Posts made by Richard III

I have a friend that runs a big band that has been together for years. Their book is in the low two hundreds. All numbered. He'll call out the tune by number. Everybody flips to that page and away they go. I suspect they could almost do them from memory.

My small band has currently 33 songs in the book. The other horn player wants to number them. When I call the song, he wants to know the number. All well and good except I keep adding songs, so the numbers change. Poor guy ends up flipping around. Piano player looks around (all memorized) and asks if we're ready. Waiting on the other horn player is always the reply.

Why so few songs? My fault. All of our songs are originally just for piano. It takes me a bit of time to re-work them for our instrumentation and get the kinks out. We've been doing this for 6-7 months.

I forgot to also add, my band usually has a set list for the first set but after that we adjust because the audience may change. Or we get a very good response to one tune so we pull out ones that will appeal to that crowd.

With regards to memorization, my piano player memorizes everything. Works until I want to call a section or change. Oops.

And then there's the aging brain. Usually once in a gig I'll have one of those moments where I look at the music in the middle of a song and forget what I'm doing.

@tjcombo said in Set lists:

@Mike-Ansberry +1 for the iPad Mike. All charts for all bands in the one place. Set-lists can be put together quicker than sifting through a folder.
Real Books are there if someone calls an unfamiliar tune at a jam - or if you need to pass a chart to someone who doesn't know a tune. Can take a screenshot and email a chat in an instant.
But wait there's more... With an AirTurn Ped there's no problem with page turns.

Funny story, a local pro player sat in on an outdoor gig with my community band a while back. He explained that he didn't trust the technology and had stories of it going awry. The wind blew up and everyone was frantically trying to keep their "reliable" charts on the stands while my iPad didn't budge.

I know a guy who every time I see him perform, the pedal thing loses connection with the iPad. Plus I have songs that are three or four pages with repeats back to page two or some other thing. I'll stick with the book of paper.

@adc said in Favorite Cornet:

@Richard-III
Yea I say one on ebay..figured it would play like the 36A or the Master

I have mine listed on Ebay. I've hinted that it's like a King Master but I can't say it is exactly the same as I've never played a Master.

Has anyone played the Reynolds Professional back to back with a King Master? They have the same configuration as Foster Reynolds helped with the original design of the Master.

@Dr-GO said in Could you have a metal allergy?:

@Richard-III said in Could you have a metal allergy?:

Thanks for all the info.

Richard-III you are so welcome. Hope all does work out for your current mouthpiece. If you do notice any of the symptoms starting, one option is gold plating. Gold chops does this for $35. I think it would be worth the try as gold has a great feel and less of a chance of developing a contact dermatitis. Plastic mouthpieces would be an alternative.

Thanks. I was just asking for others and out of curiosity. I've never had an issue or allergic reaction with any mouthpiece. I don't know why as I've had reactions to metal everywhere else on my body. I've also played really old mouthpieces that were quite worn and the plating very thin with no problems. And I'm talking about many hours a day, every day for years and no reaction. I also play on horns with the lacquer removed with no problems. True that wearing a ring or watch for 16 hours a day is not the same as playing 2-5 hours a day. Exposure level is obviously different. The people who are reactive must be extremely reactive. I would ask them if they have the same issues with rings, watches and piercings.

Thanks for all the info.

The article linked by the OP in this thread contained this quote:

“I would feel this tingling or stinging when I put the metal mouthpiece up to my face, but I played through it because it always felt like that. It was really during the last two years when I started to feel serious pain, where it hurt to play or even touch my face after I’d been playing.”

Doesn't sound like contact dermatitis to me. I get what a metal allergy is. I have it. A watch or ring worn continuously for weeks will eventually give me a rash. Titanium or surgical steel does not do that. So when I hear players say they are allergic to metal and the symptoms are not rashes or other skin lesions, but actual pain, I'm curious as to the mechanism. I should also point out that no mouthpiece has every given me an issue.

Quote from several sources:

Nickel allergy signs and symptoms include:

Rash or bumps on the skin
Itching, which may be severe
Redness or changes in skin color
Dry patches of skin that may resemble a burn
Blisters and draining fluid in severe cases

The same sources say that it takes up to 72 hours for symptoms to appear.

I can't seem to find any reference that indicates the instant reaction that has been described when sensitive to a mouthpiece metal. Can anyone point me to that? Further I can't find any reference to pain or other neurological reaction that has been described. I'm curious about the mechanism of this. Thanks.

