Posts made by Dr GO

@Kujo20 said in Trumpets Made ONLY by Their Maker:

I was under the impression that Flip Oakes designed his horns, but Kanstul did the building... someone correct me if I’m wrong.

Obviously that may be changing if Kanstul doesn’t come back.

Kujo, I believe you are right. On reading his site he states his production is on hold but that he had plenty of inventory in stock and appears there is some arrangements in future production. This is what his website actually states:

*Many of our friends have been asking what the cessation of new orders at Kanstul Musical Instruments will mean for Flip Oakes Wild Thing Trumpets.

We want to assure you that it is our plan to continue to provide the highest quality trumpets, cornets and flugelhorns to the community of players who have enjoyed playing the Wild Thing Trumpet and our other instruments over the years.

We currently have instruments in our inventory, and are exploring all options for a successful transition amid changes in the industry.

We also have a plan to expand our line with a new series of trumpets — so stay tuned!

Thanks as always for your support, and please feel free to contact Flip with any questions at flip@flipoakes.com.*

@Tobylou8 said in Kanstul -- Any News?:

Tubas are gone for sure.

Tubas or not Tubas, That is the question!

@Bay-Area-Brass said in Jazz Trumpet Family Tree - Find Your Branch:

I would add that Eddie Henderson also had a whole lot of Miles in his playing, and Donald Byrd in the late '60's/early 70's had some Miles too-in particularly when he used an echoplex. Pretty good list though-I think it's generally assumed that Louis Armstrong is at the top influencing everyone.

I agree, Eddie Henderson is on the tree and comes off the Freddie Hubbard branch. I love Eddie Henderson's playing and his versatility. If he had not been added already, I would have had a hard time placing him due to his fusion influence. And then I heard a more recent recording he did as a tribute to Woody Shaw, and until I heard it was Eddie recording a Woody tribute, I would have bet you anything it was Woody playing. Until then, I did not think it was possible for anyone to have that amazing sound of Woody Shaw. Then there is Eddie's own sound that comes out strong on Kenny Barron's Spirit Song Album:

Also known in the Jazz world as "doc", Eddie has an MD, and initially did a residency in internal medicine only to realize his calling was psychiatry. He practiced as a psychiatrist for a bit before focusing nearly entirely on music performance. Would love to have him to contribute to our Medical Concerns section on this Website. Actually, I would LOVE to do a music and medicine session with him at the medical schools I am affiliated with!

And I think it goes without saying, Louis is at the top looking down and smiling at all of his creation.

By the way Bill, I would like to add you to that tree. At which branch shall I place you?

Terry Warburton that got his start making mouthpieces now makes amazing trumpets, and is the exclusive craftsman that assembles these. One of my favorite trumpet players, Pete Rodriguez has the most amazing sound on his horns:

As you can also tell from this video, he has an amazing vocal talent as well.

Back to Warburton, his price ranges are definitely one of the more afordable trumpets within this category.

@J-Jericho said in Trumpets Made ONLY by Their Maker:

Would Jaeger, Flip Oakes, and/or Da Carbo include Lawler, since Roy is just doing trombones now.

I believe Flip Oakes would be included. I think Ivan contracts to have his horns made by another production staff. However, if he joins us our any one may know differently, they can verify.

@Kujo20 said in Trumpets Made ONLY by Their Maker:

What do we consider as “only made by their maker”?

Or does it mean only one pair of hands assembles/builds the horn (using either bought or self fabricated parts)? If this, there are plenty of examples in the US besides the two you mentioned.

Yes Kujo. This is what I meant in starting the thread, so to that end, please do list the other examples you may know. That would be very helpful in expanding the discussion.

@J-Jericho said in BrassReview.com is Missed:

I'm not the only TB member who had posted reviews on BR. I'd be willing to contribute to this category here.

I too am on board. I have contributed to BR in the past as well. I will contribute to any new site as well.

My own personal perspective in finding out about, then ordering my Harrelson Summit:

I was first introduced to the Harrelson brand by a visiting Harrelson representative that was in my area and arranged for a demonstration with a local professional artist. I attended this meeting, played a variety of Harrelson horns, and came to enjoy the Summit model. That professional came to a rehearsal (and gig) to let me try out the horn I liked. When I contacted Harrelson (the company) to order the horn, I was told I was to get a call back from Jason (the owner) to get specifics about the order. That response really floored me as in all the years I purchased new horns on my own (Kanstul, Getzen, Allora, Olds back in the day) the manufacturer or their representative never called me back to get personal input.

