Posts made by ButchA

I found my way back to playing Trumpet and Cornet all over again, after major, major, oral surgery, complete full dentures, etc... and re-learning how to play all over again.

Where there is a will, there is a way! It can be done!

Greetings everyone!

I am still around and haven't fallen by the wayside. COVID-19 really hit community bands hard, and NOBODY is out playing at all. No rehearsals either at with my Shriners Band here in town.

My trumpet and cornet haven't been neglected though, as I still practice on them, along with my other instruments.

How have you all been doing?

@GeorgeB

I haven't been active on this forum as much as I used to... I just read through this posting and hope and pray that you'll be okay and can get back into playing. There is no such thing as "age catching up". I always joke around with age numbers to take away any worry. If you are 83, then always think that you are 38 and you can still do everything you did at 38! On the other hand, I am 59, so in that case you just add the two numbers... 5+9=14. Okay, so I could be a 14 year old kid, playing trumpet in middle school!

I hope everyone is doing well during this crazy COVID-19 stuff. I haven't been driving my school bus since this all happened, back in March! Everything is shutdown. The Shriners Band is shutdown, the annual Oktoberfest is already canceled, etc...

George, I just wish you the best and hope you can regain your health!

Stay safe, everyone!

@GeorgeB

I know so many of those songs that you posted! Maybe (if you feel up to it) you could take a whack at "Vehicle" by the Ides of March. Remember this hit song from 1970? Everybody in HS Jazz Band has played this ever since!

I am off my school bus for 2 weeks, as they closed schools due to COVID-19. Nobody is going anywhere. The Shriners Band canceled everything until further notice. The "Grand Poo-bah" of the main Masonic Lodge (Grand Lodge of Virginia) has issued a directive or whatever, that everybody from all the Lodges, the Shriners, the Scottish Rite, etc... are to stay home. All fraternal activities are hereby canceled until further notice...
Wow!

Wow, what a beautiful trumpet!!

Update (Part II)...

Wow, what a mouthpiece! I just got home a few minutes ago from the Shriners Band rehearsal this evening (Monday night, Jan 13th)...

For whatever reason or another, Lord only knows... The other trumpet players were "no shows", leaving me as the sole trumpeter for tonight's rehearsal. Great, just great, thanks a lot guys!

You have to understand The Shriners Band from an organizational type of aspect. We are TINY compared to other "community bands"! We have to rely on "help" from guest musicians who are not Shriners to come and sit-in with us to help augment our sound! Honest and right from the heart? If you took away our guest musicians, we would be a concert band with only about 10 members at best!

Anyway, what I was getting at is, tonight for some reason, I was the only trumpet player at rehearsal. My buddy Ray also was in the same boat as the only clarinet player! Tonight, we only had 2 trombones, 1 euphonium, 1 tuba, 2 saxophones, 2 percussionists, me on trumpet, and Ray on clarinet. And of course, the director... 11 people all total.

I (obviously) had to play 1st trumpet all by myself, carrying the main melody along with Ray on 1st clarinet, and we held it together. I was up in the top of the staff for most of the evening, playing high G's, E's, F#'s, and holding a pair of high A's tied together at the end of one of the pieces.

THAT NEW BACH 10¾CW MOUTHPIECE ALLOWED ME TO PLAY FROM 7:00pm - 8:30pm WITH NO TROUBLE AT ALL! NO PRESSURE, NO PAIN, NO PROBLEMS WITH MY EMBOUCHURE! WOW....

Who would have thought... A simple change of a mouthpiece would totally save my a$$!! Thank you again, Newell Post, for the mouthpiece! I owe you big time!

I've been busy with a thousand other things as well. On top of that, I signed up for the annual Monument Ave 10k race this year, and have to seriously get my butt in gear and get out there jogging!

LOL... C cup with a W (wide) rim. Very, very, comfortable. It does take a little to get used to though, but once you get it figured out, it's great!

Wow... I owe a world of thanks to the user "Newell Post" for offering to sell me his Bach 10¾CW mouthpiece!

