I think that there are multiple benefits.
Inserting a mouthpiece in a specific way increases the chances that similar insertion pressure will be used. I experimented with this quite a bit. The trumpet plays much differently if inserted lightly or firmly (and everywhere in between).
Our perception of things change when we develop a ritual. We “feel good” about having developed that process. It becomes part of our reality - and safety net. I do not consider this to be a myth. We know how much of our playing is inspiration and how much is perspiration. We all enjoy reaching a point where the musical portion becomes greater than the mechanical.
Modern mouthpieces do not have centricity issues, the mass is also uniform, the finish consistent. Even with many years of use, this does not necessarily change. That being said, minor damage to the shank or dirt in the receiver can cause large changes in playability! I have often wondered why more players do not have better protection with a “better designed” mouthpiece case and tools to keep the shank and receiver clean, round and true.
Posts made by ROWUK
-
RE: How to "Clock" your mouthpiece
-
RE: Headache because of out of tune music
With posts like this, I wonder about the REAL REASON behind asking the question. No doubt, headaches can be caused by MANY things, but considering that essentially ALL MUSIC, depending on perspective is out of tune (mean tuning, well tempered, just tuning, various historic tuning schemes etc.), I wonder if the problem is not self generated, if ones tolerance (having to teach a big group) simply is the problem.
I don't think that the instrument being played nor the quantity is critical. I think that stress is a function of attitude and has deeper roots.
As far as instruments not holding tune, that is certainly something that can be fixed - one instrument at a time.
If we do not have what it takes to teach big classes, then don't. I believe that teachers are born, not "taught".
Chemicals are certainly a workaround and not a solution.
I bet that there is much more to the story. My hunch is that to stay employed, taking the large group was delegated regardless of the teachers opinion or excuses why not.
-
RE: The Beatles Are Back, Sort Of
I am waiting for enough AI that we can take this TERRIBLE recording quality and turn it into hifi. The first two examples are so compressed and distorted that I am not sure if it really was AI or just somebody with a similar voice masked by the recording quality. My ears hurt in any case.
Deep fakes are something very real for the arts and I am sure that in 100 years, no one will know what was real or generated.
-
RE: Why a dual bore trumpet ?
All trumpets have "multiple" bores. The leadpipe "average" is a start. Then the valve cluster, and then the bore up until the bell flare starts.
A good example of Dual Bore would be every trumpet with a reverse tuning slide.I believe that the dual bore was simply a further marketing term for technology that makes a trumpet ever more cornet-like. Real trumpets in the traditional sense were cylindrical except for the bell and mouthpiece. Over 60% of the bore is cylindrical in this case.
The first valved trumpets were the longer natural instruments with valves. As the instruments got shorter (solely for the purpose of more accuracy - never because of tone), the proportion of tapered to cylindrical bore shifted with less than 50% and "modern C trumpets" are lucky if they are ⅓ cylindrical - now they are more members of the horn family.
So, the King dual-bore does not make large bore easier playing or medium bore bigger sounding. It is a marketing term that has not survived the test of time. If you find a good one, it is simply another old trumpet worth playing. -
RE: Bots are getting scary
This post is not intended to be political in any way, but if we recognize that internet AI bots use all available material found on the internet, how qualified could any response be to a question concerning President Biden, Donald Trump or both in the same Query? What about a response to asking a question if we should buy a Monette, GR, Warburton or Schilke mouthpiece? With all of the good and bad, quite a bit of intelligence is required to understand what it true or probably true and sometimes the best answer is I don't know. Bots are not programmed for "I don't know"!
In many queries I get very "delusional" answers from ChatGPT. Where it really shines is helping to formulate text. I think that we have a HUGE challenge before us!
-
RE: playing with a full lower de nture
@kehaulani said in playing with a full lower de nture:
Rowuk - any special suggestions? Thanks/
Special suggestions,
well the biggest issue is maintaining attitude when everything is different and not working as expected.I got lucky as my process started right before Covid. There were no gigs and therefore I could do what was best instead of just trying to get by. I got lucky (or we could call it divine intervention) as a church where I perform a lot had the idea of sending a loud instrument to 4 retirement homes every Sunday to give the church "presence" where the retirees could not go to church and the Pastors could not visit the homes. We agreed on 6 places for me to play and 3 tunes per place - a folk tune, a church tune and a childrens song. It worked out to about 45 Minutes of playing in easy chunks. The tunes were easy enough to allow me to play in spite of changing geometry with each adaptation of the dentures. I learned about what dental creme worked best, I learned that a cup of coffee could spoil the effort (melting the denture creme). Most important, I was still playing and had a reason to practice EVERY DAY!