I almost immediately received a call from Jason Harrelson who interviewed me as to the horns I have played in the past, what I liked or didn't like about the horns. He asked me what I wanted and how I intended to use the horn I was ordering from him. After giving him this valuable information regarding my performance preferences, styles, venues and specific intended use for this horn, he then went over many options as to the leadpipe and bell varieties he offered AND THERE WERE A LOT. This would have otherwise been intimidating, if it were not for the fact that I had already played a variety of his horns AND he was very good at explaining the performance response between the leadpipe and bell designs. He also has a graph with the options and plots out the performance characteristics for those customers that want to see a real time graphic comparison of size vs response characteristics. And that is when I was sold and placed my order.

So my fist specific question to all other Harrelson purchasers' was this your experience as well?
For individuals reading this thread that purchased Monette (or other personalized brands), was your experience similar?

I started this thread with the hopes that the input of the owners of such horns may be helpful for those considering such horns to weight the pros and cons that would help individuals to decide whether or not to purchase these horns.

I can Identify two as an example that fall into this category made in the USA, Monette and Harrelson. If members can identify any more, please add to the list and the discussion. Looking forward to a lot of helpful input.

First, let me start of with generalizations as to this class of horn:

Pros:
Lots of options and input into choosing the horn desired
AND as a result, the owner will have very responsive horn to the player's personal needs

Cons:
They are very expensive
There will be a long waiting time relative to horns produced by a team of technicians

I am reproducing the Jazz Trumpet Family Tree that is published in John McNeil's The Art of Jazz Trumpet:

I edited it by entering my name and one of our other member's names Kenaulani highlighted in yellow. Do add your name to the discussion by responding to this thread as to which branch you are swinging on.

I am hoping that Sheperds_Crook (Cyber_Shake on TM) doesn't mind; but I am posting an excellent video he made that shows the whole 5MM enchilada so to speak. This video starts from opening up the original shipment, that demonstrates all the accessories (storage box, tools and lubricant); then displays the pieces within the box; how Blaine varies the optional pieces with the body and the effect this has on the sound from his Adams Trumpet.

@Three-Sevens said in No real gains on anything more than 40-45 minutes of practice.:

71 degrees, Sunny in this part of the South! This is my good day ride:

AND mine (good day ride) as well as my "other" car is a Jeep Wrangler, looking exactly like yours, only in Kermit the Frog-Green:

An interesting article published in the medical journal, Chest, had a couple of articles that described the respiratory symptoms noted in the Thread title and did an investigation that found fungi and atypical micobacteria growing in the brass tubing was responsible for patient's symptoms AND pulmonary findings on CT scan. After adding a periodic 91% isopropyl rinse cycle to a scheduled cleaning routine of the instrument, ALL symptoms resolved and ALL chest findings reverted to normal. This was a game changer for me, and even though I did not have the signs or symptoms, every three months when I clean my horns, I use a 91% isopropyl alcohol an all tubes AND valve casings before reassembling the horns. Here a summary of the original article:

https://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692(10)60500-4/fulltext#intraref20

I have had amazing experiences with the Harrelson 5MM system. They are a bit pricey, but if you wait for a sale you can get a couple hundred dollars off the price. I have now two such modular mouth pieces (the first one came "for free" with the price of my trumpet purchase).

Let me try to put into my own words the creativity behind this mouthpiece. First and foremost, it is modular and comes in several pieces. There is a variety of rims. These screw onto a variety of cups. The rim and cup assemblies screw onto the front end of a body. Within the body you then insert a shaft connecting the cup to an additional backbore that that screws into the back end of the body at which point the entire assembly is then ready to insert onto the leadpipe. Finally there is a nut at the distal backbore end that locks the mouthpiece into a snug fit with the horn.

The first one I had ordered, I requested a Jettone studio B "vintage" copy. The Harrelson had the EXACT rim, cup combinations that PERFECTLY matched my original 1970's vintage Jettone Studio B. Then they provided a selection of shafts and backbores until I found the combination the best sounded with my Harrelson Summit. Just amazing, as the feel is EXACTLY like the original Jettone AND with using a wider shaft, I no longer bottom out my airflow after hours of playing on such a small cupped mouthpiece as I would do after hours of lead playing on the original Jettone. Just amazing!