Tonight at the Shriners Band rehearsal (first time we got back together since December 9th at our Christmas concert), I showed off the Bach 10¾CW mouthpiece to my buddy Steve (1st chair trumpet - plays a Schilke 13A4a) and he took my Bach 10¾CW, wiped it all down, put it in his trumpet, and proceeded to go to town on it, from the very low G, up to the high C above the staff, and continued to D and E above the staff! Then he tried to descend back down, and "bottomed out" or something within the mouthpiece. He took it out, wiped it back off, and handed it back to me.

Anyway, what I learned is that one mouthpiece might work for you, but not someone else. Everyone has their own particular playing style and embouchure.

In closing, I had a very enjoyable evening tonight, and the best part was, I had no problems, no issues, no pressure on my upper denture plate, and best of all - no pain!

@J-Jericho said in SEASON'S GREETINGS:

@ButchA Methinks you're not a stranger to electric guitar. World class licks there, my friend!

Thank you... Yes, I picked up a guitar the same time I picked up trumpet. Probably for the past 50 years, both have competed for my attention.

Funny thing with the guitar (true story!) --- My sister Ginny had an old nylon string acoustic guitar in her room. I used to sneak into her room and doodle around on her guitar, trying to figure it out (no lessons, no knowledge). But one day my older sister Sue was blaring an old Cream album on her record player in her room. I heard the opening notes to "Sunshine Of Your Love", and somehow, someway, I figured out what Eric Clapton was playing on Ginny's nylon string guitar. Just then, she caught me red-handed, in her room, playing her guitar, and playing along with Eric Clapton's guitar lick -- without ever taking a lesson! I just remember her yelling at me, yanking her guitar out of my hands, smacking the {expletive} out of me, as she chased me out of her room!
...my parents soon bought me my own acoustic guitar, and the rest is history!

@GeorgeB said in SEASON'S GREETINGS:

He's pretty damn good on the violin, too.

Thank you! I will never be as good as my grandmother - she was a concert violinist in New York City back in 1914, 1915, and her violin is not only over 100 years old - it is priceless to me!

Here's a hilarious You Tube video I made once I plugged into the amp and started reading the owners manual. It's a BOSS KATANA ARTIST 1x12 massive 100 watt amp!

Warning: The last few amp settings are not for the faint of heart. You'll hear some vicious heavy metal guitar tones!

Not a problem... Glad you had a nice Christmas and played your trumpet. Jingle Bell Rock is always fun to play. We (the Shriners Band) play that all the time during Christmas concerts and during a chilly Christmas parade, riding in our float.

I spent the day (and evening) trying to figure out a new guitar amplifier. My wife, daughter, and son-in-law, all chipped in and got me a huge 100 watt guitar amp with so many bells & whistles on it, I have to read the owners manual! The best part is the main power output is switchable, so you won't blow the roof off your house, or cause the neighbors to call the cops, ha ha... It has a switch that goes from 100 watts to 50 watts to as little as 5 watts, so you could play with all the power and intensity of a live rock 'n roll concert, but it's only at 5 watts and at normal room volume. My wife loves that idea! ha ha ha...
It is one of those high tech, fully integrated, guitar amplifiers, where everything is built in. It even has a USB port of the back to connect to a computer and download sound settings to it! You can't simply pick up a guitar and plug in and start playing "That'll Be The Day" by Buddy Holly, with a simple volume, treble, bass controls. This thing has so many knobs, push buttons, switches, etc... I am still scratching my head, looking at it and saying, "wait a minute... WHAT?!?"

@GeorgeB said in SEASON'S GREETINGS:

@ButchA

I'll have one of those toxic rum balls...

@GeorgeB ,

I could check and see about sending a batch up to you. I don't know if they'd get intercepted by Canadian Post Office Customs though. LOL... Heck, they'd probably keep the package for themselves!

I made my "toxic rum balls" if anyone wants one! LOL...

Edit:
<disclaimer>
I am not responsible for any DUI's or anything like that. Do not drive, do not operate machinery, after you have a few of these!!!
</disclaimer>

Wow... I would never suspected Paul Anka to have "anger management issues"!

Anyway, Happy Holidays everyone!!

Hi George,

Thanks... I agree too. I plan on playing around on the 10.75CW for a while and see. One thing I found out right away... DO NOT mash the MP into your lips! DO NOT play with heavy pressure! You hardly will get any note out of the trumpet! It's an interesting type of MP where you need a light touch.