Here's the analogy I always tell people. Playing the baritone horn is like riding a bike with training wheels. Pretty hard to fall off. Playing a trumpet is like riding a bicycle. Once you learn, you pretty much get it. Playing a french horn is like riding a unicycle on ice. Even when you are really good, bad things can happen at any moment.

I played FH for one year in college because the band had none. It was fun and then I went back to trumpet. Now retired, I started a brass quintet and bought a horn to play because we didn't have a horn player. Three years later, that's all I play in all my groups. I play a double horn in community band and a marching french horn in small jazz groups. I now think in horn for fingerings and such. When I get a chance to play trumpet, it's a struggle because of the different fingerings.

Plus, with horn, I rarely get tired. Trumpet players who switch to horn have a huge range advantage as well as an endurance advantage. Go us!

Having had a quintet in the past with varying members, I largely picked the songs and did the arrangements. I had to work with varying degrees of expertise with regards to the different players. Some were meek and others a bit pushy. Personalities aside, usually I made the final decisions. I continually asked for comments and contributions, but many players just want to show up and play.

Once again, someone posted that their horn has the best valves of all of their instruments. I have many different instruments. Very old to virtually new. I have many different brands represented in the collection. None of my instruments has bad valves. The best valves?

What does that mean? If you've said this, what are you talking about? What makes for great valves?

@Bob-Pixley said in Are you a fan of early 1900's music?:

I played in a parlor/society orchestra for a while and it was fun. Some of the parts were written for clarinet and trumpet/cornet in A. I made good use of a beat-up 1925 Conn 22B New York Symphony Orchestra trumpet I owned at the time that had a rotary valve in the tuning slide that switched the trumpet from Bb to A. It worked pretty well.

Cool horn. I am searching for an A tuning bit for my 1886 Conn Wonder:

The site says early 1900's. But when I go there, it says 20's and 30's. Do they do earlier? I play a lot of late 1800's to 1912 music. Admittedly because my piano player is a ragtime specialist and we are preparing for a ragtime festival, but still, early stuff is cool.

Having known a few people in nursing homes, I can say most would enjoy a little concert in the common room. If I lived closer, I would bring the band over and you could play with us. I'll bet there's one near you that would also want to do that.

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

@adc said in 1953 Conn 80A Cornet:

@Richard-III said in 1953 Conn 80A Cornet:

Okay. I like bottom sprung valves. So much less complicated. I can switch them out for the feel I like. And when putting the valves back in the casings, there's no way to get them turned in the wrong direction. Very simple system that works great, for me. My 80A always gets admiring looks from the trumpet playing crowd and they love the feel of the valves when they try it.

I would have given my 80A to a needy school kid but oiling the valves is to hard. Gluing the corks to the top of the piston helps. But I personally think its the dumbest idea Conn ever came up with. Hint: It is no longer used and no onelse uses it. Once in a blue moon I can change top springs out in about 5 minutes. But again..just me. Almost ever old cornet IO have bought (a bunch) immediately gets Yamaha springs

That horn is mighty pretty!!!!!

Cool. Give it to me. I have no problem with the valves.

Okay. I like bottom sprung valves. So much less complicated. I can switch them out for the feel I like. And when putting the valves back in the casings, there's no way to get them turned in the wrong direction. Very simple system that works great, for me. My 80A always gets admiring looks from the trumpet playing crowd and they love the feel of the valves when they try it.

The Conn Wonder has an interesting feature. Note the small devices on the tuning slide. They allow pushing the slide in with the left thumb and pushing it out with one of the fingers using a normal left hand grip. Should you want to adjust tuning on the fly, it is quite easy.

Also, I haven't measured the bore size, but it certainly feels like a small bore. Very easy to play from low to high with a consistent tone.

Anybody know more about this cornet?

Favorite? Not sure at this moment due to some recent acquisitions. I meant to buy an old Bb made by M. Dupont, Paris. No serial number on it, so I'm not sure when it was made.

As it turns out, the cornet is in the key of C.

Then I added a Bb Conn Wonder from the late 1800's. That showed up and it was in pretty good shape. Just got it back from the repair technician. Plays great.

!

So that made a new one in C and Bb. I thought I would also include my Boosey & Hawkes Eb cornet to show the compete set. Pretty much have everything covered now.