After 2 years, we switched to once a month and the major church holidays. The first weekend in May 2023 was my "final" performance in the parks and parking lots.
That would be my 2 suggestions: get back to basics and find a reason to play - as often as possible. The people at retirement homes are eternally greatful. I have hundreds of stories and anecdotes from my time there. A lot of individual fate/destiny - including my own. I learned that what I have been teaching for the last 40 years + even works for an old guy like me.
-
RE: playing with a full lower de nture
@georgeb I am playing professionally on full upper and lower dentures. It IS possible, but it is different and will require making new habits concerning tongue position, articulation and fine motor embouchure activity.
I got my final implants/dentures last July (2022) and by September(2022) was back to performing. I invested at least 2 hours per day to retrain and still do today. -
RE: Cataract Surgery
Let us not forget that for a good doctor, there is no difference between a 1week, 10 day or 2 week break. That is simply their way of saying that we have had a significant medical intrusion and a "little time" is required for our bodies to recuperate.
They want to see us again before we "strain" anyway and it is to our benefit to let it heal a "bit" longer than to risk chapter 2 of the same issue. The pencil trick is a great way to maintain muscle tone without any additional air pressure.
-
RE: Bots are getting scary
@ssmith1226 said in Bots are getting scary:
An interesting article today on AI and ChatGPt- “Europe Sounds The Alarm On ChatGPT”
An excerpt:
“…. that ChatGPT, just one of thousands of AI platforms currently in use, can assist criminals with phishing, malware creation and even terrorist acts.
If a potential criminal knows nothing about a particular crime area, ChatGPT can speed up the research process significantly by offering key information that can then be further explored in subsequent steps,” the Europol report stated. “As such, ChatGPT can be used to learn about a vast number of potential crime areas with no prior knowledge, ranging from how to break into a home to terrorism, cybercrime and child sexual abuse.”The full article link is here:
https://news.yahoo.com/europe-sounds-the-alarm-on-chatgpt-090013543.htmlSo guys, post pictures of or messages from vacation AFTER you get back home - not during the act.
Nothing worse than returning home to an empty studio! -
RE: Back to flugelhorn - and looking for help with playing after lip injury
@anniebee, actually a bit of "humbling" is not always a bad thing for musicians that have had a lot of gifts during their career. I can honestly say that at no time did I doubt about wanting to come back. I have a great dentist who was willing to explain and listen. He did EVERYTHING that we talked about and helped fine tune after everything was actually finished and locked in.
-
RE: Back to flugelhorn - and looking for help with playing after lip injury
Annie,
we are creatures of habit. With your "repaired lip", you have to retrain what your brain expects. That takes a couple of THOUSAND repetitions.My experience is to use what has worked for you before but under no circumstance stress out. Our brain works on a reward/punishment system and constantly trying to "hit" high notes sends a frustration message - blocking development and increasing doubt.
Without having you in my studio for a lesson, I would recommend only safe stuff:
- Practice as softly as you can. This promotes fine motor reaction from the lip muscles instead of forcing a six pack build.
- Overdose on "easy" interval slurs - like from the Adam 27 Lip flexibilities book.
- avoid all frustrating things - if your upper octave is deficient, work on articulation and stuff in the lower register. Make your playing time positive and productive. Excel at other things!
I am sort of an expert on this because I lost all of my teeth 3 years ago in an accident. I was lucky because there were very few gigs during Covid. I had time to work things out. The road back was full of "back to the basics" and keeping my attitude in the right direction. My upper octave is not complete yet but it is enough for the symphonic work that I do.
-
RE: Bots are getting scary
@trumpetb I too have an allergy for "long winded" anything. 5 minutes of content taking up an hour or two is actually an insult. So it is with many of your posts - at the core, a line or two of good content (that I do not always agree with but still find it "good" as it makes me think about things) but so much "fluff" that pales in comparison.
