Posts made by Dr GO

@BigDub said in Kanstul:

@Dr-GO bully

No... Just hungry!

@Doc-Wannabe said in top trumpets:

@Kehaulani

It really looks like he did a review of all the trumpets available to him at the local music store.

I respect that he took a shot trying to become a trusted instrument review source but damaging credibility is not a good first step

Reading their site, they are experts in nothing. They review juicers, cars, clothing... They also claim they make their choices based on customer feedback, with less then 2 minute feedback review per customer AT BEST. They did not play these trumpets. Much less than being trumpet players, I doubt they are even musicians. They are a team of biased "researches: that couch their data into the best results for royalties they get from the companies from which they "contract".

And then look at the Team:

Daniel's grin says it all: These readers are SO gullible.
Linsay the Editor: Really Daniel, you think the readers will believe this? Ok I guess if you bribe me with another Hershey's Bar!
Melinda the Web Producer: Oh yeah, you're all giving me another blonde joke.... OK I'll show you.... I'll publish it

Then there's Eliza the Production Manager: Hey wait, she's hot!

AND Here is a clip from the sites "How we do it" Page:

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
V

Clearly they are comparing apples to oranges

And then let's do the math: Here is the site's ANALysis summary (Rowuk's spelling):

So if you JUST interviewed the Consumers for the "7 hours" of research, you get:

7 hr x 60 min/h = 420 min; 420 min/152 consults = 2.7 min/consult.
Then there is that 1 expert. OK maybe they gave that person at least a minute... so that leaves 1.7 minutes for the others.

Conclusion: The ANALysis is as accurate as the time spent in going over the data

@Kehaulani said in top trumpets:

Top trumpets. What a douch bag.
https://reviews.thedailymeal.com/reviews/best-trumpets

More like a bias bag. Look at their disclaimer:

We may earn a commission if you purchase a product through our links.

Any one wants to bet Yamaha pays the largest commission and likely the higher volume. This analysis has a high risk rating due to the conflict of support bias.

@BigDub said in A little humour:

@Vulgano-Brother said in A little humour:

"Sing a scale," said my teacher, years ago.
I sang "do re mi fa sol la ti do."
"At least you got the words right," he said.

Well, it’s so, not sol. Sorry. Almost right.

It right if you are a jazz singer and your sing it as soul!

Shifty.

Thanks for your comment. Dayton is making a change and for the good. There is a real resurgence to try to get people downtown once again. There has been much rebuilding with many housing units, brown stone style, that are bringing many more residents into the downtown area. There is the 5 Rivers Metro Park, 5/3 Field (Home of the Dayton Dragons), the Shuster Center (home for our symphony and many national acts), and now the Levitt Pavilion that provides free concert venues (many national acts) to Dayton. This is the first year that Levitt is home to the Dayton Jazz Festival:

https://levitt.org/dayton

@BigDub said in Kanstul:

I don’t know, but usually I brought my lunch to school...

Then I would eat it!

Any members playing Jazz Festivals are encouraged to let us all know. If in the area, this may get our members to come out and support our TB family.

AND by coincidence, The Eddie Brookshire Quintet will be playing the Dayton Jazz Festival on Sunday, June 9th at the brand new Levitt Pavilion right in the heart of Dayton, across the street from the Dayton Convention Center and on the grounds of the Crowne Plaza. We start at 7:30 pm.

https://www.daytonlocal.com/festivals/dayton-jazz-festival.asp

Oh yes. Forgot to mention, I also "tricked" out my Ambassador. Here it is as re-created by me (with the help of Tom Green):

The Olds Ambassador is considered a "student" horn. So with that said, of out of my other Olds "professional" horns, Super Recording, Recordings (LA and Fullerton), my Ambassador is my favorite of the group.

