Posts made by ROWUK

I am really amazed how stupid people can be. I mean, this little bit of "lockdown" is NOTHING compared to the sacrifices from many other events in human history. We basically have all the amenities of modern life - and are very ungrateful.

Even if we view this in respect to loving our neighbors as ourselves, we realize how selfish and unchristian this behavior is.

Even talking about how Covid has caused restriction of "our constitutional rights" shows how perverted many Americans view of freedom is.

To be honest, there is nowhere else that I would like to be than in Germany right now (well, New Zealand is also on the same page). At least there is responsible behavior and government listening to the medical community instead of morons dictating stupidity!

I do not know of one single musician with nothing to work on. This is a wonderful opportunity to break normal lifes lockdown on our grooming of basics.

@Dr-Mark I learn that we need an intimate connection to the BASICS - regardless of how advanced certain aspects of our playing might be.

@Kehaulani said in Seeking input on Rules:

Well, as I read it, it's not a pursuit for perfection, rather an arbitrary time frame to just meet the challenge of doing what one can do within a timef frame; something to do for fun and challenge during this virus period to beat the boredom.

Never waste a note...

Very good masterclass. Jack is already an amazing player and Håkan still was able to take him to a higher level - with BASICS! Breathing according to plan, rhythm and concept of tone are not "high level" things that wee need a master for - or do we?

Basically we can listen to anything that Håkan does. He has earned that respect!

The only downside - Jack asked no questions...

I certainly need more than a week for any of the Charlier trancendental etudes. It has been on my stand for about 2 months and I get about 30 min/day with it. So much to tie together.

@Kehaulani You probably are right about my "standards" although I have been known to watch TV while holding out longtones (especially recently where I got full lower dentures and needed to acclimate - slowly and with as little pain as possible-to those listening).

So it also is with embedding the picc between the serious big horn sessions. This keeps our chops "grounded" and prevents or at least limits the possibility of bad habits.

As I said, the picc has traditionally been the money maker and I can recommend it to any medium to advanced players (my students also get sessions of picc playing in irregular intervals).

Even more important, is for someone new here to realize that there are players here that play just about every repertory - at very high levels. That should be kept in mind when speaking of "promising", "good", "bad" or "just for fun".

My take on the piccolo trumpet? It is simply another trumpet. Any instrument needs time to figure out what it can do. That means IF we are interested, we start slowly and build basic skills - then move to more difficult things.

Samurai, you documented a VERY serious weakness in your playing. "I recently borrowed a piccolo trumpet from a friend and tried playing "Bolero" and "Exhibition"."
What did you expect? You claim to have played it well on the C trumpet - do you think that your definition of "well" is the same as mine (serious question). Would the truth be more like "I barely get through with the C but crash with the picc"? I have played first trumpet often enough on Pictures - it is serious work even for professional players.

I use a G trumpet with a big bell for Schmüyle (everything else on the Bb or C depending on the orchestra. He was a skinny, lying, cheating, nervous runt and probably owed Samuel Goldenberg money. That nervousness is not what I associate with the picc. I play the high Bolero part on the D trumpet.

The picc is/was an incredible opportunity for me to earn money on church gigs - supporting even until today, my trumpet collecting.

When I get a new trumpet, I stay in the comfort zone for as long as it takes to get acclimated. With the Bb picc that was high C above the staff. I played easy oboe and recorder chamber music at the beginning. Then came "glorious C and D major baroque trumpet literature". I always warmed up with the big trumpet and finished the practice session with the same. The picc was "embedded" in between. Clarke, Arban - all of the same routines - just up an octave. I do not post about my adventures until I have figured out how things work. I certainly do not assume that anyone is impressed by the "hard music" that I claim to have tried.

So, back to the serious weakness: when we approach something, we need to start slowly. We are creatures of habit and if we jump into the deep end, we usually develop bad habits that are much more difficult to cure later. Thoughtful practice means that we know our strengths and weaknesses and practice to perfect. With THIS attitude, the picc is a project for a month or two before we can start to make music. After that, we simply practice it along with our other instruments and keep balance. It is just another trumpet.

Do we really have a "problem" or is life in general simply a challenge sometimes?

To be honest, one of the things that irritated me most at Trumpetmaster was the lowest common denominator thinking for conflict resolution. I was often accused of "abusing" my moderator position when having an opinion. There were enough members that felt "attacked" when called out on something controversial that they posted. My life was threatened twice and I had to go to the police station (in Germany) twice to make statements (different issues).