I can appreciate having lots of time on hand and using that time on social media. That does not mean that your pleasure transfers to ours.In your case, I simply do not even "parse" anything from you longer than 10 lines or so. The content is simply not worth it.
I do not consider Jolter to be a spoiled child. He agrees or disagrees and keeps his content "compact". He has nothing to prove and never had. I will not comment on what I think about your literary circular breathing.
-
RE: Mouthpiece safari has officially ended with Harrelson 5MM!
Congratulations!
I personally would not sell off the tried and true so soon. Wait 6 months and THEN you can be sure that the acclimation process is complete. I am not saying that there is something wrong with your choice. I am saying that we are creatures of habit and breaking old habits is a process that does not ALWAYS work.
That being said, my last mouthpiece switch was cold turkey in 1996 and I never looked back. I kept the old mouthpieces for a long time but never tried them out as the new mouthpiece stayed feeling good.Enjoy!
-
RE: Trumpet slide grease
@henrylr Trombone slide grease is designed for fast action. Trumpet slide grease is not as fast, lasts a lot longer and also helps the slides be more "airtight".
Tuning slide grease would be the same for both instruments. -
RE: Mouthpiece issue
@walter-sk Interesting, a post 2021 and no response after that. I often wonder how serious the questions are - and how serious some of the answers are. Are we scaring folks off, or are they just posting the usual trumpet thing of not having enough range (that I interpret as no process for building)?
In any case, since I have my upper/lower dentures and implants now, I revisit the tension vs blow thing every single day.
That being said, mouthpiece size (within reason) makes no difference. The Baroque mouthpieces with 19-21 mm inner rims have the same high notes as my modern 10 1/2C on the pick. My go to orchestra mouthpieces are around 1C size - with the same high notes.
I firmly believe that we use mouthpieces to change tone - not range. With the right tone for the genre, playing in the upper register fits better and THAT makes it easier.
-
RE: Carol Brass Sticky Valves
@orly61 Going back though the last 55 years of playing and teaching, I have only had one horn that had issues - and that was me (grip of death).
The lesson that I learned very early is that we clean the valves, wait until they are bone dry and THEN oil them. Oil does not stick to moisture, metal that has an oil film does not let moisture cause issues.
Break in is actually "wear in". With a properly cleaned and oiled trumpet, 4 weeks should be enough unless you have a Schilke (tighter tolerances - more break in time).
Make a video while playing to see if you are pushing the valves down from the side instead of the top. -
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.
-
RE: $800 Box of Mouthpieces!
We are creatures of habit and I firmly believe that THIS is the #1 reason for mouthpiece safaris not working.
I believe that we need MONTHS to determine if a mouthpiece is good for us. The process is called acclimation. We must practice, adapt and perform to cover our use cases.My personal practice is, and has always been to cold turkey switch and stick with the "new" for at least 2 months - no switching back to the original. After that two - three months, I retry the original and note the differences. My last switch was in 1996.
-
RE: Question
What would be the purpose? To rename Trumpetboards? To get any traffic that might still be looking for TrumpetMaster?
I wrote e'mails to admins and hosters, researched the blocking of the site but got no answers. I know of a couple of legal actions that fizzled out but nothing that would have locked the site down.
I think that you have done an admirable job giving the orphaned a home. Admins are clear about their actions and are willing to "discuss" decisions. I do have the impression that the troublemakers did not migrate.
I see no use for the domain if we can not restore content.
-
RE: Starting over after a year
Playing any given tone is the process of our air pressure being able to "blow apart" the lips. If we can't play low notes, the usual situation is that the lips are pressed too tightly together. We can not just intellectually tell our facial muscles to "relax". Playing the trumpet is fine motor activity that needs many low impact repetitions to create muscle memory.
In my "circle of breath" (which is only a collection of things from others with my individual visualisation), I mention exhaling into the note. That is what is needed here. Tonguing the note adds a burst of air pressure to kick start the tone and that is NOT A GOOD THING at this stage. We should only use the tongue to "shape" the beginning of a tone (articulate). We can only start to shape when we have "tone in the first place".
Exhale into the long tones.