My husband likes being married to another musician, and so do I. No one asking “Why do you practice all the time? Why aren’t you spending time with me?”. We both got sick of that in previous relationships! The only time in our marriage we’ve ever argued is when we have to share a practice space, so we’ve made sure the rest of our houses have had enough room for us each to have our own practice rooms. We’re coming up on 22yrs, so I guess it’s worked pretty well! 
Really, your silver polish cloth is not going to be able to remove enough silver for you to be able to notice, let alone do damage. When I was in school, I bought a trumpet at a pawn shop that had been rubbed down with Scotch Brite - someone’s attempt at a matte finish. I thought it would always be ugly, but learned that if there is enough silver left it’s possible to buff it back to shiny using the right methods. Except for a couple of spots that had already been scrubbed down to raw brass, you’d never know anything happened to it! My friend’s kid is playing it now 
I have found that anti- tarnish strips left in a case make a big difference, as do wiping handprints off after playing. Also, refrain from touching every flat surface of the horn, and you’ll have less to wipe off.
@Dr-GO looks like he’s looking for a 3rd valve slide, not a piston. Might be difficult to come by, though Allied might carry a compatible part. Only a shop with an account number can order from Allied, so check to see if it’s possible to do that.
My longest layoff was Boot Camp - at that time they weren’t finding the MUs and moving them to the band right away. Several weeks later they offered to let me change divisions, but it would have set me back two weeks in training. I opted for the faster route out of there! The bugler for my recruit grad ceremony was so terrible, one of my non-musician shipmates leaned back and whispered “I can’t stand it! I can only imagine how bad this is for you!” The calls were so bad they were unrecognizable- we only knew what to do from practicing with the recording so many times! 
I become a very dark and mean person when I’m not playing enough - one of the many reasons I’ve never stopped. I like who I am a whole lot better when I’m playing, and so does everyone else!
I’m not much of a gardener, but I usually do a few veggies and herbs. Here’s a nice Big Bertha pepper I have right now
I like your design! Looks like it offers the ability to stick in extra in when needed, too. I generally carry 5-7 to cover my playing and shop play-testing needs, so it’s a plus to have room for extras!
@Kehaulani said in Lick from Gypsy:
Doesn't he mean to alternate on each eighth between an open "G" followed by a note fingered with the third finger? It's goal is a more percussive effect than a melodic one? What's the tempo?
That’s pretty much exactly what I said. I haven’t played this show, but have seen similar notation many times in other shows and charts.
Use alternate fingering in lieu of double tongue to get the desired effect. 1/3 works better than 3 in this case, though, at least for me it does.
Amazing how fast things go sideways when a troll gets involved! I also agree it’s a valuable discussion and should be open again.
@ROWUK said in Should I go to graduate school?:
Even so, without a degree, you won’t even get an Army Band job.
Not true, though you may not get some of the higher promotions without one. The percentage of musicians with degrees rose in the military band programs because of incentives like college loan payoffs, not requirements. Those with degrees just usually (not always) tend to be both more qualified for the positions, and better at auditions.
I lost about $1400 in May alone due to cancelled gigs. I feel VERY fortunate that I don’t need my gig and repair income to pay my bills, and have even been able to take advantage of the deals right now and get myself a new car. When I was in college before I joined the Navy, missing one day of work meant I might not eat that week, so I really understand what a lot of people are going through right now. We definitely need better programs/ different solutions to be able to deal with crisis like these.
When I started studying picc, I was an adult and a professional player, but this is what worked for me. I studied with a local orchestral player who started me out with typical wedding literature and a tuner - because intonation is wild on that little beast! Try “The Classical Wedding” and “The Joyous Wedding” for literature, and take some lessons. I’m primarily a Jazz and commercial player, but I have played picc pretty regularly over the last 20yrs for weddings, church services, and in brass quintets, so your options aren’t that limited. It does take regular practice, though, so don’t think you’ll only learn and then pick it up at Easter! When I’m not performing regularly on picc I’m doing at least 2-3 practice sessions with it per month so I don’t forget what it feels like, and then a regular week or two of short daily practice before a performance. It works best for me to limit practice to 15mins at a time switching from Bb, because that’s what I’ll normally do in a performance situation. Good luck, and enjoy!
@Dr-GO oops! That was supposed to say F2! I like the F3 but am still happy with the F2. The Martin is a better player than I thought it would be with the right mpc - I really only wanted one as an oddity but was pleasantly surprised.
One thing to remember is that when you get back into those rehearsals, especially with amateur groups, your endurance will suffer even if you’ve been practicing. Adjusting (or trying to!) to other folks intonation will tire you out faster, especially since a lot of them will not have kept up their practice habits, so don’t get too discouraged once you go back.
I still have no idea when my next gig will be or who it will be with - everything I had on the books is cancelled up to October. It’s pretty depressing! Thankful that I married a guitarist so I’ve got someone to play with right now, but we are both pretty bored. If things open up for small groups soon, we have two different couples we can play with (Bass/drums) to play some jazz with, at least.
I love my Adams F2 with gold brass bell - it has been everything I wanted a flugel to be! I started out with a Getzen Capri I got in 7th grade, played it for 17 yrs. it was a great horn, but I could never quite get the sound I hear in my head. Went to a Marcinkiewicz Rembrandt which gave me the sound, but it was a lot of work to play. The F3 gives me that sound without the extra work, and I love it. I also own a Martin Committee flugel, but wouldn’t gig with it unless the F3 was out of commission.
Playing Maria Schneider’s charts definitely feels more like wind ensemble than big band. I’ve found that my practice and preparation for her stuff is much closer to what I do for wind ensemble, with some changes thrown in. Her music really needs a director unless you’ve performed the piece multiple times with the same group. She writes some very interesting music - some I have enjoyed, but for me some of it is rather a chore. Not saying it doesn’t have tremendous value, it’s just not my personal taste in Jazz. I find some of the crossover stuff very interesting, but not all of it suits my personal taste. I have, however, been getting into Meg Okura lately, which falls into this category, I think.
@Shifty Thanks - lots of practice, that’s all! After hundreds of repetitions it’s hard to get wrong.
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!
I’ve signed up and will be uploading video. Playing from my front yard and will see how many neighbors come out.
We ship internationally daily, and have a very good selection right now. The majority of what we carry are pro models, But we do have some intermediate and student from Jupiter and Conn-Selmer right now. My favorite of the intermediates is the Jupiter 1100SQ - great playing horn that feels more like a pro than a student. More horns are arriving daily, so check our website or message our Facebook page for more info!
www.brassandwinds.com