I am a total believer in putting it on your face and not thinking about it - let it work where it’s naturally meant to work. If we were all the same, than the same formula for placement or equipment would work for everyone. I have seen people destroy themselves by overthinking and changing for no real reason other than to see if “maybe it works better over here”, or trying to get some textbook formula of placement. I have seen students struggle because teachers told them their teeth had to align perfectly before they could play, so the student spent several minutes trying to line up teeth and embouchure every time they tried to play, and all sorts of other foolishness. Unless your embouchure is truly messed up and weird, it’s better not to mess with it, especially over the internet where no one can really see what you’re doing. A couple of lessons to make sure you’re not damaging yourself with a good teacher would be the way to go.

Here’s one I took for work - that’s our mascot, Primo! Head tech made him out of old mutes and woodwind mouthpieces and caps. I’ve started taking yearly holiday photos of him

Range building should be a long term goal, not a short term goal. Musical Directors can hope all they want, but you can only build what you can build, and we’re all different. Don’t hurt yourself to force out some unreliable pitches that aren’t part of your regular daily ability. Build what you can and find a musical way around the rest - your audience will thank you, and so will your chops!

I figured I would add to this discussion by posting a link to my shop’s page - I do fairly regular blog posts there, usually about the more interesting horns that cross my bench. I’ve had a few that belong in this category because even though they might be in perfect shape, they don’t function properly in a modern playing situation. This one is a prime example - perfect and beautiful but not a good player, probably why they didn’t make it for long! It sold easily to a collector, though.
https://www.brassandwinds.com/blogs/news/1921-conn-20a-flugelhorn

Funny how no one is shaming fat old men in speedos.......
Really, though - what’s the problem with old ladies with tattoos? I intend to be one eventually, and feel zero shame about it.

It’s fine to say “buy the best”, but then we have many other arguments on what is the best and why. When you get into professional trumpets, you don’t necessarily get into better quality for every dollar spent. You do get to the point of buying one instrument over another because it suits you better. A prime argument is that I could spend $1k more for a Bach or Yamaha than I did for my Adams A1, but they don’t suit me as well. Then we get into the vintage horn argument - is it really a bang for your buck if it’s a pro model and costs you less, but is worn to the point of being unplayable. There is a Connstellation on my bench that I would never think of gigging on, but I could grab any one of those Jupiter 1100s and have a successful gig tomorrow. In 5 years my chances would still be better on that Jupiter than on some of the worn out Bach Strads we’ve had that badly need a valve job, though the Jupiter may not have the same resale value as either of those horns. Are we looking for resale value or playability? Good questions to consider!
I also agree with comments about Manchester Brass and Carolbrass - nice players at their price point.

Finally found that on iPad, if I resize to square the pics will upload!! 1939 King Silver Tone Master cornet, silver finish with gold accents. Love how this one plays!! All it needed was a clean, and even came with original case and case candy.

I find most of the synthetics to leave a lot of residue over time, especially with horns that don’t get cleaned. If you don’t like to clean regularly, Hetman is not for you. It will degrade into a sticky yellow residue that is not fun to clean up! Yamaha synthetic likes to become a green cement in horns that sit too long, even new ones. It works great until you let it sit a few months, and then is best cleaned out in a chem clean. I like the Berp products because they stay very clean, tend not to react with other oils, and I have not had a horn freeze up in storage in over 10yrs. There’s nothing wrong with using synthetics, but for any you use, clean regularly, and be sure to clean out all old oil before switching brands - this includes brand new horns! Many synthetics will react badly when mixed with other synthetics or petroleum products - I have had customers return instruments only to find out they mixed two brands of valve oil and there are beads of goo in all the pistons - really annoying, especially when the customer has caused damage I have to fix when they cannot get the pistons out! This happened recently with a brand new Yamaha. Customer had applied Ultra Pure without cleaning out the Yamaha, let the horn sit for two days, and then freaked out when the pistons were frozen. Swore up and down they “did nothing to it - it works on all my other new Yamahas!” Got it back withbadly scratched pistons from being forced out improperly, and big balls of goo where the oils had reacted. Brand new horn that had to be repaired and sold as used because someone couldn’t be bothered to clean out the old oil.

My video seems to be above the max size for this site to upload, but it is available on the Quinn the Eskimo Facebook page, and shared with the event website. I was lucky that it stopped raining just long enough!

Corks are meant to be sanded so they properly fit the bell. Since bell flares can be very different, sometimes when you get a new horn you need to replace your mute corks. Mutes that fit my last daily player well needed replacements to fit my current horn correctly.

Condition is also a HUGE factor with these older horns - you may have felt differently about some of them based on piston wear alone! I find that some of the old (1910-1930) cornets that seal better either because of less piston wear or those that have had valve jobs really do play a lot like some modern horns. Personally, I always prefer a modern horn in pretty new condition to gig on, but I make a significant income playing (except during COVID ) and do not want to have to go on a big safari to replace a horn. Really, though, there are plenty of current designs based on older ones as well. Shep crook designs haven’t changed a ton in the last 70yrs or so.

With military bands still being mostly quarantined and only doing occasional rehearsals or video, it’s hard to get too picky about amount of rehearsal time spent. I thought they all did a great job for the inauguration. Mad props to the trumpeter who set up Garth Brooks, and to the Army Herald Trumpets - ridiculously hard to sound that good and play so in tune after sitting in the cold forever! I don’t miss that one bit!

@kehaulani I agree - classy and very well done. No complaints, especially compared to some renditions.

I did one of these a while ago - cool horn but not a great player. Played best with an extra deep short shank mpc.
https://www.brassandwinds.com/blogs/news/1921-conn-20a-flugelhorn

I use a mix of Berp #1 and Berp#8 on rotors, just a couple of drops on stem and bearing should do it. You can use #8 on slides if they are tight, otherwise I like a lanolin-based slide grease to help fill the space. Check slides occasionally to make sure they are clean, and get a professional clean yearly. You’d hate to know what I find in rotors!
I know I might be preaching to the choir with some of this, but it may be a help to those who don’t know how to care for rotor instruments!

I have not been able to post at all - let’s see if this works....

My guilty pleasure lately has been the Dave Koz Christmas album. I went to see the show live, and it was super fun! First time I ever saw the horn players out play the guitarist! Rick Braun is an amazing player!

@georgeb I LOVE Willie singing Jazz!! His phrasing is so nice!

Still no live music here, but no one I know is sick, so at least that is good. I’m currently doing a virtual recording with a group I wouldn’t normally play with just to ease some of the boredom. I also have an adorable new trumpet student - daughter of a college friend. She’s doing very well considering she’s never sat next to another trumpet player! I do think it’s harder to improve as a beginner without hearing those frequencies right next to you! Looking forward to teaching this one in person once we get back to normal.

Josh Landress would be a good bet.