Posts made by barliman2001

Seems that in the coming years, I will be doing lots of Brahms (and contemporaries) on 2nd trumpet... at least eight times per year, with suitable rehearsal periods, in quite a few very interesting locations; now many of those original 2nd trumpet parts were written for trumpet in F, and I really don't like the idea of playing them with a modern instrument - especially as I don't like transposing, and in many cases there are no transposed Bb parts avalaible.
Does anone here know of a viable - playable! - F trumpet that might become available in the very near future? First gig would be in October...

All the best for our recovery!
Having recently suffered a minor stroke, I know what it is to lie around in hospitals... a good cure during rehab was seeing all those other patients who had been hit far harder than me.

From day one, I had my pocket trumpet with me to practise; unfortunately without a mute. I then ordered Thomann's own brand warm-up mute which did the job. Nice, small, and well intonated, it surprised me as being better than the Wick... can only recommend it.
As to sound reduction: Quite a few nurses encouraged me to play, seeing my horn. And were very astonished when I told them that I was working on Arban up to two hours per day. No one outside my room had noticed...

https://www.thomann.de/gb/thomann_compact_warmup_trumpet_mute.htm

@barliman2001
Pistoia, 2022

With the Vienna Klezmer Orchestra in Lviv/Ukraine

Playing Repiano Cornet with the Vienna Boy Scouts' Band

Playing a large-scale ball in Munich, with my main big band (www.bbmf.de)

@administrator There are amateur orchestras aplenty, with very different standards. And there are amateur orchestra projects that differ even more widely. On the top end, there are companies out there offering orchestra projects for amateurs to join, with top-class coaches and conductors (I've booked my next project already, in Sicily in April www.dacapo-travel.eu), in exciting locations, with warmth and good food thrown in (http://www.musicandoitaly.com/en/stageitaly.html). These are highl recommendable as they offer real musical class and the chance of being a member of a high quality orchestra (many of the people attending these are retired professionals). I've been attending such workshops for some years now, and have found new friends (amongst them the former Principal Trumpet of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra) and played in very special settings... pics to follow...

@administrator If you think of coing over and making a living off music - forget about it. The few paying jobs there are will usually go to the local guys, with the proper hive smell about them.
Covid-19 killed off many venues and chances for paid music, and now inflation is smothering the rest. Why are there currently so many good musical instruments for sale online? Yes, it's because professionals are selling their instruments or at least their backups just to eat and stay warm.
As for mere playing opportunities - if you don't want money for it, still plentiful. Many bands out there welcoming players for a sit-in. If you want to try this - welcome.

Very much depends on WHERE in Europe...

Still in fairly common use in Austrian wind bands...

As always, ROWUK has hit the nail on the head...

I can only reiterate that purpose-made multifocals are a blessing, especially if you are playing in different settings and different-size orchestras. IMHO, single-strength reading glasses are ok if you are always in the same group, with a fixed distance between you and your music, the conductor not too distant and some rhythm section giving you a beat to follow... but in a large symphony orchestra, with the conductor miles away and some music without stirring beat, things can become complicated... I am currently practising for my April programme with the Filarmonici di Cefalu in Sicily... at least 95 of an orchestra, and the starting piece, Wood Notes by William Grant Still, is a flirring piece of ethereal music, parts of it sounding like a 3/4 measure but written as a 4/4... that's when you really need to look closely at the conductor.

(BTW, a few string seats in the orchestra are still open, so if you know someone, please ask them to look at www.dacapo-travel.eu)

@Trumpetb I think the only way of getting the entertainment monopolies broken is to respectfully find a way round the rules... seven years ago, it was hospitl policy not to allow anyone out after therapy hours. I simply told them that for me, playing music was part of my therapy, and denying me the chance to do so was endangering the overall success of the therapy. I finally threatened to leave that rehab and consult with the national press, and then got my leave of absence. Next day - a holiday - I was out and about gigging the whole day, with most of hospital staff in the audience...

There's one for sale right now, see Classifieds

@Trumpetb This kind of Disney policy is nothing but self-centred dictatorship. Several times I've had my trumpet - even if only a pocket trumpet - with me on cruises, and every time I was invited to sit in with the ship's orchestra. Even during my recent rehab, I had my pocket trumpet with me and was invited to play with the hospital orchestra... seven years ago, during a rehab, I was invited to sit in with the local big band in defiance of hospital rules... th orchestra won, and the hospital changed its rulebook. (See picture; I'm the guy in the black shirt...)
Boycott Disney for being the entertainment monopolists that they try to be...

@Mike-Ansberry-0 Some rotaries have tuning slide triggers.

@thornybob THANK YOU for coming out and being so open about it. Very much appreciated.

Dangerous musical exploit: BANJO JUMPING!

@barliman2001 here shown with my new Brand 1C winter mouthpiece and the Thomann Warm-Up Mute (really excellent as a practice mute does not change resistance too much and does not affect intonation at all. Am using it daily here in rehab, and no one has yet complained in three weeks of use.

AND HERE ARE THE PICS:

A year or two back, I discovered an almost-like-new LA Olds Recording in Votruba's in Vienna. Had been there for quite some time... they were only too happy to take my UMI Benge 7 for it (decent horn, but I somehow never got to grips with it), because the Benge was normal style and the Recording's Balanced style just did not catch on in Vienna... now, it's my main big band axe. Serial # 1018xx, dating it to approximately to 1954... so far, I always played it with a Bach Megatone 1C, but yesterday, I ordered a Swiss Brand Turbo 1 1/2 C in blue transparent plastic. got it today, delivered directly into my room in the rehab clinic - Thomann are great! - and it went from wonderful to spectacular... the new mouthpiece somehow released another half octave in range... and it does sound great, even though it is rather lightweight. And it's so warm on the lips - I am due to play with a local brass group on New Year's Eve, outside, and that mouthpiece was ordered for that purpose - in the hope that Thomann would only deliver it in the New Year, giving me an excuse to back out... great service!
Would love to post a few pics, but my phone is not on speaking terms with my laptop just now...

and of course there is the transposing method of liesering...

The only thing I did at Christmas was to tag round the rehab clinic with the local ruffians (officially "students of logopaedia nd music therapy")... a four-part choir that managed to sing at least nine parts in three different keys, two guitars that had not been tuned to each other, a mouth organ and five recorders... I am really ashamed to have been seen with those...