Posts made by Bob Pixley

I suppose this is vintage - it’s 44 years old. 1976 Bach Stradivarius ML 43. It’s my go-to trumpet, great instrument.

1968 Conn 22B Victor, raw brass, dime added in the 3rd valve cap for slotting...

Conn short cornets, left to right - 1962 9A Victor, 1969 76A Connquest, 1962 5A Victor (custom).

My favorite memory of playing a community band concert occurred about 40 years ago. The band was so-so for the most part, and during an outdoor concert in a city park, the piece we were playing (I don’t remember what it was) fell completely apart about halfway through. The conductor gave us an abrupt cutoff, and then yelled out “Letter D!”. We started there and finished the piece to a big round of applause...

1962 Conn 5A Victor with copper plated bell.

@Mike-Ansberry

https://oldsbrass.com/domain.com/trumpet/olds77/customeb.jpg

The first one looks like either an Eb or D trumpet. The second one looks just like my 1890 Besson A/Bb/C cornet. The third one looks like scrap metal.

SOLD

Late 1960s Conn 22B Victor Bb trumpet. Raw brass, all slides and caps free, valves in nice condition. A few minor dings and evidence of bell buffing, but a good solid trumpet that plays well. Small .433 bore, pretty easy upper register, cuts well - I used it in a big band for years. It comes with a so-so generic hard case, no mouthpiece.

Asking $125 +$35 shipping to the lower 48 states. PayPal only, no international shipping.

1929 Conn 22B New York Symphony model Bb/A trumpet with accessories.

1890 F. Besson London Nouveau Etoile model A/Bb/C cornet.

Circa 1870 Henry Lehnert SARV Bb cornet, made in Philadelphia, German silver, Allen rotary valves.

@Comeback said in Fast Tempo and old farts:

Best wishes for your rehearsal tonight, George. Please let us know how it goes. I have been following your thread with interest since we two old farts struggle with the same challenge when it comes to fast passages with lots of little notes. My rehearsal last night was a mixed bag. Enough bright spots to keep me encouraged but disappointments as well.

There was some humor in last nights rehearsal too. During one piece the MD stopped and quizzed the trumpet section - he was concerned about balance across the section. He asked “How many of you are playing third?” I responded that three of us were. “How many on second?” There were four. Finally, “How many on first? Fifteen? Figures...” There were actually six, but the MD’s questions and comment drew lots of laughs in the moment. Anyway, the upshot was that we thirds were encouraged to play out, which was fun.

Jim

So there were 13 trumpets. With a more or less stable group where the majority show up regularly, you need 3 or 4 on first, 4 on second, and the rest on third, with at least one or two strong players on each part. What usually happens is all the better players gravitate toward the front of the line, but each part is important and needs strong support.

@Kehaulani

The engraving is the stock Bach pattern, done by Sherry Huntley, who was the Bach engraver, but she did it for me independently after I bought the instrument because I couldn’t find a dealer willing to do the special order for me. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Here’s an old pic of it right after I received it back from her.

@bobmiller1969 said in Strad vs Zeno/Neo:

@Bob-Pixley beautiful horn! Love the engraving.

Thanks. It’s the optional “Stradivarius Deluxe” factory pattern. Sort of an old school look, along with the custom brass finger buttons Mark Curry made for me.

Man, I was at a jazz festival years ago and stayed at the same hotel as a lot of the performers. Late on Saturday night, a jam session erupted in the lobby, and went on for hours. Brian Lynch was one of the group, and I sat down there right in front and drank it all in till about 3 in the morning. That guy was phenomenal !

I have a large bore Bach 184G cornet. It’s a very nice instrument with a great core to the sound. It’s kind of pretty, too...

Just practice it at the fastest speed you can do it correctly and gradually increase the speed. As others have said, muscle memory should take over if the tempo exceeds your ability to read the music. If it's a physical hand/finger issue, then it may not get significantly better with that approach.

We played a quintet with percussion arrangement of Liberty Bell as our final number at an outdoor concert a few years ago. No playing under the radar there...lol