Posts made by ROWUK

I think that you guys are getting off track - like on so many threads here. I prefer hammering the shit out of people (thank you Dr. Mark!)

Youtube Video

You want to watch this!

Here is where I would disagree on many counts. The „vintage“ recordings offer a lot more insight - even more than today where the homogenization and pasteurization in the studio changes the „facts“. The vintage recordings have all of the „bite“ and „substance“, we just need decent playback to make it work.

I would also disagree on Bb vs C comparison. To me it is the musicality of the player, not the slight difference in overtones. C Trumpets have been popular in US orchestras since the 1950s. I do perform romantic german music on a rotary Bb however. The vintage german instruments did NOT have a consistent sound throughout the registers. The lower octave is big, dark and resonant. The middle octave is very clear and articulate, the upper register is very „brilliant“. Using the old horns for Mahler, Bruckner, Strauss or Wagner presents a very different picture. Funny enough, the US horns have never had this effect. Modern rotary trumpets have become very close to their US piston siblings.

@grune said in Change in paradigm?:

@ rowuk...A pity the recording technology back in the 40s and 50s was rather primitive: we cannot hear the true sound of the big bands and symphony orchestras. I do prefer the timbre of a Bb trumpet over C. When I hear today Copeland's Fanfare performed with C trumpets, it is lacking something compared to the sound of ensembles in the 60s when Bb trumpets were the norm; and when, as you say, Bach was primarily the norm.

I think that a trumpet generation throughout history has lasted about 50 years. If we look at the medievil trumpets, then Rennaissance, early baroque, late baroque, keyed trumpet, valved trumpet, ever higher pitched trumpets, you can follow the development.

Even if we only look at the 20th/21st centuries and classical music)we see how the first half of the 20th century was dominated by certain types of instruments. The second half of the 20th century was „dominated“ (in the US at least) by Bach C trumpets. Enter the 21st century: things change - Yamaha starts to dominate with the Xeno sound which is considerably different than the traditional Bach. There is a similar development in Germany/Austria too, but the focus was elsewhere.

One thing that we should not confuse however is the luxuries that we have basically since the beginning of the 21st century. We have many historically informed performance that certainly require the modern trumpeter to be more flexible than in previous decades.

Part of the legacy though was driven by recordings. The player started to focus more on „security“. Smaller trumpets became more popular for this reason.

So, in my opinion, the paradigm has changed in roughly 50 year intervals for many centuries.

@Dr-GO I do not think that I am selling myself short. All of my students get a „well rounded“ education and most of them get opportunities to gig with me (for money). The aspiring lead player will not get the opportunity to gig with me in that genre. I still play the occasional studio or jazz band gig, but never with the opportunity to bring a student along.

My personal history has been one of opportunity. I send my students where they can get „opportunities“. If they want to play lead, they can still be my students, but they benefit greatly with direct exposure to real lead players.

I do consider the requirements for an orchestral first trumpet to be far different than a first trumpet in a jazz band in regards to tone, chops management, timing, ability to move in and out of the orchestral fabric. In addition, the improvisation that they get from me is for the rennaissance and baroque periods, not 20th/21st century jazz.

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:

1. not enough common sense
2. maybe physiology IS too individual to allow any system to have advantages
3. 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
4. maybe all methods are very incomplete
5. maybe musicality and context must come first
6. 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.

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.

@J-Jericho The teeth are not in the way of fun (have been playing since the third day after the operation) and the Corona overreaction has given me some more breathing space/time for my new physiology. My range is the same, tone is OK and articulation is "good enough for right now". I am switching between the modern C trumpet and the natural trumpet as far as exercizes go. As the healing process (and shrinkage of the gums) is not yet complete, there is a bit of wobble and pain sometimes. I am certainly not complaining.

Please do not interpret "Corona overreaction" as criticism of self quarantine! We know that there is a control group of endangered people and that the rest will get through. My problem is: not enough for the endangered and too much for the rest, as well as irresponsible coverage of the infection. The number "reported people with corona" is 100% bogus. We can not put that number into any perspective! Are we only testing the gravely ill (where the percent of deaths is high), or are we mostly testing the paranoid masses (where the percent of deaths are low)? Are we testing efficiently/methodically to measure what is really going on? What information do we have to tell the difference?

The current information that I have is that 50% of the infected have few if any symptoms and that between 2 and 5% with the infection will die. Due to eternal stupidity in the supply chains, many necessary tools to keep the doctors and nurses safe are not available due to irresponsible politicians, crazed masses and unscrupulous business people diverting things like masks and protective clothing to the "unworthy". The brainlessness of stockpiling toilet paper and sanitizer is alarming indeed. There are many reports of supplies being stolen from hospitals, doctors offices and even churches!
If one is that paranoid, stay home, order online. Use lots of soap (that does not seem to be stockpiled!). Keep your hands out of your face.

One glimmer of hope: there is research at the university of Marburg Germany that has shown CPAP machines as useful respirators once the patient has gotten through the most critical stage. That frees up the heavy duty equipment for more needy situations. There is also a second effort from Marburg to create additional "respiration aids" from readily available supplies (abu bags and masks). More for those that read german/trust Google Translate: https://www.uni-marburg.de/de/fb13/halbleiterphotonik/the-breathing-project/the-breathing-project

This is NOT a DIY forum activity. It is doctors responding creatively to a need!

