Posts made by Dale Proctor

@stumac said in Dry instrument vs Wet instrument:

This morning I played my1931 King Silver Tone trumpet for the first time in over 12months, the valves were free and smooth, I did not oil them (shame) and found as Dale the tone was dull and lifeless, after about 10 minutes of playing the tone was much improved and sounded more like me. I will try it again tomorrow after playing my usual horns.

I have not noticed this on any of my other horns that get played on a regular basis.

Regards,Stuart.

Thanks for the confirmation, Stuart.

@ROWUK said in Dry instrument vs Wet instrument:

Moisture! The speed of sound in moist air is different than in dry and in the microcosmos of the trumpet, that is a big deal. Intonation and targets change.
Granted, if one has minimal chops, other issues may mask the effect.
A „moist“ instrument is different than just running water through it first (although that does help some).

This is such a fundamental thing for me that I will not risk playing a gig on a dry trumpet (even although it is only dry for the first 10 minutes or so). When testing trumpets, the first 10 minutes do not count.

Thank you for the info and confirmation, sir!

@J-Jericho said in Dry instrument vs Wet instrument:

A good test would be to swab out the accumulated moisture from a horn you play on a daily basis, and try to detect a difference. Play. Swab. Play again.

I don’t think swabbing it would make it dry enough. It has to set up a while and really dry out.

Have any of you noticed that when you pick up a horn you haven’t played in months, it doesn’t seem to play as well as it should? Sort of unresponsive, maybe the tone is a little lacking, etc.? After you play it a bit, it seems to improve, and then if you keep playing another day or two, it seems back to “normal”? Does moisture have anything to do with it, or do you think it’s just a lack of recent familiarity with the horn (even though you’ve played it a lot in the past) that makes it seem sub par?

@OldSchoolEuph said in Books about Trumpets:

@Dale-Proctor said in Books about Trumpets:

Yes, I have a rotary valve cornet, and there are return springs. Not on the valves themselves, but springs are involved in returning the valve to the straight through position. I was just responding to the bad joke Dr. Go was making a few posts ago.

Allen valves. Every time I see one of these (given how remarkably well some of these antiques still play) it really makes me wonder about valve alignments being mostly placebo. . . .

Allen valves are cool, aren’t they? Very fast action from the small diameter rotor, too. Unfortunately, the valves have become pretty worn from all the playing I’ve done on it the past 25 years or so. The rotors appear to be made of bronze, and I don’t really want to alter the originality of the instrument by having a valve job done on it.

Yes, I have a rotary valve cornet, and there are return springs. Not on the valves themselves, but springs are involved in returning the valve to the straight through position. I was just responding to the bad joke Dr. Go was making a few posts ago.

@flugelgirl said in Books about Trumpets:

@Dale-Proctor said in Books about Trumpets:

@Dr-GO said in Books about Trumpets:

@IrishTrumpeter said in [Books about Trumpets](/post/13816

Guess that would exclude trumpets with rotary valves.

Rotary valve trumpets have springs, too - they just aren’t inside the valve case.

Some do, some are strung like French horn rotors, some have mechanical linkage without springs. Depends on age/ manufacturer

Don’t they all have a spring of some sort to return the valve?

@Dr-GO said in Books about Trumpets:

@IrishTrumpeter said in Books about Trumpets:

...I will look out for in it in the spring !

Guess that would exclude trumpets with rotary valves.

Rotary valve trumpets have springs, too - they just aren’t inside the valve case.

This is a very good one, and I think they can still be found.

I ditched the triangle...

According to the quiz, I’m melancholic. According to their definition, that’s pretty accurate.

1890 Besson cornet glamour shot.

I’ve whittled down my cornet collection to 4 keepers:

#1 - a circa 1870 Henry Lehnert SARV made of German silver, with Allen oval port valves.
#2 - an 1890 Besson (London) Nuevo Etoile, A/Bb/C, silver plated.
#3 - a 1962 Conn 9A Victor, with Coprion bell and leadpipe.
#4 - a 1993 large bore Bach Stradivarius 184G, with gold brass bell and “Stradivarius Deluxe” engraving.

@GeorgeB said in Trumpet Board Remote Performance:

@Dale-Proctor
Quite a feat, Dale. You have my deep, deep respect.

Thank you, George, for the kind remarks. It really wasn’t that difficult a thing to do, though. The music, while interesting, wasn’t that difficult to play once we were familiar with it. As I said before, the piece we played at the specified breakneck speed, with a relentless click track, was somewhat of a challenge and as I told a few others, you have to get tunnel vision on the chart and pay attention to nothing but the click track. There were no retards, holds, or anything else in that piece to watch the conductor for, so it was pedal to the metal.

I finished the last socially distanced recording session (that I mentioned earlier) tonight. Things were pretty tight on the last run-throughs and we got to go home a little early. It was about a 50 piece orchestra, and I’m surprised everything went as well as it did, especially on one piece that booked at 180 bpm - concentrate on the click track in the headphones and the chart, and don’t pay attention to anything else that’s going on. I’m anxious to hear the finished product.

@GeorgeB

Understood. I suppose your desire to play with a group is stronger than mine.

The first person that tells me my trumpet needs a mask will be looking for another trumpet player. At rehearsals, we already have to sanitize our hands and have our temps taken before entering the rehearsal room, in addition to wearing a face mask when not playing.

I saw this cool jazz trio on a walk through the neighborhood this morning. Can you dig it?

I’m currently involved in recording a virtual orchestral performance of Christmas music (some of it quite complicated) that will be broadcast locally in December. Playing along with a click track/backing track in headphones is a bit tricky, especially when there are holds and ritards in the piece. You have to listen to it and play along numerous times to be able to anticipate what’s happening. We’re doing multiple takes of the pieces, so the recording folks can hopefully piece together an acceptable product.

It’s also a useful technique to use when you have to come in on a pp note, especially after a significant number of rest measures.