Posts made by Dale Proctor

Hope you all have a happy and safe upcoming 4th, even those of you in other countries. Here’s a photo I took a number of years ago that is appropriate.

@GeorgeB said in Caring for Silver Plate Horns:

@Dale-Proctor

Yeah, my horns are always on display on stands in the music room. But I now have a satin cover that just slips over the two silver horns . Hey, they are pretty and I like to look at them...

What brand of silver polish are you using ?

Wright’s liquid silver polish. This trumpet is 44 years old, and I’ve played (and polished) it for the 40 or so years I’ve owned it. No silver loss from polishing, but a little wear where I’ve held it.

I use a very mild liquid silver polish on a soft cloth. Do you leave your silver plated horns out of their cases when you’re not playing them? If so, they will tarnish much faster than if they’re in a closed case. I keep mine in their cases and don’t have to polish them but every year or two.

@administrator said in Railroad Photography:

I bought a CNC machine. I wonder if I could sell CNC made toy trains. Seems like it could be a hit.

I don’t know. Trains are so...19th century, you know?

I used to be into building custom HO gauge locomotives, but I got that out of my system...

This one ran on a local line back in the early 1980s.

@veery
I had an old 5A refurbished a number of years ago, and since I had given up on ever finding a 9A, I had the bell copper plated inside and out as part of the overhaul. After I found the 9A, I sold my custom 5A. Here’s a pic of it - it’s the cornet In the center.

Have any of you ever seen one of these mouthpieces? It’s a G. LeBlanc “Kenny Baker” signature model cornet mouthpiece. I picked it up on eBay years ago, but could never find any info on it. It plays nice, with a mellow edge to the sound, if that makes any sense.

@GeorgeB said in 1962 Conn 9A Victor cornet:

Dale, I have a 1962 5A Victor and really love it. What is the difference between the 5A and the 9A ?

Basically just the bell and leadpipe material. The 9A has a Coprion bell and leadpipe, while the 5A has a brass bell and nickel leadpipe. The 9A has a more mellow sound than the 5A, but otherwise, they play very similarly. The 9A is the rare one, though, only having been made for 2 or 3 years. The 5A isn’t too common, either, but it was made for 10 years or so. Both are really good cornets.

@adc
These cornets have the same top-sprung valves and valve block as the Connstellation. It’s probably one of the best cornets Conn ever made. Big, rich sound, easy upper register, great intonation, full lower register. It’s a bit heavy, and has extensive bracing, a much more substantial instrument than the Director, and does have a slightly different wrap. Coprion bell and leadpipe, it was made only a couple years. The non-Coprion version, the Conn 5A Victor, is also a fine cornet (I used to have one). It was made for a much longer time, but has a slightly brighter tone than the 9A.

Took a few pics today. We live on a mountain, so our “gardening” tends to favor the natural.

Ah...ain’t retirement great!

A few new glamour shots of a rare instrument...
...click on the photos for higher resolution...

@Dr-GO said in Vernacular (of range):

@OldSchoolEuph said in Vernacular (of range):

@Vulgano-Brother said in Vernacular (of range):

@Dr-GO, in contemporary German brass-lingo we called a double high C a "C5," (B4 concert pitch) and the pedal C a "C1."

I have trouble looking at anything other than what I am hearing...That 1 step offset from what I am hearing just makes me crazy.

I have this problem with playing a C trumpet. Is it just me or does anyone else have this trumpet dyslexia where I just cannot play a C trumpet for the life of me as the fingerings are just not matching with what my ears wants to hear.

After playing a few notes on the C trumpet, I have no trouble at all with what I see vs what I hear, probably because they are fairly close. Picking up an Eb trumpet requires a little more acclimation, though, because of the disparity between the written music and the expected sound. Still, getting into an Eb groove isn’t too difficult.

I was recently asked to participate in a pops/patriotic brass band concert as part of a Monday night concert series in a local park on July 6. No rehearsal, band members seated 6’+ apart. Should be interesting if it actually happens.

That said, I haven’t been motivated to practice much during the past few months of shutdown, so now I’m playing catchup to get back into shape by then. Second cornet, so that will be a little easier...

Pic from a previous concert - that’s mine on the left.

@OldSchoolEuph said in Vernacular (of range):

@Dale-Proctor said in Vernacular (of range):

Well, I’d call the E and F at the bottom of the staff low E and F, since there are none lower on the trumpet (at least naturally). That would make the E and F at the top of the staff middle E and F. From there upward, the notes would be high F#, G, A, B, C, D, E, and F, with the doubles beginning with F# again. Maybe that’s arbitrary, but there’s a bit of logic to it.

When I was in good shape (as a low brass player, and in bass clef), while I could get notes a little higher and a little lower, I basically had a controlled 4 octave range bounded by 5 Fs. By your system, there would not be a single "double-" in my controlled range. So I would have high F, F, Low F, ---something----, and then pedal F. Seems like I am missing a label.

...but I was talking treble clef trumpet...

About 7 years, beginning after high school. The small university I attended had no music program other than choral, so I went those 4 years + 3 more without playing, mainly because of no opportunities. I then joined a local concert band someone told me about, and worked my chops back into shape by starting out on last chair and after a few years, playing the 1st solo part.

Well, I’d call the E and F at the bottom of the staff low E and F, since there are none lower on the trumpet (at least naturally). That would make the E and F at the top of the staff middle E and F. From there upward, the notes would be high F#, G, A, B, C, D, E, and F, with the doubles beginning with F# again. Maybe that’s arbitrary, but there’s a bit of logic to it.

It’s pretty easy to keep straight - Dr. Mark used to be on “go” all the time, but now he’s gone. Dr GO is the board’s comedian.

@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.

A few more...

@veery said in Railroad Photography:

First one reminds me of BigDub's paintings.

Me too. That’s why I led off with it.