Best posts made by Rapier232

Mutes, the bane of my life. Most of my playing is in theatre pit bands. I’ve probably spent more money on mutes for shows than I’ve been paid. Hat mute, Cleartone, metal and fibre straight mutes, metal and fibre cups, plunger, felt mute, even an extra Harmon because there wasn’t enough time to remove and replace stem between use. Sometimes I feel more like a juggler than a trumpet player. Why those that write scores don’t understand the player’s time requirements is a mystery. The puzzled face of an MD when you ask "Do you want this passage with a cup, or straight? Because you can’t have both. I physically cannot change mutes on a quaver rest".

Update. While I’m still convinced I won’t gain the G in time to be able to play it well enough, or reliably enough, to perform it in the show, I am making more progress than I expected. I can, at least, hit it occasionally. Something I couldn’t do at all when I made the original post. And when I do get it, it’s a real note that I can hold for 8 or more beats, not just a weak squeak. There’s hope for this old man yet.

@Dr-GO said in The One:

That horn really understands me.

I’m glad something can.

Yes, Happy Independence Day, or as we call it in the UK, Saturday.

@moshe
Doubt it. Perfect pitch is quite rare. Some university did a study recently and found it’s something like only 1 in 10,000.
They also compared musicians and non musicians and found no difference in ability to recognise pitch.

Trombone players are just like us trumpet players, only not as cool, obviously. Practice teaches us when a note is in tune.

@SSmith1226
I appreciate all of that, but my point still stands. Having been a Cop for 30 years I’ve seen a lot of good ideas go wrong, because they haven’t been thought through properly. I hope his scheme works out, but bad people do bad things to good people every day.

Hello. I’m Dave and I’m an alcoholic. Damn , wrong forum.

York Minster, in the UK was gutted by fire, as was Windsor Castle. We rebuilt both. The craftsman are still in existence to effect such skilled work.

I suppose I should do a serious one.

I’m Dave. Married for 46 years, two sons. The youngest is now an American! Although in his defence, he said he had his fingers crossed while taking the oath, so it doesn’t really count. And anyway he took an oath to Her Majesty the Queen as an Army Officer and a Queen outranks a President. He moved to Texas at Christmas, have yet to visit there. Covid has stopped our yearly visit. The other son is a Firefighter. I was a cop in London for 30 years, in various roles. Beat cop. Mounted Branch for 4 years. Back to beat and then into Firearms. Was what you call SWAT, as an operator and Instructor for 18years. A policy decision meant you could only specialise for 5 years, so had to move on. I moved to Royalty Protection, where I was a Bodyguard to the Royal Family. Stayed there until my 30 years was served, so retired.

Never had any musical interest, other than being a rock drummer in my teens. In my 30’s I bought a trumpet and Tune a Day book 1. I then taught myself to play and read music. Badly! I gave up several times over the years and eventually went along to a brass band. Turned out my self teaching wasn’t very good. The book said press 1 & 2 and that was an A. Turns out my A was an E, oops. Anyway gradually improved on cornet, eventually moved to tenor horn. After several years I gave up altogether. After retiring and moving to the country my wife insisted I found a hobby of some sort. I joined a local brass band, on tenor horn. Got promoted quite quickly to solo horn. After a few years I decided I didn’t really like brass band music, so left and bought a trumpet. Still have no idea what the scales are called, just look at the key and play accordingly. Played in a concert band and an orchestra, now I get to play in a local theatre in the pit band for musicals and Pantomimes. Still haven’t had a single music lesson. Can’t play without sheet music. Might retire again soon, losing interest with nothing to practice for.

@Robrtx

My toy is 42 years old.

Smith-Watkins K2 gets my vote.

My tongue does what I need for articulation. What that is, I have no clue, but pretty sure there isn’t much tongue arch stuff going on.

When I was around 40, I went into a music shop and bought a trumpet and Tune a Day book 1. I couldn’t read music. Never had a music lesson and never played any musical instrument. I taught myself to play and read music at the same time. 20 years later I get paid to play in the pit for musicals twice a year. My biggest regret is not being taught properly at a young age. There are so many gaps in my knowledge and ability, but I learn a little more as I go along. Although most weeks I decide to give up, I never do.

Same as every year. Going to bed around 10.30-11pm. Last time I saw the New Year in was 1999/2000.

@Newell-Post
I’ve been visiting my son and family every year for the last 14 years, when they lived in Arizona. I’m sure we can handle Texas.

@kehaulani said in On Line Theory:

Introducing Mr. Arban, Rapier,
(You can download copies for free. Just google.)

I’ve owned an Arban for 35 years or more. Not the theory I’m looking for.

Hurrah. Another place to browse while my wife watches some TV show I don’t like. Good work.

Surely there is also a talent/aptitude element involved?

No matter how much I trained/practiced could I ever beat Usain Bolt in a race? His natural ability would never be challenged by any training regime.

I think it might be the case with instruments. I know young people that can play better than I can even dream of doing. Playing with ease, things I struggle with. And they can’t have practiced more hours than me because they haven’t been alive long enough.

Another problem I see is that Teachers are generally people that are naturally good at their subject, and find it difficult to teach someone who doesn’t have their natural skill. Experience helps certainly, but it’s still tough. At school I was useless at Maths. Still am. No matter how my teachers used to try to explain things to me, using every method they knew, I could never grasp their meaning. The point of that example is that the good young trumpet players I know, tend to have ‘mathematical brains’. I wonder if that lends itself to natural talent/ability aspect of Trumpet playing?

My scales go up when I stand on them and the reading never seems to go down.