I have no specific preference, it just has to be artistically rewarding and not "demo music".
Best posts made by ROWUK
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RE: Do You Prefer Classical, Jazz, Rock or Other?
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RE: Is a $280 New Bach Stradivarius Trumpet too good to be true?
I do not understand the excitement. Is horn X a rip off? Well, that depends on our definition.
Most „civilized“ countries have trademark laws. If a manufacturer breaks those laws, then they pay the price. That does not make the product bad or the price point irrelevant.
What bothers me most, is the selective use of emotion. Why should anyone be pissed off when a company in China or elsewhere fills an economic need? Are we mad because the word „Stradivarius“ has been used twice? Are we mad because a band teacher should „know better“? Are we just mad because that is the current popular political vent?I see nothing wrong with this horn. I personally have a high performance standard for my own instruments not yet filled by a cheap instrument and I discuss this issue openly with my students and their parents. If they make another decision, fine. The most important thing is that the student enjoys playing and practicing. Everything else rests on those shoulders.
In 1975 a Bach trumpet was <$500 at Giardinellis in New York. I wish that salaries had inflated this much....
Kodak learned the hard way what happens when the market and the product no longer match. The digital revolution blew them out of the water. How many manufacturers of instruments are now dead. Why are they dead?
To be honest, for many kids, it is the cheap horn or no horn. They are not interested in flea market bargains on „vintage“ instruments with 50% lacquer.
Let us not let elitism screw up something very precious. There can be value at this level.
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RE: BAC Plaza
https://www.bacmusicshop.com/collection/?sort=featured
In the shop there are some horns with prices.
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RE: Valve Springs
I guess that we will get no agreement, so let us agree to disagree. Every stretched spring experiment that I know about (with my 55+ years of playing there were a few), have not improved anything. Sticky valves remained sticky, the valves were never faster and more often than not, the scraping noise from bent springs. Pages of irrelevant math do not change the basic premise, so why argue? I have all of the stuff to measure and document the changes (I train our employees and customers to operate and service thermal cutting machines where we use springs in various functions), but have no interest as I have never had a positive experience related to the trumpet or our machines.
I would further advance that springs do not increase playing speed as our fine motor activity is what it is and the quality of the valve lubrication is the deciding factor and very much subject to environmental factors (temperature, aerosols, stroke angle when depressing the valve).
In my world, stiffer springs are for calming the brain of certain players, not increasing performance.
I am always amazed at how smooth and light the action of my valves are after a „maintenance“ by technicians that I trust. I am anally retentive about cleanliness next to godliness when applied to trumpet valves, but still, they apply magic, not springs. They also are very adament about not stretching. -
RE: Valve oils
I successfully use LaTromba T2 (new bottle), Ultra Pure, Hetmans (various thicknesses) and Monster (various thicknesses). LaTromba T2 is the cheapest (in Europe). I buy it by the case.
They are all "equal" on my horns if applied properly. They are much faster than my fingers, last for at least a week of heavy playing. I have no sticking or other artifacts.
Horns that I use these oils on:
Bach 229CL
Selmer Radial 2°
Monette Raja C
Getzen Eterna 4 valve flugel
Cheap chinese pocket trumpet
All of my rotary trumpetsI also use these oils to keep my natural trumpet slides and bows from oxidizing together.
Clean horn first, wait until it is bone dry, apply oil sparingly. Never mix oils and greaes on the same horn.
It is not rocket science and I have no preference - maybe I am simply not good enough to notice? Maybe I simply do not have a "need" to have a preference? -
RE: Expressionism on trumpet
@_mark_ Well Hakan Hardenberger is in my view with a couple others, at the top of the heap.
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RE: Is a $280 New Bach Stradivarius Trumpet too good to be true?
Let's get this "higher quality made in the US" notion out of our heads. Quality has NOTHING to o with location. Quality is a function of responsible decisions in the manufacturing process. America has NOTHING that would be decisive in higher quaity instruments. Every company decides how much "quality" goes into their products. In the case of chinese manufacturers, the importers placing the order decide how much "quality should be built and they get what they pay for.
As far as Americans out of work, that is how capitalism works. Money does not care if a specific group of people are employed. It only cares if anyone is left to buy the products.
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RE: Lifetime quest finally paying off!
Here we go again - uncontrolled empirical evidence called a "solution".
I have no personal grief with any embouchure method. I do have trouble with players that attain upper register without the common sense required to use it.
One thing that I would like to offer here:
If there is any truly killer method for developing the stratospheric register: WHERE ARE ALL OF THE KILLER LEAD PLAYERS USING IT?
Think about this for a minute. Any of the popular methods have hundreds - if not thousands of followers, but we still do not have hundreds of killer lead players. Why might that be? I have thought for at least 40 years about this and here is what I came up with:
- not enough common sense
- maybe physiology IS too individual to allow any system to have advantages
- maybe the sound concept needed is not part of the method - a lead sound is a lot different than a 2nd Brandenburg, Richter, Michael Haydn sound - although the notes are the same
- maybe all methods are very incomplete
- maybe musicality and context must come first
- maybe success is all natural talent (upstream/body use/teeth formation) and luck to find a method that does not muck up the talent
My own teaching searches for the goals of the player. If one of my students wants to be a lead player, then I am the wrong person to bring them there. I can give them enough basics and range, but then they need a real lead player for attitude and context. I do not preach any embouchure method dogmatically and in my over 50 year career, I know of more players worse off than before after attempting to "change their embouchures". The most success has been through evolution, not revolution. I avoid teachers preaching revolution.
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RE: Valve Springs
@trumpetb I am in my late 60s and have been playing for over 50 years.
