Posts made by barliman2001

@shifty Well, we are piloting ourselves through a maze of music, and fighting the trumpet in the process, so there.

@dr-go Well said!

Bavarian conductor and composer Max Reger was a very outspoken man... his dry comments were feared by everyone in his time and provide material for anecdotes ever since.
Once, he had been conducting C.M. von Weber's Concert for Oboe, Bassoon and Orchestra before a very illustrious audience. After the concert, he was approached by a Princess of Meiningen who asked him "Maestro, are these bassoon sounds all produced by mouth?" - "I'll hope so." was his reply.

Another time, a concert of his had been severely handled by a newspaper critic. He sent the guy a postcard with this message: "Dear Sir, I am sitting in the smallest room of my apartment and have your critique before me. In a few moments, it'll be behind me. Sincerely, Max Reger."
Since then, many European musicians don't go to the bathroom, but are using the Max Reger Salon instead.

@trumpetb Thanks anyway!!

I tried Thomann - only trombone size left, and only two jars of that, and they have no idea whether they will ever get the stuff again because they don't know who will be distributing them in the future; Musik Reisser in Ulm has two jars left, but only for sale in the shop (which is 550 miles away). Austin Custom Brass has them "Out of stock"... and no one knows what has been happening to the company. Somewhat like the Kanstul story...

I'm running very low on spitballs... four left in the jar, and about eight trombone size which I can cut down. But no music shop in Europe has any left, or can tell if or when they might be able to re-order... any info out there?

@kehaulani Are the white cotton gloves still in the case?

That was one memorable occasion... I had checked into a rehab clinic on a Monday, found the local band on Wednesday, rehearsed with them once, and afterwards was asked whether I would like to join them for their next gig. "When?" - "Tomorrow." Ended up skipping therapy, playing a Fathers' Day gig that started at 10 am and lasted until 11 pm...

...and about 30 years earlier, in my first band uniform ever... with a Weltklang cornet with Ab slides in it...

Me playing the Munich's Resident Alien Big Band

STILL WAITING FOR FEEDBACK

@dale-proctor Close enough, I think!

@administrator Looks very much like a Bach Strad 229 C

Our dear friend Gordon once sent me a gift package with several cornets in it: A Buescher Aristocrat that to this day is my main axe in jazz, an Elkhart by Buescher that's middle of the road but unusual for its pig's tail wrap, and a King Tempo that was absolutely airtight. I tried everything - washing through, snake, spitballs... nothing worked. Finally, in desperation, I gave it to Votruba's. And they put their endoscope inside and as a result unsoldered the bell. What did they find? An ancient wad of chewing gum that someone had rammed down the bell.

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.

@trumpetb Can't do anything about the software, I'm afraid...

@rowuk As usual, you are correct.

@jolter So far, one member got banned for abusive comments, and one or two left of their own for other shores.

@trumpetb Welcome! enjoy yourself!