Posts made by flugelgirl

@Niner the quick answer for this is that cornets have different pistons/casings than trumpets do.

@Richard-III a quick and easy recork for a Harmon is sticky back craft foam - cheap, easily removable, and easy to fit. It’s also a bit thicker, so it may help make your older Harmon fit if you want to recork it. It also lets you just put the mute in with a twist instead of having to breathe in the bell. I did this on my bubble and it worked great! Had no need with my zinger - the cork on that one is quite thick and fits my A1 perfectly.

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.

@Niner I sure wonder why the one I have with the lower serial would have the typical modern Getzen valve guide setup while the other has a completely different system that is obviously much older. It kind of makes me wonder if serials were stamped long before horns were put together, and then parts were assembled as they needed horns. There doesn’t appear to be a lot of sense in the early serial #system.

@Niner mine is 91XXX, also before the fire. The 90 I’m selling is 63XXX.

Here’s my Super Deluxe - as you can see, it is top sprung with little rollers for guides. The friend that gave it to me has one in better condition that is also top sprung but with typical Getzen plastic guides.

I have a 90 as well - it’s not a favorite, so now it’s up for sale through my shop. It’s a good player, but I enjoyed it for a while and am finished with it now. Time to make room for something new! As you can see, it’s top sprung.
https://www.brassandwinds.com/collections/trumpets/products/getzen-super-deluxe-professional-bb-trumpet-sn-63464

I have one of the trumpets - a fun gift from a friend. It came to me with a crushed bell, but I found one at an estate sale for $5 and will replace it when I get time. Trying to remember, but I think mine is top sprung.

While I haven’t had this myself, I have worked with people who did. It’s basically Tennis Elbow, and you should see your doctor and possibly physical therapist to take care of it. A lot of people get relief with ice and/or compression braces, so that could be part of the treatment.

We’re receiving 10 pallets of instruments in the next couple of days, and will have horns to suit most budgets. There are some discounts available for folks who pick up locally rather than ship, so please schedule a visit if there’s something you’re interested in and you plan on visiting the Seattle area! I’m also happy to do some demo videos if you can’t visit but wonder how some horns compare.

Dan Oberloh in Seattle, who I apprenticed with, also does a lot of valve jobs with plenty shipped from overseas. You could contact him as well.

Hundreds of trumpets! We’ve recently made some big deals with Conn-Selmer and Yamaha, and have tons of trumpets in inventory and more on the way. Bb, C, Eb, picc, flugel, cornets, student and pro horns. We also still have a bunch of great Jupiter and B&S still in stock! If you need something special on your holiday list you might want to check out our site! As always, I personally check all the brass and am happy to answer any questions you might have.
www.brassandwinds.com

@Kehaulani said in Structure of the Trumpet by Yamaha:

I have another question, too. Where are all the other forum members and potential members? Too theoretical and pedantic for them?

Personally, I have been too busy playing to spend this much time talking about about playing. Sounds like maybe a few other folks could benefit with some time alone with a trumpet on their faces instead of arguing.

Ivan is right - I’ve worked on both in the past year. It’s fun working in a shop that gets a bunch of the unusual!

@Dr-Mark Interesting, but probably not a price my boss wants to pay. Certainly not a price I want to pay, or even something I would be interested in owning! My personal vintage collection exists because they are horns I enjoy playing, and I have yet to find a Comittee I’ve enjoyed enough to bother with besides the flugel, and that’s honestly only fun because it’s weird! Just not my flavor! The Olds Recording is also one that doesn’t suit me - I actually own one, but don’t care for it. You’ll all see that up for sale soon.

This exersize is something I have done as part of Bob Findley’s Carmine Caruso method. It’s very effective at finding the most resonant spot of the pitch center. If you haven’t tried bending the note up and down to find that spot - all of a sudden sound will be much larger and fuller. Do it with a friend so you can hear the difference on the other side of the bell. This is something I spent some time with as a HS student and I believe it made a big difference in my own playing. And yes, it relates to introspective practice as you have to listen to yourself and not muscle the horn into places it doesn’t want to go. Also a rather effective way to find a new horn’s tendancies.

I just gifted one of those same cornets to a local school band program. Solid little horn, but I certainly had no need for it.
As for nylon valve guides, it’s funny that the trumpet world can see them as a detriment, but they are an absolute necessity in the low brass world. A tuba with brass valve guides - that clacking would be projected across the concert hall. In a trumpet the click is barely noticeable to the player, so we can be a bit more (or less) picky about our guide material. This was something I never really thought about until apprenticing in a shop that specializes in tubas! The plus side to nylon is that they are quiet, the downside that they wear out a little faster.

When I play test an instrument I’ve worked on, or a new horn that’s come in, I’m generally testing its mechanics and making sure everything works as it should. I start by looking it over for imperfections, then making sure all caps are free and slides are working as they should. I play a few notes to orient myself on that horn, and then go through a few arpeggios and fast chromatics to make sure valves are fast and smooth, and tuning slides can be used properly. I’ll end with fast chromatic triplets from low f# to C above the staff and back down. If I feel anything weird or stuffy, or if the pistons can’t keep up with me, it goes to my bench. If the horn is for my own use, I’ll play some music I’ll use it for along with the mouthpieces I regularly use in different situations. I keep a test kit of mouthpieces at my bench that will work for pretty much any horn I test at work. Whenever I play test high horns, I play a few pieces I would regularly use on those horns to test intonation.
Sometimes I add some music at the end of my work play testing just for fun or to keep my mind occupied, but normally if you hear me playing some real music on a horn at work it’s because I’m enjoying that particular horn. If you ever order a horn from us and it has a smiley face on the box, it means I especially liked that one!

It’ll be nice one day when there aren’t any more conversations like this when people will have realized that gender has NO impact on the ability to play an instrument.
As far as discrimination, I didn’t experience much growing up. A lot of women around my age did, however, and were not allowed to or were discouraged from playing jazz, especially. I never really felt the need to be a feminist until the last few years as the political climate changed. I do play in an all female big band, but because I like playing with them, not because I don’t have other places to play. That group blends much better than some others I play with, and plays an artier selection of music - most of it quite challenging. I serve the same function in that band as I do in others as soloist and relief lead. SWOJO sponsors a yearly Jazz program for school age girls which I have been a coach for, and I’ve also been a featured guest artist for the MPMEA all-girls Jazz program. I would love to say that discrimination no longer exists, but just last year we had a student in one of the programs that was told by her band director(from Alabama) that “girls don’t play drum set, they play mallets”. Our exceptional drummers got her started on set and she’s improving every day! I’ll be happy when we can stop talking about female musicians and just talk about musicians - gender should never be the primary descriptor.

Anyone with more ego than skill. Also, bad intonation and bad time. Tuners are valuable in the practice room and to get in the ballpark before rehearsal, not on your stand or horn during rehearsal. Metronomes are an absolute must during practice sessions. Practice is also a must, and if you didn’t practice don’t bother me! Finally, be nice, and if you can’t, then shut up! I spend a lot of time hired to walk in and sightread a show for community type groups - I’m getting paid because they can’t do it without me, and if they’re not nice I won’t do it again. I make a big effort not to step on the regular’s toes in those situations, and don’t appreciate it if I’m not extended the same courtesy.