Best posts made by SSmith1226

@Dr-GO
I agree that the 7c is the most common mouthpiece sold, and across the playing population works for many players. For the last six months the 7c has worked best for me.
Size wise my grandson is not in the middle of the bell shaped curve, but is way to the left of center in size, probably a couple of standard deviations below the mean. In comparison my 8 year old grandson is quite a bit smaller than me. Height wise the top of his head hits my elbow. Head and facial size are considerably smaller than mine. Below is a photo showing the difference with me sitting and him standing. He can play a 7c, but I would wonder whether a 10.5c or a 12 might give him better results, making it easier for him to make music like sounds, thus giving him more incentive to maintain his interest. On the other hand, a 7c may be best for his facial and dental structure. It would be interesting to see whether there are elementary school band directors or private teachers on the site that have extensive experience with this age group and see what their opinion is as well.

@Dr-GO
In a similar “vein”, I think that you will find the following July, 2017 case series report on the use of “Musical Endotrachial Tubes” equally as enlightening. It comes from a highly respected journal as well.
I have introduced the “MET” to our small critical access community hospital and have founded an ICU New Horizons Band.

https://gomerblog.com/2017/07/musical-endotracheal-tubes/

@georgeb
George,
Congratulations and I hope that you have many years of pleasure with your new horn!

I did not meet or see Les Muncaster. It is possible that he was at this convention, but literally all my time there was taken up in rehearsals and preparation.

Conductors in rehearsals and performance included Ivan Wansley, Jimmy Parker, Doug Phillips, John Southall, Don Snowden, Gary Green, and Alfred Watkins. All were superb conductors and very passionate in their analysis and instruction.

The participating musicians, ages 18 - 94 were in the top tier of their individual organizations. I’m not sure how I got assigned to playing the second trumpet part rather than third trumpet part, when you take into account the talent within the section, but it was a great experience playing with these conductors and the entire band of musicians of such high caliber.

@BigDub
So much for autocorrect.

@GeorgeB
@Dr-GO
@ROWUK

I appreciate everyone’s input and opinion. Before he played his first note we practiced breath control and breathing using the principles of Rowuk’s circle of breath and I correct him as much as possible. Since I see him only intermittently, he is only in the second grade, and his mother ( my daughter ) is not as enthusiastic as I am to see him learn the instrument, there would be next to no practice until such time that I move to his area on a consistent basis, which I believe will be in less than one year. At that time I will find him a qualified teacher and encourage practice together as much as possible as well as on his own. In the meanwhile we both will continue on the 7c.

@Dr-GO
Another outstanding post to this thread. The fact that you put this together so succinctly shows why you are the moderator. To help keep this on track I will withdraw my question to the repair and refurbishment techs about Tobylou8’s gloves.

@administrator said in I bought a fairly rare trumpet:

Well...I did it again. I bought another trumpet when I should not have!

I apologize in advance. I have done it to many times myself!

A spectacular 2016 performance by a 17 or 18 year old trumpet player, Elmer Churampi originally from Lima, Peru.

@barliman2001
St Peter is checking ID's at the Pearly Gates, and first comes a Texan. "Tell me, what have you done in life?" says St. Peter. The Texan says, "Well, I struck oil, so I became rich, but I didn't sit on my laurels--I divided all my money among my entire family in my will, so our descendants are all set for about three generations." St. Peter says, "That's quite something. Come on in. Next!" The second guy in line has been listening, so he says, "I struck it big in the stock market, but I didn't selfishly just provide for my own like that Texan guy. I donated five million to Save the Children." "Wonderful!" says Saint Peter. "Come in. Who's next?" The third guy has been listening, and says timidly with a downcast look, "Well, I only made five thousand dollars in my entire lifetime." "Heavens!" says St. Peter. "What instrument did you play?”

@flugelgirl

Thanks!

@Dr-GO said in Dr. GO? My back's been bothering me...:

I don't know... what's wrong with a good ol' catcher's mitt? It protects against any wood that strikes it as a result of foul tips, AND can handle the balls that fall into the pouch!

And how does this relate to back pain... less strain [during the activity], less pain on the axial skeletal system; just to make sure we are all keeping on track with this thread!

One other point about carpal tunnel syndrome that is pertinent to the catchers mitt, the most prescribed non operative treatment for this entity is a splint, specifically a cock up splint for the wrist. The catchers mitt also will serve well in this function, placing the wrist in the cock up position.
Please see the below videos for illustration:

@j-jericho
Trumpet- Cylindrical Bore
Cornet- Conical Bore

@SSmith1226 said in Elmer Churampi:

@Dr-Mark
Elmar Churampi is considered to be among the best in his age group at what he does. For a moment let us assume that he is in the 99.9 percentile of his age group and level of experience as a classical trumpet player. That means for every 1000 trumpet players at his age and experience level there are 999 who are inferior than him as a classical trumpet player. In a group of 10,000 he will be in the top 10, in a group of 100,000 he will be in the top 100, and in a group of 1,000,000 he will be in the top 1,000. Each sub group can also be stratified into its own bell shaped curve where percentiles can be ranked 0 - 99.9 percentiles. The point of all this being, no matter how hard we try, there will always be someone, somewhere, that is better, even if we are the best within our circle of influence. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t strive to be the best that we can be, but on any given day, even if we are in the 99.9 percentile, there may be many others out there who can do what we strive to do better.
A prime example of this would be olympic sporting competition. An athlete may be the best at a sport in his country which has a population of 300,000,000, but only one competitor in the world wins the gold medal, or for that matter the silver or bronze. The competitor from the country above may come in last in the competition, but still be in the 99.99999 percentile of the world talent pool. So, other then getting depressed over this situation, what can we do to become the next “Elmer Churampi”? Do what it is likely he and many other outliers in the far right of the bell shaped curve have done: As Dr. Mark said, “Take Practice Seriously”.

