Right now most of us have more answers than questions, as we've been around awhile, and there are fewer mysteries to solve. As newer, less experienced players find TB, we'll have more technical chat, and we all can learn from whatever comes up. Also, we'll find things we want to learn more about. It will evolve. What's that rule again?... oh, yeah... patience.
Ah, Ye Olde Mouthpiece Safaris. I remember them well. Glad to be done with them. In the overall scheme of things, they were a necessary part of my learning process, though.
@curlydoc I was originally taught to place my right thumbnail against the first valve casing. It worked OK, except for some quick mute changes and especially when using a plunger mute. If there is a first valve trigger where the fulcrum is attached to the right side of the casing, as on Olds and Bach, for instance, this thumb placement will not work, as it conflicts with the lever/paddle.
My default position now is to rest my right thumb on the upper left first valve casing and rest my left thumb on the trigger button/paddle. On horns without a first valve trigger, my left thumb is in the first valve saddle/ring and wrapped around the first valve casing when there is no tuning aid there. This way I don't have to change a thing when using mutes. This may not work for people with fingers shorter than mine. The bottom line is that this enables me to comfortably press the valves down without side pressure.
FWIW - I avoid trumpets and cornets that have paddles where the fulcrum is placed in the middle of the valve casing. They're just too awkward for me. Oh, and mute changes are not an issue for the most part, since I usually change them with my right hand.
Would Doc Severinsen qualify? What about Jon Faddis? James Morrison? Conte and Pete Candoli? Maybe Lew Soloff? How about Billy Butterfield and Ruby Braff?
From the link, concerning Roy Hargrove: "On the recording front, Hargrove has been quiet in recent years but he remains a formable player." I'm not sure what a "formable player" is, but there's a reason he's been quiet lately.
This http://www.ojtrumpet.net/playerhorn/ has been on the internet for years.
I'd be more concerned about theft than freezing; local thieves are attracted to cars with out-of-state license tags. Marching bands perform in sub-freezing weather, so having brass instruments in cold storage shouldn't be a problem. If you're still concerned, many sedans have a pass-thru to the trunk; see if you can use that to allow at least a few molecules of warm air access to its contents. An extreme precaution would be to have the horns in the cabin, and put your wife in the trunk. This might cool your relationship with her, however.
@SSmith1226 said in A little humour:
@Dr-GO said in A little humour:
@SSmith1226 said in A little humour:
What`s the difference between a baroque trumpeter and a dressmaker?
A dressmaker tucks up frills.However, maybe if the trumpet player wasn't baroque, the trills would be fixed up!
@Dr-GO said in A little humour:
Tell me if you heard this one:
A drummer walked past the bar...
Maybe he just ate some beans. You know... "The more you eat, the more you toot."
Spraying the the slides in penetrating oil overnight would be the obvious solution to me. If you want to use heat afterward, I'd leave the horn in the refrigerator (I understand that some European refrigerators are not large enough to do this.) for a half hour or so prior to using warm-to-hot water on the outer slides, giving the outers the chance to expand before the inners catch up. I'd also use a well-padded/rubber mallet judiciously, if necessary, to provide some motivation. If you're mechanically capable and sensitive, give it a try; it takes finesse, not brute force. Otherwise, taking it to a tech would be the answer, preferably before you attempt to move the slide, rather than after damaging the horn as a result of too much enthusiasm. Good luck, my friend.
Increasing range is not a linear process. The higher you go, the harder it is to get to the next increment, and focus must be on playing well, not on a push to get the next note. Incorporating a fixed time frame can be counterproductive. Keep trumpet playing enjoyable. While overcoming a challenge is a healthy goal for improvement, unnecessary pressure to perform is not.
@Tobylou8 said in A little humour:
@SSmith1226 said in A little humour:
@Dr-GO said in A little humour:
@SSmith1226 said in A little humour:
What`s the difference between a baroque trumpeter and a dressmaker?
A dressmaker tucks up frills.However, maybe if the trumpet player wasn't baroque, the trills would be fixed up!
@Dr-GO said in A little humour:
Tell me if you heard this one:
A drummer walked past the bar...
Means the other side is nothing but brass!
... or this is a photo of low brass.
I'm subscribed to this guy's channel, but let's say I wouldn't do some of the things he does the way he does them, and some things he does I wouldn't do at all. In this example, I'd have used more penetrating oil, and I'd have sprayed it into the leadpipe as well so that both ends of the tubing got soaked. I'd also have given it more time to penetrate, plus, as I was working the slide and when it started to move, I'd keep adding penetrating oil to make things as slippery as possible. I probably wouldn't have applied quite as much torque, either. I could just visualize the lower tuning slide pressing against the third valve.
Also, flugelgirl's point about not needing to unsolder the tubing is good. There are cases when it's necessary, and working the stuck area can be ugly and extreme when it is, but it's a last resort.
Lastly, penetrating oil and flame can combine in a colorful and illuminating event.
It's long gone now, but my first Bach was a new 1966 Stradivarius Model 37 ML, one of the early Elkhart models. I was upgrading from my Selmer Signet Silver Special (How's that for alliteration?) cornet during my last year in high school. I compared the Bach with a King Silversonic, an Olds Mendez, and an Olds Recording.
