Best posts made by Dale Proctor

A few more...

@N1684T said in Hello! Welcome to TB, who are you?:

Whats the name of the civil war movie?

AJ

American Drummer Boy. I played Eb cornet in two different scenes, one as a US bandsman marching through town and the other as a CS bandsman playing a ball in a mansion. The US segment showing the band was cut. Was in one other scene not playing, just walking down a road in a column of troops. Drove to Kentucky two different weekends for a per diem and $50 a day as an extra. Big money...lol

Old photo of Vinzenz Schrottenbach, aka Vincent Bach.

I think this photo shows the most I ever owned at one time.

Recently, I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a poor, humble man. The service was to be at a pauper’s cemetery in the middle of nowhere.

As I was not familiar with that area I used the Sat Nav, but the signal dissapeared and the road I was on didn't show on the map, so I got lost.

I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone, and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left. They had almost finished filling in the grave, and were having a break and eating lunch.

I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave and looked down at where the man lay.
I didn’t know what else to do, so I started to play.

The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends.

I played like I’ve never played before for this guy.

And as I played ‘Amazing Grace,’ the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, and we all wept together. When I finished, I packed up my cornet and started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full.

As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I've never seen anything like that before, and I’ve been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

Apparently, I was still lost.

I don’t think finger position on the valve buttons or in the pinky ring really matters, as long as it feels natural and doesn’t slow you down.

As for the instruments I own, “the one” is my 1962 Conn 9A Victor cornet. I looked for a nice one of these for years and finally found one. Beautiful sound, easy upper register, a powerful instrument. Huge .484” bore, Coprion bell and leadpipe, was made only a couple years.

Okay, time for all you Conn fans to show and tell about the great Conn trumpets, cornets, and/or flugelhorns you own, used to own, or played.

I’ll get it started with my favorite one, a 1962 Conn 9A Victor cornet. Pretty to look at, plays beautifully. Coprion bell and leadpipe, huge .484” bore. They were made only a couple years, so they are pretty rare, especially in this condition.

That’s a sad situation all the way around.

I played in this production with about 150 singers and a 50 piece orchestra at our church. Dress rehearsal was a week ago Wednesday, one performance Thursday, one Friday, three on Saturday, a church service Sunday morning, and the last performance Sunday night. About 10,000 free tickets were distributed, and the sanctuary was packed at every performance. BTW, the orchestra played 3 pieces as the crowd was coming in that aren’t part of the recording.

https://vimeo.com/895431905?fbclid=IwAR0TaKir1JG4zMpTTOfm2gX-qggf2se1iLXkpox3wHMvuuoQC6xCXx2BGTQ

@richard-iii said in King Silver Flair - Buying Advice:

Why wouldn't you put the horn back in the case when you are done playing?

He doesn’t want to put it back in the case, so he’s building a case to put it in...lol

My first horn was new King Cleveland cornet, around 1962. At the time I didn’t know any better, but it was a stuffy, hard to play instrument that was sold with a too-small mouthpiece. I’m fortunate that it didn’t discourage me from continuing to play. I was stuck with it for four years, and then got a used Conn 6B Victor trumpet, handing the cornet down to my younger brother. He did the same, and my youngest brother ended up with it. He still has it, so I’ve been able to play it again in recent years. What a terrible instrument!

For reference, here’s a pic of one exactly like it, same case too.

A few more...

Years ago, I received a frantic call from a choir director asking if I could fill in on 2nd part for a big, multi-performance Christmas extravaganza that was at its mid point. The 2nd trumpet had a meltdown the night before and quit. I said yes, and showed up the next day and sight read the book, which luckily wasn’t too complicated. I played 2 more performances after that, and received the same stipend as those who played the entire run of the show.

@masterwannabe

I paid $150 at a junk store for this ML 43…lol
(I added the case cover later, though)

Here’s one I used to own, a 1954 Conn 80A Victor cornet. I bought it mainly because it was an inexpensive (needed a few repairs) way to try one out. Nice instrument, sort of halfway between a cornet and trumpet, but I found I really didn’t have much of a use for it and eventually sold it. It’s pretty easy to achieve the same sound with a cornet or two that I already have just by using a C cup mouthpiece on them.

@BigDub
These are all photographs I took. In my opening comments, I asked people not to post photos they found on the internet, just ones they actually took themselves. I took most of them in the 1980s when I travelled a lot with my job. I literally have hundreds of them, but so far have managed to scan just a relative few, these mostly taken in Alabama.