All those ideas work. But really what is the problem? Is it your fingers being stiff? Is it your brain being old and stiff? Is it your equipment not allowing the note to speak with minimal effort. Or is it something else? This will scare you. I was working on very technical and fast pieces this afternoon against a metronome. Worked through my mouthpiece collection until I found the one that allowed centered notes and fast articulations. I could then play the pieces at the correct speed. How about that? Equipment was the answer.

@Shifty said in Crickets?:

@Kehaulani said in Crickets?:

Hey Richard, I can't find a forum page on http://euphonium.com/index.html. Where do I look?

Perhaps he meant here: http://www.dwerden.com/forum/forum.php#.XhtsvshKhEY

Oops. Too many sites. That is it. Thanks. I have it bookmarked as just "euphonium."

Both here and TH has changed a bit. Here the contributions have stayed with the TM trend, frequently devolving into silliness. TH has had the influence of the very young crowd. Both means that I rarely find anything of interest. I spend a bit more time on Euphonium.com because that's what I'm working on now. But even there, how much do you want to read about this horn or that, this mouthpiece or that.

And then there is a cheaper idea. Buy this book:

link text

There is a similar question on TH right now. You might want to read that one for a different take on the subject.

@flugelgirl said in Mute Musings:

Corks ar meant to be sanded so they properly fit the bell. Since bell flares can be very different, sometimes when you get a new horn you need to replace your mute corks. Mutes that fit my last daily player well needed replacements to fit my current horn correctly.

Just what I was thinking. My latest trumpet acquisition has a larger flare and my usual harmon mute just fell out of the horn. Bought a new one and all is good. I also have a very small flared horn and that one took a lot of shaving of corks to get a good fit.

Another really good source for exercises is the series at the end of St. Jacome Trumpet Method. Lots of runs and intervals working through the entire range. I find them great for pretty much everything.

I only have one group in my area as it is very limited in size and players. Most in the community band do not practice. I worked my way up from third trumpet to first. Then I started to switch off between trumpet and french horn due to needs of individual songs. For over a year now, I have been just playing horn in the band. Our section is much more professional and really we don't even need practices. Not so the trumpet section. So I'm happier in this section.

I have a friend who has played trumpet, tuba and baritone in the band depending on need at the time. I think he is happiest when playing tuba by himself in the band.

So don't overlook other instruments.

In some cases it took many Ebay bargains to find really nice playing instruments. My favorite cornet and trumpet were made between 1937 and 1947. Can't exactly go to a local store and try those out. Each one was the second or third copy of that instrument I purchased, looking for a better example. And also so I have a backup in case the primary has an issue.

@Dr-Mark said in Tuning Tendencies:

@Richard-III said in Tuning Tendencies:

Totally agree with the behind the bell and the actual sound being different. I've recorded many a practice and performance and listened back. Some instruments have issues to work around and others are just about perfect, with no slide use. Listen to some old recordings before there were slides and recording technology to correct tuning and they managed to play in tune. So why not now?

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That's a great question but I'm not knowledged enough in antique trumpets to answer. I know little to nothing about old horns. However, there are people on this site that can field this question. We have serious brass technicians and trumpet builders that can answer your question. Possibly trumpetsplus or flugelgirl can help.

I guess everyone doesn't know about the longer first and third slides in older trumpets? Players were expected to listen and play in tune. The low D and C# were much closer. The D in the staff tended to be a little flat. Each horn had its tendencies, You learned them and played in tune. My newest trumpet was made in the early sixties. My favorites were made in the late thirties and early forties. They are quite easy to play and easy to play in tune.