Posts made by barliman2001

Hi there,

please don't be huffed if you want to reach me and can't - I am in hospital after a mild stroke.

@j-jericho As I do have a derby mute, but no derby hat, I think I'll settle for the mute...

Now normally, I am the guy advising others about mutes and stuff. But sometimes, fate throws things across your feet where you are stumped...

I am to play 2nd trumpet in Wood Notes by Willam Grant Still; very interesting composer, very interesting piece.

And several times, the composer calls for "soft hat mute"... now, how is that to be done? I'm not going to wave a trilby before the trumpet, that's for sure!

CALL FOR HELP
Many years ago, I was an unofficial sales promoter for Hermann Ganter in Munich... as a thank you, he made me a special Bb cornet (yellow brass, lacquered) for my birthday, with a special engraving mentioning my name on the side of the bell.
Couple of years later, I fell onto hard times and had to sell lots of things to eat and survive. Amongst these things was that special cornet... which I sold to a fellow cornet player in the Munich Brass Band, an English lady called Alison (did never know anything more...), in the hope of recovering that cornet later, on the assumption that my tenure in that band would last many years... but I got an unexpected job quite far away and lost all contact with the band; when I returned to the band about 12 years later, it had completely re-formed and no one knew anything about a cornet player called Alison...
Now, I am in the position of having not only got my life back on track after a long period of... well, no details needed... but playing in a brass band again (www.pfw.at).
AND I WOULD LOVE TO FIND THAT CORNET AND BUY IT BACK, WHATEVER CONDITION IT IS IN NOW.
Details: Hermann Ganter Bb cornet, more or less medium bore, based on a Jupiter valve block. Yellow brass, lacquered; Maker's engraving on bell, dedicatory engraving mentioning my name, Elmar Eggerer, on the side of the bell.
Please feel free to share this around!

Don't know whether to file this under "humour" or "horror"... imagine a band that consists solely of accordions, banjos, saxophones and violas...

HERE IT IS. The Joseph A. Ferko Band of Philadelphia.

www.instagram.com/reel/CxyZvSWPaj7/embed/?autoplay=1

@austinmckenzie Apps can be very helpful indeed; but why don't you try some good, old-fashioned choir singing as well? That is just as effective, and fun as well.

At this point, I think I just have to chip in with the story of how I got hooked into big bands... 1993... I was a fairly competent amateur player with lots of experience in brass bands and wind bands, some orchestral stuff and already a vast repertoire of church stuff. No jazz experience whatsoever. Then, one Saturday morning, I got a phone call... a very Bavarian, very bearded voice at the other end...
"I've heard you're a trumpet player." -
"Yes?" -
"We are a big band." -
"Yes?" -
" You have a red shirt?" -
"Yeees??" -
"Free this afternoon?" -
"Yyeees?" -
"Be at the Saint Florian Restaurant at three." CLICK.

Spoof or truth? Well, the place was not too far away, so I collected everything I thought I might need... rotary Bb, rotary C and picc, black jacket and bow tie... (my usual church gig outfit) and went there.

In my innocence, I thought it might be just a short gig, with probably a third or fourth trumpet awol, possibly an hour's sight-reading of easy stuff, cash in and get out... "otherwise you don't hire a guy you don't know anything about four hours before a gig"...

What I found...

an Austrian wedding, and the band scheduled to play for the afternoon coffee break, then provide dinner music and continue to play for the dancing until dawn... the guy who had gone awol was the 1st trumpet, and they expected me to fully replace him for a whopping 16 hours or so... with a repertoire I had never seen or played before... I had to come clean about my big band experience so far, so trumpet #3 stepped up and I filled his place and managed to muddle through somehow... interestingly enough, they did not throw me out afterwards with catcalls and rotten eggs, but invited me in as full replacement for the now promoted #3. I stayed with that outfit for a full eleven years, playing another 196 weddings with them, 40-50 balls, and smaller gigs, numerous... have never been without a big band ever since.

Time now to retell the story about a Vienna counterfeiters gang... the boss, on his way out, orders the gang to "make hundred fifties". Accordingly, the two slushers on duty give it their best and produce a wonderful sample banknote for 150 Euros... proudly show it to their boss for approval and the go-ahead for more of the same... the boss goes berserk saying, "you utter numbskulls, there are no 150s!! What are we going to do with this? You wasted your and my time on this!! Next time, I'll have you fitted with concrete boots!" - "No fear, boss, we can get rid of this one in extra quick time... we just go to Burgenland and there we'll have it in circulation in a sec." - "Then go!!"
Accordingly, they get into their car and drive off. Shortly after Eisenstadt (the capital of the Austrian province of Burgenland), they stop at a small village tobacconist's, and conterfeiter #1 gets out to "buy a lighter for one euro, and pay with the 150 euro note". Gets out, disappears in the shop, returns beaming. "Went a treat. She gave correct change - two seventies and a nine!"

@dale-proctor My gig bag would not even fit... and I always travel with gig bag, mute bag, music stand and "divers gear" bag...
but then, I would not fit in a Miata, either...

@administrator Might be; but that is why it is not priced like a blue Martin Committee.

A couple of years back, one of these auction sites threw a trumpet at me... no discernible maker, but possible an Amati stencil for Conn. Good student horn. What drew me was the wonderful artwork... lacquered in dark blue and with an enamelled tipsy vulture complete with bottle on the bell. Got it for half a song.
And now, several years later, I've come to realize that I have absolutely no use for this splendid thing - can't use it in serious orchestra nor wind band nor big band... would be perfect for carnival bands or what the Swiss call " Guggemusik". Small chips in the paint, but nothing serious; clean valves with good compression; no signs of red rot. $ 200 plus packing and postage, world-wide, and if you can give me a convincing description of why you need a horn with a drunken vulture on it, I'll let it go for $ 150... some kind of case included.

@l-a-horn Agreed.

@l-a-horn In this case, they did not sponsor the dances but the band - those are big band music stands.

Just came across Valaida Snow... here's her take on Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher (with Cab and his orchestra!)

I've found a few hints...

www.trumpetherald.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1344869

www.brasshistory.net/Lockie History.pdf

www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/metro-lockie-music-exchange-trumpet-246893226

www.robbstewart.com/strucel-alto-trumpet

http://wwwtemp.rogerbobo.com/instruments/f_trumpet.shtml

It's a start, anyhow.

@dr-go Can you distinguish a difference?

@administrator a vacuum cleaner, originally produced by the Hoover company.

@kehaulani-0 Just goes to show you can never trust sax players... like that old joke: Why do sax players like to use the hoover so often?
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They think they are practising their sound quality!!

Prague is a hotbed of music of all descriptions. Small jazz bands at every second corner, community bands of all styles everywhere. Language might be a barrier, though.

Being a bit of a Buescher enthusiast, I'll start the bidding: $ 200 + shipping.