Posts made by barliman2001

Theory is a nice thing. With embouchure, I can only say - "what works, works." I've seen too many excellent players with weird to absurd embouchures...

@Vulgano-Brother You are perfectly right.

The main distinction of the Wagner tuba is that it is in effect a bass French horn. Therefore, it is usually played by French horn players who need to use the valves as with a French horn, i.e. their left hand. The shape roughly resembles a rotary tenor horn except for he fact that it is a mirrored tenor horn. So anything that is played right-handed is a standard rotary alto or tenor horn (tenor horns are by far more frequent, as the Eb alto parts in Continental wind bands tend to be played by Eb bass trumpets), and anything left-handed (apart from very rare tenor horns custom-built for left-handed players) therefore almost certainly is a Wagner tuba.

As I said - rotary tenor horn.

@administrator The item was sold before I could look at the ad; but IF I saw the right picture, it would be a straightforward rotary tenor horn. Wagner tubas have their valves oriented left-handed.

@Bb-Brass Arnold & Sons are also good clones of good Bach pieces... and they ave the additional advantage that they are readily available in Europe (whereas Blessings aren't).

Do you use proper valve oil, and not a creeping oil like WD-40?

Strange instruments seem to find me... my first trombone was inherited from a friend who departed this life some twenty years ago. Fifteen years later, his daughter called me and was rather embarrassed... they had only now for th first time since his demise, opened up her father's music room and inspected the contents... and his #1 trombone, a 609 B&H Sovereign, bore a hand-written label that it was to go to me... this horn...

First thing I did was to visit my friend's grave and play Amazing Grace... and then happened onto a newly-formed big band with lots of trumpets and no trombones...
A couple of years later I was in a Vienna antiques store looking for a comfy seat with ears when I noticed a trombone hanging from the ceiling. Asked the seller "how much" and got a gruff answer, "two hundred". Replied, "here's a hundred - ok?" - "ok". It's a 1940s Willi Garreis tenor with valve, originally built of a member of the Munich Philharmonic, with a "long water key" feature... quite nice, all original and still in quite good shape. Came with a 12C generic trumpet mouthpiece...

And a couple of years back, found a Besson International baritone horn on e-bay for a whopping € 65..., got it, played it in a couple of brass band gigs
and then thought something might be wrong with the horn... brought it to Ivan Hunter who diagnosed that the horn had at some time suffered a catastrophic accident, been dismantled and somehow reassembled wrong way round... too costly to repair back to original condition, so he got it to convert into art...
and then, on e-bay again, found a Weltklang euphonium "for collection". Went to England for it (had some other things to do there anyway) and heard a remarkable story... the euph was owned by a long-time brass bander who had been given an ultimatum by his wife to either lose the horn or lose the wife. Chose wrong, the poor fellow... and his wife insisted that she should get the use of any money he would make out of the sale, so he gave it away for free...

@TrumpetSweden A pro trumpet, albeit it will need a bit of Tender Loving Care. I am no knowledgeable about Yamahas, but I know that the higher the first number of the type number, the better. A 2 would indicate a beginners' instrument, a 4 a good intermediate, and a 6 a pro instrument (albeit at the lower end of the pro scale). But there are people around here who will know the back history of every screw on your trumpet.

@administrator It's always on the first full weekend of July - see you then.

@ROWUK That Round Stamp Sovereign has enough room to up to A=450... but many of these instrumentsare not consistent in themselves.

So far, my B&H Sovereign Round Stamp has done everything I ever asked it for... I know that these instruments are reviled for wonky intonation, but mine so far has behaved perfectly. And a friend of mine has just - after a long search! - found another one that ain't misbehavin', and has chosen it as his primary sop over the band's 4xxx Yammie...

@administrator You coming? Splendid. Contact Nick Jones directly, will you? He is in charge of reserving accommodation - always the same 3* hotel in the centre of town, and all gigs are within easy walking distance. Most important is a good music stand - you can borrow one of mine if necessary - and a good music light: Some of the gigs are open air at night.