Will I argue that the Ambassador is not a student horn... No. I believe Olds evolved the Ambassador to be just that. The valves feel a bit light in response, the slotting is not as crisp, and the sound not as bright. But all of those characteristics I prefer. The Ambassador is more like my Committe than it is like my other Olds. And that is what I like about this horn. I love the loose slot! It has a darker, smoother sound than my other Olds, and I just gravitate to that sound characteristic. I have less resistance in the upper range with the Ambassador than the Recordings, but I have got to admit, the Super Recording does play itself in the upper range, but again more on the brighter side.

So for student horns, the Ambassador is a solid contender. It is a student horn, but for me, it gives me the performance OVERALL than my other Olds horns. AND if you want to check out a "professional" on this horn, here is the Ambassador played on this recording:

@JorgePD said in Range Improvement:

at the end of January started Skype lessons with Bruce Haag, a long time student of Claude Gordon, who has worked with many older comeback players (I’m 62) like myself.

Over the last 3 months I’ve diligently followed Bruce’s lesson plans and my workable range is up to a high C. Not an earth shattering improvement...

Bruce Haag is amazing. I know him personally and he sold me my current Kanstal flugelhorn. He was Elvis Presley's trumpet player in Vegas. ALSO earth shattering is NEVER an experience I ever had. Bruce will teach you a natural earth revolving way to improve. Stick with Bruce. You will continue to develop.

@BigDub said in A little humour:

Seen today in Horseshoe Bend, Idaho.
Pretty clever.

@BigDub said in A little humour:

YUmmmmm..... DISFIGURED Finger licking good!

Yes. Classic. But here is a song, not jazz at all, that you RARELY hear. 7/4. Michael McDonald singing Oh Holy Night. This just blows my mind with the rhythm complexity yet when sung my Micheal, sounds so beautiful and flows flawlessly:

Reading the above two comments, I agree with so much that has been stated, and feel that each person's success at achieving a desired range will be a unique path traveled by each and every one posting, but with some commonly shared way stations along this path.

My common experience: "If you wanted to improve your mile time, you wouldn't wake up one morning and decided to gain a minute. It doesn't work that way. Why would instrument playing be any different?" So true. My travels to increasing range came over time with lot's and lot's of practice time, to where I found (for me) to advance and even more importantly, maintain, I HAVE to practice at least an hour a day, with an optimal daily goal of 1.5 hours. This is the only way to develop and maintain muscle (lips, chest, abdomen) to get there. Just working on the horn for that hour and a half, I met my first goal of having a full sounding (strong and hit solidly greater than 95% of the time) C above staff to the F above that one upon graduating college. I needed that full strength and certain F to meet the demands of lead parts I was given in Graduate School. With the above practice time and rehearsing the charts from the band judiciously, I achieved that solid F within 6 months. My "method book" were the charts I used.

I was happy with that range for many years (1970 - 2004) that followed and had no reason to add to it... so didn't.

Then I joined a demanding quintet in 2004. No real "lead playing", but the original charts written by several of the band members were DEMANDING. Not demanding in going higher than G (one note above my solid F) but hanging above staff to about the range of E for over half of the duration of many of the charts. Just working on those tunes, and within months of rehearsing the band, playing two 4 hour gigs a week (on nights I did not practice) developed lip muscle I never intended to achieve. It was not really a conscious work routine, just playing really cool tunes that were highly motivating to play got me to a whole new level.

Fast Forward After about another 6 months of playing with this quintet, the quintet leader was insisting I share the lead part with his jazz orchestra, a position I really no longer aspired to doing after I played lead in Graduate School. But I highly respected this leader and amazingly found that I had a solid A when some of his big band charts had that note written in. Suddenly, I was hitting that note strong and solid at the 95% level. And you know at that point I found out, I could never miss that G below the A anymore. So then I set my goal to double high C so I could octave up from standard charts. Why? Because I wanted to see if I could do it (not that I had to do it).

