Sometimes you have to make your own.

The Conn 80A's are great.

@adc said in Favorite Cornet:

Nice. I can't stand to play a new (old) horn until I thoroughly clean and sanitize it.

I can't stand to wait. I play it right out of the box the minute I get it. Then I take it in for cleaning and repairs. I also want to know the before and after of that process.

After:

Well, since this thread popped up, I'll relate a recent occurance.

Last Saturday was the first band practice in over a year. Trad jazz. New band. Never met these people before in person.

For a year I've practiced playing from lead sheets and doing improv. Occasionally use backing tracks. But mostly just improvising on the songs. I start in a different key and practice that too.

I wondered how it would all sound when playing with others. The answer? Wow, pretty darn well. The pandemic has given me the time to work on improv in the safety of my own home.

Now I say, "Give me the solo, man!"

Any theory involved in what I did? No. But also I've spent a year listening to a lot of music in this style. So that gets internalized and comes out.

Would it happen if I listened to another style. Yes. Works that way too. Listen, internalize, play and away we go.

I think it also relates to math ability. Rhythms seem to be a problem for people. It's not the notes, it's the rhythm. People get lost. Also having the beat in the back of your head that allows you to know where in the measure you are is huge. I've been in so many groups where a difficult passage means the player slows down and is immediately lost.

And then there is the reading text issue related thing. When you read text, do you look at all the letters? Of course not. You read the sentence. Same thing in music. You read the phrases. You see the whole line. No?

Or are you thinking of how to produce the sound and playing and can't spare attention to the music?

I think there's something like that going on?

I'll just stick with my Toreador. Have fun with the Conn.

Sometimes the planets line up just right between you and the cornet. Mine is a H.N. White Clevelander with the original mouthpiece. I have two of them just to make sure if anything ever happens, I can play the spare while I'm getting the primary fixed.

@georgeb said in Traits that make a great sight reader?:

@dr-go said in Traits that make a great sight reader?:

I believe the hardest part of sight reading is being able to count. What really trips me up the most is reading where NOT to play (the rests) more so than were TO play (the notes). It all comes down to the rhythm, the feel of the song. That is what I find most challenging regarding sight reading.

I would have to agree with Doc on this part of sight reading, especially the rhythm. I don't realize how wrong I sometime get this in new pieces until I am playing with others. Then it all falls into place.

I've always found sight reading easy. But with difficult rhythms, I still use a pencil to mark downbeats in a measure. I've had band mates try this and they were amazed at how much it helped. I'm surprised at how little people mark their music to help themselves.

I was in a bar band in high school. This was one of the songs that we really played well. Very popular.

Oh yea, bar band, teenagers playing in bars, it was the early 70's. I'm guessing it wouldn't happen these days. Our lead singer always got lots of female attention. Bar ladies loved that guy. Only a skosh older than him. Heh.

I spend most of my time playing french horn. Or as we like to call it, horn. Does that qualify as a bigger horn?

As for why there isn't another thread, possibly because players of other horns don't spend all their time talking about it online?

@kehaulani said in I cannot find a 28b Connstellation anywhere. Is there a way to "create" one?:

Interested in a Cornet?
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/109527462399665/?hoisted_items=748387889831393

Good grief. That is a ridiculous price for a 28A. I would sell mine for $500. I just got it and had it completely worked over including valve alignement. I just have too many horns.

Wow! Just wow! Thank you for posting that. I'm passing it around to my trumpet playing friends.

Fixing Bach mouthpieces is what Curry did and does. The ability to have consistency across the board with sizes and configurations allows us to have dependable results in our playing.

@j-jericho said in Mouthpiece issue:

I always find it odd and annoying when a new member posts a question (in this case, two), gets good responses, and then........... nothing! No acknowledgement, no more posts.......... nothing!

Frequently I ask a question of them before adding anything else. That is to find out if they are still there and paying attention. I also ask myself if the comments I make are to help them, or just to impress everyone with my vast knowledge. If it is the latter, I usually skip posting.

Of course that means the world is denied a huge opportunity to expand their knowledge base and be guided to enlightenment. Ooops. Maybe this was one not to post.

Had a few falls, broke ribs, having trouble holding the trumpet, difficulty with low notes and looking for answers. Sounds like a general conditioning program is in order. What kind of rehab are you doing and what is the physical fitness regime going forward?

@trumpetb said in Could there be another Bix today:

Bix is the only musician who created a separate and distinct jazz style"

Well, I think we can agree that the statement above is simply not true. He did innovate but he also pulled from classical composers and integrated that into his jazz music.

You forget that if Bix heard it, he could play it. It is realistic to think he internalized everything he heard. He was, therefore, educated in music in a way that was quite serviceable. Most players of that time did not read music. They also "knew" music in an intimate way and were also educated because of that.

Last night I had a gig with a jazz big band. I played a Conn 80A cornet in a section of trumpets. I thought I sounded appropriate. At the break, my friend the trombone player told me he heard a really dark and smokey sound coming from the trumpet section during a solo. He looked over and it was me. He knows that cornet so knew immediately the source of the sound difference. I should add that I was playing a shallow mouthpiece. I guess I didn't have quite the sound I thought I did.

Check TB and TH for cornet discussions. They generally don't go on very long and are not frequent. Many trumpet players have never played a cornet. Many players have no idea what they would do with a cornet.

So, small market with limited interest answers your question.

@j-jericho said in Body Mapping for Trumpet Players:

@dr-go said in Body Mapping for Trumpet Players:
I would love to hear commentary as to how member agree or disagree with some of this concepts. Here is a pdf of the original article. Enjoy!

https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3683&context=thesesdissertations

This study is a nice checklist for achieving a relaxed, comfortable, efficient way to play without unnecessary stress. Thanks for posting it! I suspect that many players automatically do most, and perhaps all, of the suggestions made in the paper, especially if they''re in tune with their own bodies. Explaining why each part of the body is optimized in selected positions is good reinforcement. The mention of a goal for how to use the embouchure and air is a nice addition, too. The suggestions for additional reading are comprehensive and very welcome!

In your subsequent post you mentioned the pinky ring. Personally, I use it by default, because I find that doing so positions my fingers for maximum mechanical advantage, and because this has the resultant benefit of introducing the minimum of side force on the valves, prolonging valve life. Other than a valve trill involving an open note and a valved note, which can involve the wrist in playing the trill faster when the pinkie ring is not used, I find no difference in speed and effort in fast passages whether the pinkie ring is used or not. Besides, not having to choose when to use the ring is one less thing to have to deal with, however small this decision may be.

Interesting. Lately when going from mute to different mute quickly when playing, my pinky stays in the ring. I've found it to help stabilize the horn on my face and make playing easier.