Ok, I think I should clear this up. I may have the authority and the means to delete posts; but I have no inclination to do so unless it is a) a severe case, b) I have heard both sides of a dispute and c) there is a repeat offender involved. Personally, I am broad-minded and have nothing against what used to be called an "after-dinner joke" - in fact, I have a largish stock of those at hand and have been known to use them. But I know that there are some people here who see that differently and to help in deciding which joke can be posted safely and which ones are hovering on the brink, I may sometimes post a remark like that. No offence taken on my side, and none meant.

Best posts made by barliman2001
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RE: A little humour
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RE: Brand-New 1971 Olds Ambassador Trumpet Possible?
@dr-go Blowing my warm air... how awful!
Reminds me of the Scotsman who took his wife to the doctor's because of her tummy pains... when the doc said, "Oh, its just wind," the Scotsman blew up: "Jist wind?? It was jist wind that blew down the Tay Bridge!!" -
RE: I'm back... Now with 100% full dentures and a long road of recovery
@butcha Congratulations!! Well done!
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RE: Acoustics... and a bit more
@J-Jericho said in Acoustics... and a bit more:
IMO acoustics at a venue requires a balance of science, art, and experience to be successful. It's impractical to test-fill the space with the anticipated number of warm bodies prior to the performance and to replicate in advance air density, temperature, and humidity.
Well, in one orchestra we had a Red Cross worker, and at every dress rehearsal, the Red Cross provided up to seven hundred woollen blankets to simulate the audience... they usually declared this an "emergency exercise".
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RE: A little humour
A nun is travelling to another monastery in the official car. No one really looked after that thing, so at about half-way point, on a Saturday evening, the tank runs empty. The nun sees a farmhouse in the distance and walks there to ask for some fuel. The farmer readily agrees to help her out but warns her that the only container he can give her is an old large chamber pot... That does not bother the Sister. As she's back at her car and refilling the tank, another motorist stops, turns down his window and says to her, "I'm envying your faith, Sister..."
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RE: Update on my Olds Recording
@georgeb I know that feeling well... had exactly the same experience with my Recording. And as my - by this time two - Courtois Balanceds give me the same feeling (while being much more assertive - they are more like background Wagner horns, with an incredible lower register), it might really be the balanced make that does the trick.
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RE: Seeking input on Rules
As this topic is slowly getting off the rails, and there have not been any inputs regarding rules for some time, I am locking this topic.
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RE: Wired after a Gig
@georgeb With breaks, of course. Austrian weddings involve many speeches all over the day, and lots of pranks. In total, there's perhaps twelve ours playing time in 28 hours of attendance.
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RE: A little humour
"How did your dispute with your wife pan out?" -
"Oh, brilliantly. I had her crawling on her knees before me." -
"What did she say?" -
"Come out from under the bed, you coward!" -
RE: I bought a fairly rare trumpet
@j-jericho If it's factory new, there should be at least three different leadpipes included. Usually, the buyer visits the factory and chooses which leadpipes they want...
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New old friend
Coolerdave - whom some of you may remember from TM days - has found the light and is now where he belongs: in this community of trumpet lovers.
Welcome, Dave! -
RE: Wired after a Gig
@georgeb Weddings? Coming home at 2 am? That's a tame wedding... here in Austria, a wedding starts at 6am, with a rousing fanfare played in the street in front of the groom's house; then there's the morning snack and schnaps; then the registry office wedding, afterwards the church wedding, then the reception. After that, the dance band takes over from the oompah band until midnight, when the newlyweds retire; and the dance band continues, because next morning, the wedding guests have to wake up the honeymooners... so if you are lucky enough to be in the dance band and sub in the oompah outfitm you are getting up at four am, play for more or less 24 hours flat out, and are back at home around 10am... tired, not wired!
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RE: A different Christmas Tune...
@SSmith1226 said in A different Christmas Tune...:
@barliman2001
I figured that they made it custom for him since it was not an option on their web site and he was one of their “Artists”.Still, they could have made it more stylish.