So I started using the Cat Anderson method, and lip slur exercises in the high range given to me by a friend. Within a year, the double high C was strong at 95%. ANY NOTE below that is now nothing. It is the same feeling I have when weight lifting. Getting to 210 lbs took 2 years, and now I lift 210 every day, and it hurts, but that 180 lbs is like nothing to lift, and it took me a year just to get to that 180 lbs. And oh yes, I lift weights for an hour and a half a day, working on chest and abs and YES during the time I was going for the double high C. I found having such exhalation muscle reserve from this weight lifting routine ALSO had some effect on providing a scaffolding that assisted in supporting the 95% double high C, I learned that with the lower airway support, I could relax the embouchure. Relaxing. That opened up everything.

So now, do I use that high range regularly? Yes but in a different way from lead playing. I use it with nearly every song, I play in a small group ensemble near the climax of the solo, but do this as a quick phrase run and WITH AS LOW VOLUME as I can, to make it sing, not scream. Having this range under my belt has given me confidence to open up an improvisational execution of phrasing that I can do on a whim at any moment I choose it will work well into a solo. It has given me a performance voice that makes my sound unique.

All these years of playing, an working. I achieved confidence, not range, which was NEVER my original goal.

This is why I have created the saying: "Practice makes perfect, but nobody's perfect, so why practice?"
The answer to that question is: One should NEVER settle on perfection, as once you THINK you have achieved perfection, you have shorted yourself at going beyond perfection!

Blaine.... I will be there at this Jam Session in Loveland this afternoon. I will have my Harrelson with. This is your chance to see AND play it!!!!

@Kehaulani said in Jazz Jams in Dayton:

@Dr-GO
I'll start on an etiquette note.

Go to the first session without your horn. Listen.
Hear the level, observe the protocols carried out by the regulars.
Meet participants in a non-competitive ambiance. Just network and eventually ask what you need to do to join in, next time.

Maybe others have other suggestions for jam session participation.

Go to the first session without your horn. Listen.
This is a nice Etiquette suggestion for the first time performer. This session is a bit more formal than some, where the leader (Kelly Campbell) has a bound notebook where she has musicians sign in so she can make sure all musicians have a chance to play in in combos that should blend well together.

Hear the level, observe the protocols carried out by the regulars.
Another excellent recommendation. One can really get X-ed out if protocols are ignored. It is tacit knowledge to some extent but these sessions help develop that essential tacit knowledge angle as well.

Meet participants in a non-competitive ambiance. Just network and eventually ask what you need to do to join in, next time.
Essential. This assures acceptance and optimizes the invitation to play in the combination/set up that will assure your continued interaction with the process.

My Personal Notes on this particular Performance
These individuals are my peeps. I have played with all seen in the video in some form or another for YEARS so we all know each other well. Just prior to this particular cut, I was innocently sitting at the bar sipping on an exquisite dark beer (brewed locally in Yellow Springs [Dave Chappelle an John Legend country] called Bush League), when the piano player (that was called to lead this particular jam), recruited me from the bar saying he needed assistance and would I oblige to do the honors to play the lead in head to "Freddy the Freeloader", at which I graciously accepted the invitation knowing the beer would be greeting me back on my return.

Also, being aware of the audience is important. I hate standing with my back toward people in the audience. Unfortunately in this room, where the band is set up in mid club against a wall, there is little chance to be in front of all the audience. I chose to stand where I did (also a part of etiquette to use the room wisely) with the two people to my back being "on deck" musicians. There was an audience to my left (where there are three large picture windows and quit a few metal rafters), and in my right was the crux of the crowd. I decided to aim my glance to the majority, but to play into the concrete floor so the sound would bounce back up into the rafters (as well as not to blow into the faces of the majority of he crowd), such that sound would filter through the metal rafters to the crowd to the front of the room.

KEHAULANI... THANKS so much for bringing out the educational components of these posts. This is what will make TB a great place to visit. Highly instructional. Again, Many Thanks!!!

@Kehaulani said in Jazz Jams in Dayton:

@Dr-GO
This is an excellent opportunity and implies wider participation and questions/solutions.

It is and it is a good way to connect with many others. I got an offer to play in another band from my entire evenings performance.

Getting Ready to play at Mila's Suburban Cafe