Anyway, I hope this is allowed on TB, but I also wrote over on TH and another player over on that forum asked about my dental work, issues, and how it affected my playing. So, I figured I'd share the whole conversation over here (cut 'n paste), in case anyone wanted to know. In a nutshell: Ice hockey and trumpet playing don't mix! ha ha ha...

Hey Butch,

How have the dental issues affected playing? Did the playing cause the dental issues or did you have dental issues and now need to find a new way to play?

Well... It's a long story... Back when I was stationed in Boston, MA during my USCG days, a few buddies and I would go out and play amateur ice hockey off base after hours -- just common "pick up games" with assorted people who wanted to play too. Anyway, I played right wing and remember Marty (defense) passing the puck up to me along the boards. I just remember skating as fast as I could while looking ahead to the left to Billy (center) to pass the puck to him to try and score a goal. But, I wasn't watching where I was going and crashed head-on into the defenseman on the other team. We both fell onto the ice, and out of sheer dumb luck, I landed on his hockey stick with my face. I don't remember much, but just laying there face down on the ice in a pool of blood and teeth. Yup, I lost all my front teeth from eye tooth to eye tooth, even busting an eye tooth in half, and partially fracturing my nose. They shoved a towel in my face, and got me to the hospital for x-rays. Long story short - they got me all cleaned up, and fixed me up with front partial, then later they made a permanent front bridge. All these decades later, due to age or whatever, the front bridge broke in two while I was eating something hard (I can't remember, maybe a Jolly Rancher or something), and I heard a loud ka-bang in my mouth, and both sections of the bridge were loose! Well, here we go again... A few years ago, the oral surgeons, endodontists, etc... said, "Uh, sorry, the time has come... You have to take the plunge and get an upper denture plate". So, to close out this long winded story, they did all the work in various stages, and after molds and impressions, they made me a complete upper denture plate. It took me quite a while to relearn trumpet, rework my embouchure, etc... and it's a true miracle that I can still play!

I had a few lessons from a real good friend and fellow Shriner (who also plays Euphonium with the Richmond Pops) and on the side, he gives private music lessons to school band students. Well, he worked with me on my embouchure, and taught me how to make a "frown" and use my diaphragm more. It made a world of difference, and I can pretty much play up to the high "C" and no more with very little pressure on the MP.

Endurance is the main thing that I am after. I need comfort, along with the ability to play song after song after song for 45 minutes straight before a break.

Here's another video that I just made with my 3 mouthpieces. All I am doing is a basic Bb scale, double octave, up to the "high C". I am no expert, but you can clearly hear a difference between the mouthpieces.

I am also doing the scale one handed, to avoid any type of pressure or anything with the mouthpiece(s) against my embouchure.

Edit: My own personal opinion: The most easiest, most comfortable mouthpiece, was the Bach 10¾CW. I felt like I had no pressure, no straining, no anything, to do the double Bb scale to the "high C".

In review:
Bach 10¾CW - arguably the easiest MP to play both low and high without any straining.
Bach 3C - a fantastic MP with a full sound, but after the high A, I start straining.
Curry 3M. - a really amazing, custom, MP that is (according to Mark Curry) in between a 3C and a 3D. I went right up to the high C with minimal straining.

Honest? Seriously... Uh...

I practice only a few days a week, and only for maybe a 1/2 hour at max. I hate to say it, especially on a great trumpet forum like this, but I am more of a rock guitarist than anything.

I started trumpet in 4th grade at around age 10 or 11, and also picked up a guitar around the same time. Both instruments competed with each other, and still do to this day.

@GeorgeB ,

Thanks... Endurance is my biggest thing right now. I feel like I just don't have the chops that I used to. Right now, an easy experiment with a different diameter rim (along with the massive, wide rim shape), might prove to be a good answer.

What's funny is I don't care for the ubiquitous Bach 7C that everyone and their brother has played. The rim itself feels too narrow, like a french horn mouthpiece or something. The whole size, depth, diameter, of the 7C just turns me off.

So far I like the comfort and ease of playing with the 10¾CW mouthpiece. Once I fiddle around with it some more and get used to it, I am quite sure I will have no problems. The other option is to really consider the Wedge MP, but I don't understand how it works, how it gets all assembled, etc...