piece sparkle?

Silver?

I'm not sure what you would be saying in this piece. In this kind of work, I seem to let the music do the talking. I suppose a decision could be made if one wants to play it linearly, or play some parts in a call-and-response fashion. I.e., playing like it is two voices as opposed to one voice unfolding.

It seems to me that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and what one intends depends on how a performer or listener each, personally, perceives a piece.

I've walked away from performances, and have directed them, when I and colleagues who have easily great creds, seem to have been in alternate galaxies, each hearing and receiving completely different things.

I'm not sure what you are getting at and my words may be inadequate. I'll mention one thing, I tend to perform/conduct/hear music abstractly vs. conjuring up visions or intents.

If you're looking for more, perhaps you could provide more specific information. Let me know if you need any more information.

As far as attracting members goes I think one of the things that may put people off who stumble in here is that some regular members often seem so full of themselves that what they post comes across as aggrandizing self centered promotion rather than a topic open for anyone to join with an equal right of opinion. I don't think you will have to look far back in this string to see at least hints of what I'm getting at. People beating their own drum can get attention but few will want to march to the beat.

If you want to find an audience it would be good to not set up certain members as unquestionable lionized authorities never to be challenged. And certainly don't encourage anyone to set themselves up as unquestionable experts about anything. In other forums about subjects other than trumpet playing, the truly knowledgeable have a way of rising to the top without anybody lionizing them. Sometimes true stars of a particular field will come in and out as a matter of respect for the forum. This forum has to find its members and grow a lot more before any actual stars are likely to find it.

@Kehaulani said in Attracting members who are interested in things musical/trumpet:

I tend to perform/conduct/hear music abstractly vs. conjuring up visions or intents.

Generally, when I have a student that needs to learn new piece, I'll ask them "What does the piece mean? What was the composer trying to convey?"
I don't think you're the right person for the question as you tend to not investigate the composer's intent but thanks for the offer to help.