Posts made by barliman2001

In 1991, I acquired my Courtois 154 R flugel by rather devious means... a large brass xhop in Munich had invited a number of makers for an in-house trade fair of brass instruments. All the obvious people were there, and a few weirdos. Courtois had come with two truckloads of instruments and were hoping to return with only one truck, so they had hired only one for the return trip. Things did not go quite as planned, and when they were packing up after four days, they could not quite get the unsold instruments into the one truck, and as there was a big trade fair going on in Munich at the time, there were no hire trucks to be had for love or money. Imagine a young guy loitering about their truck while they were discussing what to do... a young guy who had loitered about their stand on every day of the fair, ahd tested the instruments and had stressed that did not have any money for a new instrument at all... Imagine that guy asking whether he could help. And they said, "Oui" rather shortly and pressed an instrument case in my hands - the one case that they could not by any means fit into the truck any more. Content? One 154 R flugelhorn. I've never found one better suited to me, so after a few years of comparing, I just quit and am totally happy with that flugel...

When I'd paid for my new, rather expensive wallet, I did not need it anymore...

"My dear, is my dress cut too low?" - "Do you have hair on your chest?" - " No." - "Then it is cut too low."

@IrishTrumpeter You might invite Rowuk for a holiday stay in Ireland later in the year - he's a very friendly guy and possibly the most knowledgeable trumpet guy on TB ever, the God of the Circle of Breath.

@Username Contact Shaun Hooke, Principal Trumpet at the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in Dublin. He is readily accessible on Facebook and is a B&S Approved Artist. He is a super guy and can direct you to the right addresses in Eire. Tell him I sent you (will send you the full name as PN) and he might even excel himself. All the best.

For advice and tuition, Shaun can either take you on himself, or you can ask Charles Cavanagh at the Garda Band (also on FB). My name should work with him as well.

@administrator Are you going to start building violas?? Shame on you!

FACT: Einstein applied for a Chair of Mathematics in Zurich and was rejected because "his theories were too far-fetched for use in academic teaching."

@Mike-Ansberry Can we continue to say that that American Standard horn was a really $hitty instrument? (sorry for the bad pun).

Quite interesting that in the Asterix comics, 2017 saw a chariot race through Italy where one team consisted of charioteer Coronavirus and his offsider Bacillus...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix_and_the_Chariot_Race

@veery Welcome back! The old bunch is still here...

@Niner An American, a Japanese and an Austrian are sitting together in a bar. Suddenly, there is a ring, the American spreads his fingers and begins talking. Finishing, he explains: "New American mobile phone technology. The phone is integrated into thumb and pinkie." Some time later, there is another ring and the Japanese begins talking rapidly. Afterwards, he explains: "Revorutionary Japanese technorogy. Mobire phone buirt into teeth." Some time later, there is a terrible smell. Quietly, the Austrian says, "I think I'm getting a fax..."

My first trumpet was a bugle-shaped thing with something faintly resembling a mouthpiece that I won in a raffle. Tried to get some noise out of it, succeeded after closely studying a Maurice André record cover. Next morning, bought myself a "Complete Trumpet Outfit" - Chinese Comet trumpet, mouthpiece, cleaning kit, oil bottle, case, and - yeah - a pair of small white gloves, all for less than 50 Euros. A week later, got myself a Bach Strad 43. Later sold the Bach, but kept the Comet - handy for outdoor marching and sports events.

@Curlydoc Or you could use the sethoflagos method: He is allowed to buy any trumpet he wants, as long as he spends the equal amount of money on his wife (usually jewellery). ssmith1226 is working the same method with equal success.

@ROWUK I agree with you that TB has not yet reached the kind of wealth of information that TM had... but then, many old TM members did not switch to TB when TM suddenly went dead.

@Dr-GO Get into contact with allegro optical in Meltham, UK. They specialize in musicians' glasses and are able to provide you with variable varifocals to your needs. All employees there are musicians themselves and know exactly what to do. I just got my first set from them - fabulous. Previously, I had the problem that after a cataract operation, my eye accommodation was gone. So I had to use reading glasses for the music, but then the conductor was way out of focus and sometimes, even hard to see. Now, that problem is gone (no, I haven't switched to viola). I can read the music clearly and comfortably, and the conductor stays in focus as well.

@N1684T At this time, I've been through four hospitals in three countries, starting off with Huddersfield Royal Infirmary in the UK (which is a place to avoid - not the UK, but the hospital)), the ordeal beginning on 15 March...

There's life in the auld dog yet!

I agree with the admin - after going off the rails and into undesirable directions, name calling and personal abuse, I am finally locking this thread. Enjoy.

Update for everyone: I'll probably be out of hospital some time next week.