@Vulgano-Brother Actually the articulation is not usually "slurred" at all. Te-re, te-re, te-re.

@J-Jericho He is the real thing and a great teacher! I haven't been to Basel where he teaches this year due to issues with my teeth. With luck, late summer or early fall will be my next lesson.

@Kehaulani said in Let's Have Some Fun!:

@ROWUK said in Let's Have Some Fun!:

Should be either notated a 4th higher or, if in concert pitch a 7th higher. The slurs are not original.

I don't understand. Concert pitch is one step below Bb trumpet notation. Wouldn't that, then, be a third higher?

The original for natural trumpet in F was notated - as most baroque music in "C". That is a 4th higher than G. At least, that is what I meant...

Should be either notated a 4th higher or, if in concert pitch a 7th higher. The slurs are not original. No valves is the way I like to hear it, and play it. There are 3 notes that are challenging on the picc...

Julian is the real thing - and a great guy too! I attended a master class with him in charge last year. We have one planned for this year, let us wait and see if the Covid 19 embouchure starts blocking double Cs...

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.

So, it is time for an update. I still have the "predentures" but the healing is far enough along that I get good fitting ones on Thursday. I am getting 30-60 minutes per day on the trumpet and my range is pretty good again (low f# to g an octave above the staff). The ill fitting dentures do slip from time to time and then I have to stop, push them back into place and start over. Double and triple tonguing do move the dentures around, so that is something that I only do in the middle register. Due to the Corona virus, all my gigs before Easter are cancelled. My trumpet teacher Heinz Zickler turns 100 next week and he is still kicking strong! We hope to be able to celebrate.

So, I guess the moral of the story is that we are what we repeatedly do. Jumping right back in was a good thing and not caring about what works, just getting started and sticking with it pay off. I still have a way to go with the fresh dentures coming, but if they fit better, that can only be good.

@administrator Do we want to start a thread about trumpeters playbacks?

I will keep this thread alive as a personal diary. I am not "looking" for advice, criticism or praise but those that have been through this probably have some additional stuff. Maybe we can keep the content level high to make it easier in the future to find stuff?

Step one was to pull teeth, step two is repair the jaw and after that is done and solid, the final step will be implanting anchors to hold the dentures solidly in place. This could be a year of updates. I do not recommend letting anyone smash the trumpet into your face... The trumpet was repaired far more quickly!

Well, step one happened on Monday. All the teeth on my lower jaw were removed and I got "dentures". No sutures were necessary even although one wisdom tooth was impacted.

The instructions from the doc were to leave the dentures in for 24 hours (to keep the tongue out of the sockets). Robin was a good boy. Antibiotics and Novaminsulfon pain relievers kept everything manageable. Talking is a major challenge as the tongue does not know where to go. I slept sitting up - following instructions. Porridge for breakfast, soups for lunch and dinner.

Yesterday (Tuesday) was just a maintenance day, I tired quickly and there was still a bit of bleeding. Took my antibiotics and only a pain reliever before bed. Talking is still challenged. I was able to sleep laying down. Porridge with berries for breakfast, soups for lunch and dinner.

Today, Wednesday was actually pretty good. No pain relievers needed. Still get tired faster than usual. Have trouble with all of the "S" consonants needed in english and german - lots of sibillance - sounds like a really cheap stereo! Most of the wounds are closed and there was no bleeding worth mentioning - so I pulled out my C-trumpet and played 30 minutes of easy long tones and lip slurs. Even with the dentures, everything still worked. My tone had a bit of air - but always does when I take 2 days off. Still, the only food that I can eat is minced very fine so it is immediately "swallowable". I am rinsing with salt water a couple of times per day. The dentures are staying remarkably in place but are too high on the left side. Just waiting for the swelling to go down so that adjustment makes sense. Porridge for breakfast, soups for lunch and dinner. I tried cutting up some sausages for the soup, but was not successful the first time around - they were not small enough to swallow directly. A mincer solved the problem but the sausage taste was too diluted by the soup. Probably should not have tried.

The rest of the day I spent voicing some new horns for my stereo!

Got pretty close but counter tenors still sound like crap. Well, tomorrow is also a day and I'll see how my ears work.

My next dental appointment is Monday to get the dentures adjusted. After that, I go back to work. Next concert series in 3 weeks...

As I decide on my techs and use them repeatedly, I would normally check the horn when picking up and discuss whatever immediately. Repeat business is the argument that ALWAYS gets attention. In the case that you do NOT have a current relationship with this tech, try to visit him in person. You mentioned relaquering. Depending on the lacquer, a touch up may be just fine. There are magicians out there!

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

@Kehaulani Yes, it is chicken and egg BUT you can have your cake and eat it too! I have a student with a reading deficiency. They can read a single line, but to move to the second line is almost impossible. We solved the issue by memorizing the last measure or two on one line and the first on the next. Confidence soars, reading quality goes up!