My Bach C229 was purchased in 1974 and still has the original springs
My Monette Raja C was built in 1989/1990 and still has the original springs
My Selmer Radial 2° Model 75 was built in 1974 and still has the original springs
My Selmer Radial 2° D trumpet was built in 1978 and still has the original springs
My Heckel rotary Bb was built in 1938 and still has the original springs
My Getzen 4 valve flugelhorn was built in the 1970s and still has the original springsThe rest of my horns are similar. They ALL get played a lot but do not need stretching or replacement. That being said, my horns do go to a technician every couple of years for a checkup and chemical clean (no ultrasound bath). My suspicion is that the spring gets blamed for valve dirt, distortion and damage because stretching is a supposed "cheaper fix".
I will not deny that there are causes to replace springs, but I see little to no reason to ever stretch - unless the valve has exceptionally long throw (like old Benges). Stretching to fine tune tension simply has no benefit.
The short throw of typical trumpet valves does not cause excessive wear on spring tension. If the valves are regularly cleaned and oiled, the spring has a very easy job and as I noted above, lasts for decades with no hit in performance.
As I previously posted, stretching the spring does unpredictable things to K - the tension. No general statement can be made except that the stretching was not worth it.
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RE: Current Italian trumpet sensation
Do not we all go through "stages" in our life before we even identify our own voice? Do not we from birth on "emulate" until we collect enough tools to follow our own path - first with attitude, then speech, then learning to walk... Do not many of us reach a level of "good enough for the gigs that I get" and actually play more than invest in new skills?
I always have trouble with out of context online criticism. I know from my own development and that of my students how many small steps are required to reach any particular goal.
I like Fabrizios playing. Thank you George for the link. I hear a lot of shedding and a certain command of the "jazz" genre. He is so far along, that many (including myself) could learn something even if he is not Miles, Cannonball or any other popular jazzer.
Let us watch his development over time. The media is not always kind to newcomers, we have a real opportunity here before others spoil it.
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RE: Wynton Marsalis trumpet
@curlydoc Wyntons classical recordings are relatively old. I remember the Hummel on a Schilke Eb and the Picc stuff also on a Schilke.
I think that if he were to make a current recording, he probably would get a made to purpose horn from Dave Monette. -
RE: Have you ever heard an Augmented Trumpet? Here's your chance (check out the video) :(
Saw the facebook entry. Lose the heavy caps and replace the leadpipe and receiver and the horn would be well on its way to at least being in tune. This problem pops up even with professional trumpets. Monke rotary Bb and C trumpets occasionally had the same issue. The G on my natural trumpet is "naturally a bit high". Not quite this much, but it does require attention on a regular basis.
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RE: Lifetime quest finally paying off!
This whole thread is just like every other one where somebody thinks that they are on to something and are completely blinded to reality. The long repetitive posts are a sure giveaway.
I posted this once before - if there was ANY killer system, where are all of the killer players using it? All of the blah, blah about teeth, lips may work for a "few" but a disciple is usually the WORST person to have. They simply lack the holistic view of the world as it is.
The biggest joke is the so called opposition to the method. Just because we do not believe "Sound Advice" does not mean that we discredit Stevens or Costello. I generally oppose zealots of any color. Just let him have his rant on this thread. I really see nothing to discuss.
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RE: Carol Brass Sticky Valves
Breaking in the valves can take a while. The tighter the tolerances, the longer it takes.
I also use T2 oil which is on the very thin side - which is good for tight valves.
In many cases, the player does not push the valves down straight when playing. When valves are not broken in, that can cause them to bind. The solution is to practice more, fast and slow which will cause minor wear (breaking in) according to the geometry of your hand.
A second possibility is the grip of death from the left hand. I remember in the Renold Schilke days his new horns needing considerable break in and easing up the intensity of the left hand grip went a long way in improving the situation.
It is important that you inform your dealer and wait for instructions. I would be VERY hesitant to have any hack try to polish something out. The correct procedure is called lapping.
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RE: How do I begin to learn "jazz trumpet?"
The human state is a huge shoebox full of single entities. The process for learning is to emulate first and then through the coordination of things collected in the shoebox, we get a result.
I would offer that the "beginning" jazz trumpeter with a "classical" mindset needs building blocks and structure to get started. Scales and chords should be memorized. Then Aebersol is much less daunting.The next step is to fill that shoebox with melodies - memorized. Any of the fakebooks are great for standards! They also provide snippets of structure that help us keep from getting lost
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RE: LONG TONES
We can play longtones intelligently or carelessly. That is the difference between working or wasting.
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RE: First Valve Slide and more
@SSmith1226 The F being sharp is very unusual. E and D will be sharp and need a bit of correction. That being said, vintage instruments (the days before first valve slides) often had a slightly too long first valve slide. Someone that had habits from a vintage instrument can have acclimatisation issues when switching to a "new" horn. If it bothers you, there is nothing wrong with putting a spacer on the first valve so that it does not go all the way in.
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RE: Vernacular (of range)
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;-)
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RE: What Are You Doing New Years, New Years Eve
New Years Eve: Spectacular baroque D- Major (actually in historic pitch so it is glorious Db major)
New Years (and the rest of January): New Years concerts with operetta works from Strauss father and Son, Lehár, Bizet, Liszt, Kálmán, Stoltz plus musicals.
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RE: Looking for F trumpet
The F trumpet is not popular because of one reason: security. That is the main reason for the ever shorter instruments most used today. Our standard Bb trumpet today used to be called the "high Bb trumpet" by the F trumpet players. They criticised the smaller horns for their "tone".
My F trumpet is in tune. Due to its length however, it does not blend in a section of modern Bb trumpets. The tone is dramatically different.