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RE: Tough Decision to make
If the Blackburn is your dream horn, by all means get it. But be prepared - your dream horn may become a nightmare.
I'll just tell a few tales from my experience.
Many years back, a corno da caccia was my dream horn. And then, during a historians' conference in Leipzig, I stumbled upon Friedbert Syhre's workshop, and he had one just finished and ready for sale. Silver plated, with gold accents. I talked to my bank manager on the phone for about three hours, and bought it five minutes before the shop closed for the weekend, for something like $ 3,500. I had found my dream horn!
And then I slowly realized I would not be able to use it much. I was not good enough at that time to play the original music written for the corno da caccia, and there were literally no chances at all to use it in orchestra. I played it once or twice in local church orchestras, doubling for French horn. But for more than nine years, it lived a very quiet, secluded life in its case.
Until someone really needed one to replace one stolen during a rehearsal, and I sold it on for less than $ 1,000, just to have it played.Then, for many years, a Scherzer G picc was my dream horn. I saved all I could for about five years to be able to get a new one, finally bought one; nice horn, loved the sound... found an orchestra that wanted me as a soloist for the Torelli concert and as an orchestral principal trumpet for the Haendelujah (me with the Scherzer)
, and I practised like mad, only to overdo things and lapse into pneumonia two weeks before the planned concert... had to take time off to recuperate, by which time the concert had been played by a sub. I used it for some more time, sparingly, until one day, after a playing break of about two weeks, I took it out of its case and the valves were frozen and I could not do anything with them, had to get them repaired and had that reoccur several times. And when Maurice André's will left me a Selmer high-G and I found that easier to play, it went its way to a new owner.
Two or three years after getting the Scherzer, I had acquired a Besson Kanstul 920 picc. Wonderful instrument, and they tell me I sounded really good on it. No problems - except that I had set my mind on a Stomvi. So I sold the Besson in part-exchange. The Stomvi was nice, no doubt about it; but somehow, it was not the instrument for me. I needed much more lip pressure than with the BessonK, put too much hand pressure on the valve cluster and thus got the valves to stick... !Pic shows me with the BessonK.
I can tell stories like this about many of my dream horns. All of the horns I play now are horns that happened upon me somehow, without me really planning to get them, like my Courtois 154R flugel which I acquired at a trade fair when the Courtois people had a few instruments left over which they did not want to take back with them; so my advice is, don't search for a specific horn, but look around for anything that drifts your way; try, try and try again, and at some time, your dream horn will find you. -
RE: Need some information on this item.
@tornado1957 If you don't play, why don't you start?
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RE: A little humour
A guy is lying in a hospital ward. In comes a man in a white coat and starts fiddling about with a measuring tape. "Wh-why a-are you m-m-measuring me, Doctor?" the patient asks, faintly. - "Doctor? I'm not the doctor, I'm the joiner..."
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RE: Early 70's Besson info wanted
@tptguy The Besson International cornet models were the first instruments Besson made after the change in the Brass Band world from High Pitch to Low Pitch (i.e. normal concert pitch). They followed the dual pitch Imperial models and were the direct predecessors of the Round Stamp Sovereigns. At the time, they were Besson's (or B&Hs) top of the line. Even today, Internationals are sought after instruments, and some first-class players in the brass band world still stick to them despite Sovereigns and Prestiges. And I know why... in 1990, I fished one out of a Scottish band's bin (put there after what they thought was irreparable damage - the connection between first and second valve had a big hole from being gripped there too often), had it restored by Hermann Ganter, and I've been playing it ever since. Tried to find a more modern one to have a back-up in case the International had a fatal accident, spent a fortune on Yammies, Stomvi, new Sovereign and such... and finally, after re-selling all of those, ended up with a second International (which is now in the market because I found a 1955 Courtois at an Ukrainian dealer). A friend of mine played in the same brass band all his life, for an incredible 71 years, 55 of them as Principal Cornet. Every ten years or so, the band bought a new set of instruments and handed him a new and shiny Sovereign, which he duly held when the appropriate pictures were taken. And at the next rehearsal or gig, he played the old International... his best friend and former band mate, Phil McCann, did the same...