Posts made by GeorgeB

@j-jericho

New to me but I like.
George

Hi, Tina, click on Historical & Collector's shown just under the title of your thread ands scroll down to a title similar as your:
Grand Rapids Band Instrument Company , posted July 29th at 12.29 pm by A Former User. Lots of details about the company and some pictures of the instruments that may look like yours.

George

Okay, so a trumpet buddy sent me the sheet music for Windmills Of Your Mind . He sent it because he couldn't play the dang thing properly. So I tried it ( damn long piece of music ) and made a mess of it. So I did a search to see if any well known trumpet guys played the damn thing and I found one by Arturo Sandoval and one by Dizzy Gillespi ( links below ) and realized you have to be awfully good at articulation and have good clean tonguing to play this song well.

Sandoval:

Dizzy :

Anyone here ever play Windmills Od Your Mind on trumpet?

@shifty
Hi, shifty, the 5X rim is similar to an ACB 5CS I had been using, only smaller so it is no problem. The rim offers the same support as the ACB 5CS and that is great.

I returned to band practice last night and played about 105 minutes straight. Lots of tough tunes with much above the staff playing as well. I hadn't been able to play that long in a year so the Denis Wick London 5X is sort of a miracle. And I do believe the shallow cup is also helping me get my range back as I played D above high C for the first time in a year. I used a Bach New York 10.5C gold rimmed mp between 1953 and 1965 so have a gold Wick is really nice. My lips don't slip on gold.

George

@dr-go
Yes, that is exactly what I must do.

I've been playing larger mouth[pieces for so long that my embouchure is probably a bit confused, and it's probably a memory thing. The more I use the 5X, the sooner it will all come together.

@dr-go

I believe you, Doc. One little fly in the ointment. I have always been good in the lower range, say from G down to F# below the staff. Because of the smaller Wick ID I'm having a little trouble getting clean notes down there. But I have some exercises that should fix that in time.

This is the new DENIS WICKmouthpiece I am using:

This time last year I was diagnosed with AFIB ( irregular heart beat ) and had to start taking a drug that has since affected my trumpet playing in a negative way, basically my endurance and range. I have always used larger mouthpiece IDs in the vicinity of .640 to .650.
A friend of mine, a semi-pro player gifted me with a duplicate of the mp he uses for his lead playing: the Denis Wick 5X. He felt it would help me. I wasn't too sure. Even though I used a 10.5C Bach for 12 years ( 1953-1965 ), when I tried to use it for my comeback in 2016 it just didn't work. The Bach 5C seemed to work best and later when I changed bands I went to a 3C to give me a stronger sound spread. But the larger cups have always hindered my higher range ( anything over a top space A ). And for the past year, thanks to AFIB, My A's are really, really weak. these days.
Anyway, to make a long story shorter, the Denis Wick has been a great help, especially for my endurance, and my range, too. My A's are much stronger . Eventually I hope to work my way up to the F over high C, which I used to do every morning as part of my expanding scale exercises, but am ( or was ) now lucky to get up to a weak High C.

I always thought Denis Wick was big in Cornet mps but I am discovering he makes damn good trumpet mouthpieces, too.

Our band is playing again, so I am looking forward to our 90 minute practice session tomorrow night to test my the Wick 5X even further... and my endurance.

@barliman2001

Definitely out of the ordinary, but for some strange reason I really liked it. Perhaps it was those gorgeous twins...hmmm....

@jolter

Sounds to me like she was playing in too low a key. She could also use some help in her choreography. Obviously she likes to entertain. I give her a A for that.

@ssmith1226

Pete's an inspiration.

@dr-go
I suppose having the right equipment helps, but an F above high C for me only happens on a good day, so at my age I doubt even a Harrelson Summit would help me get to DHC.

Besides, Doc, what videos I've seen of you playing puts you in a professional's chair as far as I'm concerned. I'm just an old recreational player.

@dr-go

Double high C ? Wow. I couldn't play DHC in my youth let alone in my mid 80s. And you just popped them off like pieces of candy ??????? My hat is off to you, sir.

Our band plays an arrangement of Buble's JUST HAVEN'T MET YOU YET and that is peppered with As and Bs above the staff, but no high C's and certainly no DHCs. Our lead player would have a heart attack if he had to play a DHC.

@bigdub

Certainly a good question I have never run into it with any of our band arrangements, but the answer can only be as the administrator stated.

@barliman2001
Thank you so much , sir. Not only unbelievable, but inspiring, too.

@barliman2001
I'll never know because I don't like Facebook and have never used it.

@j-jericho

Thanks for that. Swift has a great voice and it was interesting to hear a swing version of On The Street Where You Live with such a strong big band sound.
I've mostly heard vocal versions of this song with my favorite being one done by Vic Damone so hearing it this way was really interesting. I've always played it as a ballad. Think I'll take a crack at swinging it today.
You never know what you'll find on You Tube.

Thanks for enlightening me, Barliman. I did some research and found the name of the movie, the full cast and what not. The movie was called A Song Is Born and was released in 1948. I would have been 12 years old then so that's probably why I had never heard of the movie before.

I bet that one scene cost 25% of the movie's budget. Loved it. Had my feet tapping , too.

Starting to play again at 79 after a 50 year layoff has lots of challenges, but as we age proper posture and breathing are more important than ever. Excellent article, Doc. Learned a few new things there, too.

As for the use of the pinky ring, a great local professional trumpet player taught me most of what I know today about playing the trumpet. Too big things I learned from day one: DON'T PUFF THE CHEEKS and ONLY USE PINKY RING WHEN TURNING PAGES , USING A MUTE, ETC. I tried using the pinky ring just for fun a few times and the results were awful. My hand and fingers felt confined. I could never play that way. The only right hand finger that touches the horn is the thumb as it rests against the first valve casing. The other four fingers float above the valves.

Thanks for that interesting article, Doc.

George

@flugelgirl

Yes, pedagogy can be a difficult topic. But it isn't always a place where expert advice is the only advice. I have picked up helpful tips here and there just by hearing how one player dealt with a particular problem. Sometimes it is just one person's way of doing a thing that can help another player who has been dealing with a playing problem.

I'd just like to see more interesting conversation centered around the playing of the instrument. You never know, we just may learn something new. More of this kind of thing could bring us some new members.

Now, wouldn't that be nice ?