Best posts made by ROWUK

I can appreciate the question. Back at the old place I started at a time where the web had novelty for me. I had little or no other "social media" on my plate. My level of interest in repeating myself was certainly far different than it is today. Still today, I have essentially no motivation to start that over again. Whether it stays that way, or if something pops up to spark my interest, I simply do not know. Currently the additional time behind the horn reaps fruits - that the Internet does not. Sorry.

It looks like a standard Bach to me. It has the finger ring, stop rod and double tuning slide brace.

I don't really think about what trumpet any artist plays, I only think about what they accomplished and with Alan, the list is long!

When people that we love and admire die, it gives us the opportunity to figure out what they really meant to us. In many cases, towards the end, we see them less and do not "live" the deterioration. The lasting personal memory is of a person getting stuff done.

As we are the sum of all influences in life, we have a lot to be thankful for - but only limited means to "pay back" the debt. Honor the giants on whose shoulders you stand - each in her/his own way. We do not need huge public displays although if the opportunity arises, take it with humility and reverence.

I see death as the release from the earthly state, going to a place with no pain and no need to answer any more questions or solve problems. Our influence can (and should) long extend after death.

Traditionally, octaves have ALWAYS started on C. The 4 foot/8 foot/16 foot registers all refer to concert C. A 32 foot organ pipe refers to a C.

If C is the start of an octave, everything else is clear once we decide what to call the C. Here is where tradition has left us with multiple options. C0 to C9 is very clear, but makes it difficult to brag to the uneducated.

For a trumpeter, it is common to refer to pedal C (2nd space bass clef), low C(one line below the treble clef), mid C (third space), high C(2 ledger lines above the treble clef) and double C (an octave above that).

The devils advocate would say that the typical trumpeters double C is only a high concert Bb...

To confuse the hell out of this: Tubas are sold as BB or CC tubas - double Bb or double C;-)

@Dr-GO Can I pinch a fag?

@_mark_ Then all that is left is to be patient and remember that thousands of low impact repetitions build good habits. Getting in a hurry is pure poison. I have a glass of water near my practice chair. If things get congested (tonguing, breathing, chops, brain), it is amazing how much a sip of water helps.

@ssmith1226 The solution for intonation is a combination of things: matching the mouthpiece backbore, leadpipe, mass at specific places and bracing.

@Kehaulani I am probably 100% dogmatic (not periodic). I like the pleasures of doing things that work. Reaching goals, getting stuff done just appeals to me and the straight and narrow have served me well.

The pedal tone is actually the fundamental, everything else are partials.

This is all fine and good, but is the excuse - other things are bad for you too the right argument? Even if a mouthpiece is plated, is what we "think" or "assume" even asked for. We have a lot of Americans believing anything that they want to - from guns to global warming. It is hard to find enough facts outside of the emotion and populist BS being spread thick.

California did not dream lead poisoning up. They announced levels for legislation long before the laws took effect. That is an OK process in my book. It is also what I expect from a reasonable functional government. Don't clobber overnight, give the industries time to adjust. If they sleep on this, goodbye - or move out of state and don't sell in California. Make the Californians travel to Tijuana if they disagree with the policy.

Based on an instrument that they built for Joe Alessi. Hmmm. Aren't all trombones (even the el cheapo ones) based on some great
instrument? When I read marketing trash like this, I wonder why they do not build that exact model. With todays material science and still available "old world" manufacturing skills, it is certainly possible!

@USAFBugler Yes, some older trumpets out of the US were built around A=440 and the current A=442 or 443 just makes life hard to impossible. The solution is to cut the instrument down - preferably at the stem of the bell. Then it could end up better than ever (because you can use it). What usually does not work is shortening it at the tuning slide or mouthpiece.

I have a Selmer Radial 2° D/Eb built in the early 1970s and after taking a bit off of the bell stem to raise the tuning pitch, it is much, much better than before.

@Kehaulani Actually, my brand new lower dentures are making me think a lot about where my tongue is...

@Dr-GO said in Frustrated:

To me Rowuk was the role model of moderators. Tough love is the best!

Thank you, but I was not trying to be a role model. I was just trying to keep the fluff out. There was nothing to prove - except that discourse needs more than a weak opinion.

@kehaulani said in Tough Decision to make:

Good grief. Isn't the OP's question simply which of two horns to buy? You play them both and pick the one that plays and sounds the best and is well built.. If it's a tie, go with nostalgia or it's mystique to you.

It's not rocket science or polemics or pseudo creative writing 101.

If it were only this easy. There are so many reasons to buy a horn. I have 20+ and identify with each one. Every one has its use case. They all get played without having to make up stories about why.

That being said, we are creatures of habit and I am convinced that it takes months to really acclimate - then the sound and blow is considerably different than the first impression.

We can play longtones intelligently or carelessly. That is the difference between working or wasting.

A good practice routine is something that does not necessarily make me feel good. It is a serious collection of things that make the player „better“. Routine for me is not the same thing every day either. If I have gigs with more extended upper range requirements, I do range exercizes every second day or so. Technical studies I often treat the same way.

What is most important to me is the frame of mind, the idea of not wasting a note, containing lesser controlled behaviour. If I am on a run with great results in a specific area, I allow myself to keep moving in that direction instead of being submissive to a recipe.

I do have some basics that I do play every day. That is far from the complete daily pensum however. The daily stuff I call „circle of breath“. It is posted elsewhere here.

The thread owner needs to clear some stuff up. Nothing makes sense.

@administrator There are fixes for the intonation issues on Bach C Trumpets. My mid '70s 229 CL is VERY in tune. No alternate fingerings needed. My modifications were extensive.

Ivan from Jaeger trumpets visited a while back. He also knows what to do. We had a great time playing duets. I still have not managed to visit him in south Germany yet, but I will be in his area this summer and will make the effort.

I think that the cat and mouse have shown both sides. I believe that there are many paths to Rome. I have stopped using the word "buzz" to stay out of discussions just like this - surely splitting hairs, but simply describing "ignition" to get the standing wave in the horn going. Without it, we are just blowing air through a tube. It is not possible to play a tone without the lips being ignited. They open and close like a switch in harmony with a multiple of the resonant frequency of the horn. The more supple the lip and embouchure, the easier that it is to play.

Now, we all know that embouchure changes (jaw position belongs to that) are a dangerous thing for most as there is no applicable reference for success. In my small world, embouchure changes are more luck than skill. That is why I prefer evolution to revolution. I do not ask (or care) the player if they phoo, BRRR or ZZZZ. They play long tones with NO ARTICULATION. The lips must ignite on a whisp of air. I try and stabilize the geometry regardless how it lies. Then the player gets a steady diet of long tones and lip slurs to build and strengthen. Once the art of creating sound is stable, we add microscopic amounts of articulation to chop the tone into intelligible pieces. This is like learning to talk and in my international experience is VERY tied to the players mother tongue.

Now, moving the jaw could very much change the playing field from downstream to upstream with dramatic changes to the geometry of playing. I know many upstream players with great high chops, but also know enough downstream players that also are not slouches (do we change embouchures for any other reason?). I have not investigated this deeply. Those students that come to me for lessons get the evolution routine regardless of what they bring to the table. Some fly with it, others just get more stable.

Now, one word of warning. I learned first hand at TrumpetMaster that pedantic, repetitive posting never results in anyone taking ones side. Generally the target audience just goes away shaking their heads. Sometimes passion is too close to politics or religion (with a small R).

Time to clean up your websites. Nothing that demonstrates a superior attitude more than keeping the creative juices flowing. I can imagine that people stuck at home would spend more time online. It would be a good thing to have a big chunk of that time.