Sure, there are certain things that I consider "below the belt". Do I need "rules" to deal with that? (no) Do such rules simply move the attitude and danger "underground". (yes)

I think that lowest common denominator is the end of any society. I think that vehemently disagreeing is not a bad thing. As this is an open internet forum, there is no law requiring TrumpetBoards to let everyone in or even throwing them out with no reason given.

Those that want a haven on the internet for free that bends to the whim of the day simply should stay off line.

In theory, membership could be by audition with a probationary period - just like with any professional symphony orchestra on the planet.

I do not have to like anyone elses opinion. I certainly treasure their ability to have it however.

My personal opinion is that what is missing is not "rules", it is respect. By respect, I mean finding out what qualifications one has to make a definitive statement, and if the qualifications are "high enough", treating those statements as well founded - even if I do not agree. Unfortunately there are a lot of people with no qualifications that are powerful posters - but with no redeeming value. Those people would not DREAM of standing up at ITG and saying the same things that they post.

Have a great week. Stay healthy!

Robin

Believe me, they do not even invite people without practical experience in other professional orchestras. Their choice of excerpts will be used to define how "all round" the candidate is. Even if they win the audition, they will have 6-12 months "Probezeit" after which they get a permanent contract. The big orchestras are not making very many mistakes in the audition process.

Staying in shape is a process. Currently we are replacing certain opportunities with others and this can affect our playing in a serious way.
When we play in large rooms (bandroom or concert venues), what reaches our ears is considerably different than playing with a mute or in a small practiceroom/bedroom.

We need to find larger spaces to practice in. That promotes tone and the servo loop Player/horn->room->ears/brain. We are creatures of habit. Improve our habits and our playing becomes more stable. Even playing outdoors is a BIG help s tone has an opportunity to develop.

Germany has a different division. E-Musik (Ernst/Serious) od U-Musik (Unterhaltung/Entertainment).

This example is U-Musik for me.

@Kehaulani said in New Player has entered the Game:

@ROWUK said in New Player has entered the Game:

@IrishTrumpeter
My son lives and works near Cork. If Covid settles down, I may visit this year.

Getting a Jones for some Guinness.

Actually, Guiness is Dublin. Jameson is Cork...

This is not an opportunity for me to rant, but here would be a shortlist of things that would make things more enjoyable in my opinion:

1. Threads that stay on topic - splitting threads when they get off topic.
2. an end to the "class clown" posts in many threads. I do not get the humor.
3. Method/process instead of opinion - thinking and posting about how we got to a decision is more important to me than throwing up on the music stand!
4. The ability to criticize without starting a war. I really believe in challenging beliefs (even my own).
5. I often get the feeling that certain members should be asking questions instead of making statements. It is hard to put that in print without dropping a bomb.

I would like to see some true "in thread tutorship". Maybe even restricted to 2 people! That requires a willing, thoughtful student and a teacher with their heart in the right place. When someone comes here to visit and 10 people pile on (many perhaps not even qualified), it is overwhelming. At TrumpetMaster, several of us did this by PM to keep the Riff-Raff out.

Serious pimping of trumpets (not eye candy) is something that we occasionally get to see - but without objective reviews (except for Ivan).

@IrishTrumpeter
My son lives and works near Cork. If Covid settles down, I may visit this year.

I have no specific preference, it just has to be artistically rewarding and not "demo music".

Here are a couple of my wood projects:
Cherry

Oak

Baltic Birch Plywood (the horns are fibreglass)

Username, if you live in Germany, get in contact with me. I live near Frankfurt/Main and we could go through all of the motions BEFORE you decide in which direction to go. It makes no sense to "import" a trumpet if you are just getting started. Germany has enough instruments available with no customs issues.

@Trumpetsplus: the resonance enhancers are a simple way to non invasively try something out. The benefits are certainly better than heavy caps for most instruments that I have tried them on. They have an effect similar to putting supports between the leadpipe and valve 1 and 3 instead of only on #2.

Most of the time, the pimps simply demonstrate that the owner had no process for picking the right horn in the first place. If they did, generally they can find one that does what its supposed to without any pimp. For instance, they buy a Bach 180 model, but do not like that much "core", so they unbalance the design with a pimp, normally making something worse for every thing that is viewed as "positive".

I can't count how many Bach owners drilled out the throat of their mouthpiece to "fix" something that was not broken - or to compensate for something that was not right instead of fixing it.