@Kehaulani-0 Perhaps next year? It's always on the first full weekend in July...

@Kehaulani-0 Then why don't you become a repeat offender by going there? Would love to have you!

@administrator A bit over-restored, to my taste. By all means take out the dings and make it play-ready; but re-plating removes all the character of its age from the horn - especially as many horns of that period originally came in a matte finish.

@Kehaulani-0 Exactly. And as Bitburg is a small town attached to a biiig brewery, the brewery picks up most of the cost...

It's that time of year again... Welsh scratch brass band Coronation Brass are recruiting for players to join them for their annual participation at the European Folklore Festival in Bitburg, Germany.
11th to 15th July, 2025
I'll include the official invitation letter.

It's always a really fun event as TBers Steve Smith and Ivan Hunter can bear witness to... five gigs in four days, with no rehearsal (everything sight-read in front of appreciative audiences), with the chance to sit in with other bands of very different descriptions.

Details in the official letter and either from me or from Nick Jones (contacts in the letter).

"Coronation Brass
Coronationbrass@hotmail.com
Y Gaer
Llanfair Caereinion
WELSHPOOL
SY21 0DG
+44 7811 946826
February 2025
Invitation – European Folklore Festival, Bitburg.
11th – 15th July 2025.
Dear All
I hope this finds you well – this is a formal invitation to you to participate in Coronation Brass’s annual trip to the
Festival in Bitburg this July.
We had a fabulous trip last year, and it was fantastic to have a virtually full band for once! All our concerts were a
roaring success as always.
I’m hoping we can get a fairly full band together again this year, and as always if you know of any players who
you think would fit in with us, please feel free to pass this letter on. We always seem to struggle for cornets for
some reason, so get your thinking caps on!
As in the last couple of years, I won’t be arranging transport – the easiest way to reach Bitburg is to fly to
Luxembourg, and there is a bus transit from the airport to the town. If you’re driving, let me know if you’ve got any
spare seats and anyone struggling with transport please drop me a line, and I’ll see what I can do.
Accommodation and meals are provided – The price is the same as last year - £220 for four nights.
The full schedule has not been completed yet, but it is likely that our first performance will be on Saturday
afternoon. This means that you can either arrange to arrive on Friday afternoon, or Saturday morning. The final
concert will be on Monday evening.
For those of you who haven't been before, we play a programme of what can best be described as cheese, sorry,
brass band classics, in a central square in the small city of Bitburg. It's part of the European Folklore Festival
which has, in previous years, seen musicians and dancers from across the world perform to large audiences. We
will play two or three concerts each day and there's plenty of opportunity to enjoy the festival and all the brewery
town has to offer.
I don’t need definite numbers at the moment, but if you would like to join us, please let me know as soon as you
can. Also, if you know you definitely can’t make it, then please get in touch so I can approach another player.
Feel free to contact me for further information
I hope to see you in July!
Nick Jones
Coronation Brass"

And if you don't have a cornet, but would like to join - there are always a few spare cornets around to borrow. Just tell us in advance, and bring a suitable mouthpiece.

@J-Jericho Usually, only the later UMI models show up - and they are, basically, crap...

As some of you may know, I have a Buescher Aristocrat 264 Bb trumpet. I loved playing it, usually in big band and accompanied by my Buescher Aristocrat 265 Bb cornet... now, I am at a point where the 264 does not fit my playing charateristics so well any more, and it is getting relegated in favour of my Olds Recording and my Courtois Balanced (of which I have two...). So the Buescher 264 now leads a very retired life at the back of my trumpet cabinet... and needs to get out more. So I am thinking of selling, but not at any price.
It is yellow brass, with the original lacquer at somewhere like 90%, everything original and lovely short-stroke valves with as-new compression. Now what kind of price would one be able to ask for it?