For my second mouthpiece I asked Jason to copy my Kanstul G2 (the Miles Davis Heim copy). He actually scanned my original Kanstul G2 in case the modular components could not exactly duplicate the flat rim and deep V cup design of this mouthpiece. No need to do this as the modular components he used gave me the feel and performance characteristics of the original Kanstul G2.

This is just an amazing system where any player can customize a classic mouthpiece's feel and then enhance the performance by working with the modular back end components to actually optimize the air column resistance and vibration amplitude to best optimize to the leadpipe characteristics of any horn. So it is a bit pricey, but for the serious player, it is a game changer.

And oh yes, if you do purchase this system, do ask for the tool set that accompanies the pieces, as they really do make the changes to adjusting the components a lot easier. Here is a link to the Harrelson 5MM Mouthpiece site:

https://www.whyharrelson.com/store/p30/5MM_Mouthpiece_(19pc_%26_20pc_Kits).html

Me playing my Harrelson with the Kanstul 2G 5MM modular adaption:

For several TM Martin Committee Club members, they found the Owner's Manual I received with my 1946 Martin Committee helpful, especially for maintaining piston (valve) performance. So I thought I would post it on TrumpetBoards as it may be of interest to people reading this thread.

@SSmith1226 said in Unsafe Sax-To Circular Breath or Not:

@Dr-GO
...the following July, 2017 case series report on the use of “Musical Endotrachial Tubes” equally as enlightening.
https://gomerblog.com/2017/07/musical-endotracheal-tubes/

Interesting. I have heard some interesting sounds come from ventilators so this tongue in cheek (or endotrachial tube in airway) article could resonate with some validity. I am wondering if this really was done with family present as to how the families would really respond.

On another note: Would love to hear audio clips of your ICU band!

[Originally comments edited after much appreciated feedback from SSmith1226. Thanks so much Dr. SSmith for the messaging. Very helpful and great to get your feedback!]

Another observation I made during my 3 week ICU admission is that the nurse caring for me noted he did not have to change my bladder irrigation bags nearly as frequently during the times I was practicing my pocket trumpet in my ICU bed. So I decided to do an experiment. I followed the drip rate of the flow from my urethral catheter. If readers recall, in my other medical post I acknowledged that I had tubes coming out from all over me, and I was not kidding. Here is what I observed:

As long as I remained below the C on the staff, the urinary flow remained unchanged. However, as one proceeded from C to the F at the top of the staff, the urinary flow steadily dropped in rate. Once I played above the F (above the staff) ALL urinary flow stopped.

So, for lead players that have their parts that hang a good part of the time above staff, I imagine less bathroom breaks are needed.

@Tobylou8 said in Tom Green:

One of the best looking trumpets ever!!!

And the sound is even better. Not sure if anyone has ever played a Power Bore, but it has laser sharp accuracy. It was the PERFECT horn for 2nd Trumpet big band charts where the harmonies are so tight between the lead and 3rd part. You did not have to rely on your ear with this horn, you just aim the valves on the right note, and bull's eye, there it was.

The horn projects like no other traditional horn and I used it a lot as a lead horn as well until I got my Harrelson.

@Richard-III said in How many measures on a tank of air?:

Gimmick is right. Every time I see a player do that, I'm bored immediately if all they are doing is holding a note. In my view, at that moment, the music has stopped and the gimmick has begun. Time for me to move on to some other venue.

I must say, of all the techniques I use in a performance, this one gets the most response out of the audience. They are definitely not board if you incorporate the technique into the form. I do use it sparingly and only once a performance, but if you choose the right note through the right chord structure, that note really speaks out. It also helps to have a kick-ass rhythm section behind you to play around with that note as well. Definitely not boring if you place it into the right context.

I also use the circular breathing behind very soft harmony lines (playing complete phrases and not holding one note only) behind our sax soloist ("But Beautiful" is one of the songs I use for this accent). It really puts a smooth, uninterpreted line behind the lead part.

I must admit, I don't see many trumpet players use this, but when working trough my trumpet lessons with Claudio Roditi, I would transcribe sax solos for him in my lesson assignments, and that is where I perfected the circular breathing style. Claudio loved it, as he was working with me to develop my own solo voice, and he agreed, using sax phrasing in trumpet soloing really was a game changer.