The King didn't do much for me, and it was a newer version of my band director's trumpet, which he had let me play also. The Mendez played quite nicely and responsively, and the Recording was OK, too, in its own very different way, but the Bach (for me) was just magic. I didn't play It, I just played! I was able to get the occasional paying gig from time to time with it. Sold it after college. Color me stupid.
Nine or ten years later, when I had resumed playing trumpet again (stories for another time), I ordered a (1984, I think) silver 72*, which played almost as well as my friend's 72* of the same year of manufacture. It suited me at the time, however, I got paid to play once in a while, and I kept it for decades (another story for another time). I loved it, it had great response, perfect valves (Never played a Bach that didn't.), and had what I thought at the time was a fairly dark timbre, which one would expect from the 72 bell shape... until I made a point of recording myself and discovered that it sounded brighter in front of the bell than behind it. I ended up selling it. It did have great flexibility as far as being able to tailor the sound to the music.
I don't miss it; I was happy to have the next owner enjoy it. I'd like to have that 37 back, though.
Here's an oldie:
In a funeral home, the family of the deceased had brought his blue suit in which to dress him for the viewing. When they returned later, they noticed that he was wearing a brown suit. When they brought it to the funeral director's attention, he said: "Give me a minute." He wheeled the casket into the next room and reappeared a minute later. The family asked how he was able to change the suit so fast. The funeral director replied: "I didn't switch suits; I just switched heads."
The tricolor Olds Special was and is an underrated horn. If playing one suits you (remember that one man's steak is another man's tripe, and vice versa), you need look no further. It will do what you ask of it, albeit with a slightly brighter timbre than is generally fashionable now, easily adjusted by using a deeper mouthpiece.
Here are my estimations (not pontifications) of Olds trumpets:
Ambassador - Some are competent; many more are crappy.
Pinto - An odd, ultimately unsuccessful experiment in unconventional design.
Special - Underrated; slightly bright sound. Because of its price bracket and pre-tritone marketing when new, it was presumed to be one step up from a basic trumpet. In reality this was a mighty big step.
Studio - A magic trumpet for some, it produces a unique lyrical sound. If your sound is bright, it will project brightness; if your sound is dark, it will project darkness. As with the Special, players have been discovering its virtues within the past few years, driving prices up. The later nickel-silver plated Studio is acknowledged to have been change for the sake of change. Not considered an improvement. Quite the opposite, although some players are happy with theirs.
Super - Most owners will not sell theirs for any amount of money, period. A good, generic sound. A horn with no vices.
Recording - A legendary trumpet for many. An odd setup that works well for some players. Flexible and versatile; there are few other trumpets that play better, but they do exist.
Opera - If you can play a cavernous mouthpiece, you will overcome its bright timbre and produce an awesome, gorgeous, incomparable sound.
Mendez - Speaking of bright-sounding trumpets, the Mendez also has a unique timbre, putting it in the same category as the Olds Studio, Olds Opera, and Conn Connstellation in the sense that these four horns have a sound specific to each model; they do not necessarily sound like one another. FWIW - the Mendez and the Connstellation were both manufactured in long cornet versions, too, which have the appearance of their trumpet counterparts and have a distinct, cornet sound.
Super Recording - The Holy Grail for aficionados with a willingness to spend the money it takes to acquire one. YMMV.
Olds deliberately designed each instrument they manufactured for eye appeal, and there is eye candy to be found in their entire lineup. The subtle benefit of this is that you want to take it out of the case often, which leads to more practice, which leads, hopefully, to more competence.
Also, when Sonic is used in conjunction with an Olds model, it refers to the method of bell production, not any specific sound or playing characteristic, although it could be argued that marketing at the time was designed to mislead potential buyers into thinking that it did.
@BigDub Actually it is Sol, not So... from Solfege. https://www.musicnotes.com/now/tips/solfege-what-is-it-and-how-is-it-used/
@ssmith1226 said "The premise of the story is also ironic for reasons that I won’t get into, but the story itself is good."
Very succinct and well-said. The story itself is indeed a good look at how American manufacturers have to combine many aspects of their businesses in order to function successfully. However, there are critical underlying factors that make CNET's motivation invite further investigation for those so inclined.
Welcome to TrumpetBoards!
Although I'm not familiar with this design/manufacturer, it appears to be thoughtfully designed, and the quality of construction appears to be first-rate. How does it play?
Don't be concerned about your English; it's just fine.
All right....
Other than the mouthpiece and receiver being shorter on a cornet than on a trumpet and the shank taper being smaller, too (although the cup, throat, backbore, and leadpipe taper are still essentially the same) a trumpet is longer than a cornet, which also has more crooks (unless it's a Conn Connstellation or an Olds Mendez, which look exactly like their trumpet counterparts), except for a pocket trumpet, which is much shorter than a cornet and has even more crooks (unless it's a pocket cornet, in which case there is no difference in appearance between the two [like the visual similarity between the Conn Connstellation and Olds Mendez mentioned above]), and as for timbre and projection, a trumpet and a cornet can both sound the same or different, depending upon the player, the mouthpiece, and the design and construction of the instrument.
Whew! There - the difference between trumpet and cornet in a (coconut) nutshell. Got it?