An interesting video on how much practice makes you an “expert”.

@BigDub said in A little humour:

@stumac said in A little humour:

When I started work in 1956 at 17 my pay was 25 cents per hour, 3 months later I turned 18 and my pay doubled.

Regards, Stuart.

In 1956 my Dad's Uncle Mangnus ( very Norwegian ) would give us boys 50 cents just for visiting he and Aunt Olga in Brooklyn. They had no kids. This brought them tremendous joy.

Stuart and big dub,
You don’t know how well you had it. A 1956 $1.00 in 1975 terms, was worth $1.98. In 1974 - 1975 as a physician (Surgical Intern) I made $5,000 per year for working 110-120 hours per week at Charity Hospital of New Orleans. This averages out to $0.84 per hour in that time frame or $0.41 per hour in 1956 dollars. Over the following 4 years my salary increased $0.20 per hour per year. At that time I was responsible for running the Trauma and Emergency Surgical Service 36 out of 48 hours in this large City Hospital all for $1.64 per hour ( $0.80 per hour in 1956 dollars).
The good news was when I had a few hours off when working in some of the other Louisiana State Charity Hospitals I could moonlight as an ER Physician and make $7.50 per hour. The only catch was that I (or any other ER moonlighter) was not allowed to leave the ER until all patients that signed in on my shift was seen and given disposition by me. That generally required a minimum of four more hours of my time at no pay. Never the less this seemed like a fortune to me. Of course my expenses were minimum. I lived in scrub suits and my wife bought my underwear. I also ate in the hospital cafeteria.
No wonder I had to quit playing trumpet for 44 years.

@j-jericho said in H.N. White Silver Tone Cornet Mouthpiece:

http://www.currympc.com/index.php?id=49 mentions shanks for Olds, Conn, Besson, and Holton, but not King. I'd guess that The larger Olds shank might fit, but I'm not sure if the taper would be the same.

Thanks J.Jericho, AKA Rick Martin. I saw that King was not mentioned. I will try to contact Curry Mouthpieces and see whether they have a vintage mouthpiece for this cornet.

@rapier232 said in To Reduce Covid-19 Risks in Orchestras, Move Wind Instruments to the Sidelines:

Which goes against what the research in the UK shows. Brass and woodwind emit fewer than speaking does.

Unfortunately, when it comes to COVID-19, there is a lot of contradictory information and conclusions that change day to day. For example, we see this in medical studies, as well as advice given by our medical experts and advisors. Day to day we see contradictions, premature release, or “spinning” by the press, authors or spokes persons for their own self interest reasons.

As an example relevant to this discussion, a University of Minnesota research team, working with the Minnesota Orchestra concluded, “ Led by Department of Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor Jiarong Hong, the research team also studied the number of aerosols emitted by different instruments, as well as how aerosol concentration varies depending on articulation and slurring patterns, intensity of play, and use of special techniques. For example, trumpet was the highest risk instrument, producing significantly more aerosols than a person would by breathing or speaking.” They went on to say that these aerosols do not travel very far.

The study from Bristol University (UK), using Alison Balsom as one of their test subjects showed, “ A new COVID-19 study from the University of Bristol has found aerosols generated by playing woodwind and brass instruments are less than those produced when speaking and singing.”

Will the study I posted starting this thread be accepted 10 ( or for that matter 500) years from now and be proven as correct? I do not know. Is it a harmful concept to be applied in their studied Utah concert hall? Very unlikely. I posted this as an interesting concept in an orchestra (vs concert wind band) that might be interesting to some readers.

I agree that there is much contradictory information “out there” and there are no definitive answers. All we can do is put on our “plague masks” and do the best we can do with the information available to us today.

https://twin-cities.umn.edu/news-events/musical-instruments-dont-spread-aerosols-far-you-might-think

https://www.classicfm.com/artists/alison-balsom/covid-19-study-brass-woodwind-droplets/


(just kidding, sort of)

Today I received an email from the New Horizons International Music Association. It featured an idea from our own Ivan Hunter. It said the following, “Ivan Hunter describes himself as a whole-hearted supporter of the New Horizons concept. He spends his time designing and building trumpets, writing about recreational music making, conducting Trumpet Saturdays, and mentoring/playing in several community ensembles.
His idea is to make music at dedicated times e.g. 10:00am and 7:00pm (either or both, depending on your circumstances). You can play a simple melody whilst holding in your thoughts someone dear to you. This can be a way of reducing stress, improving our mood, and helping us to be more positive towards others.

He would like to invite New Horizons members to participate. The music each day
is posted on:

Facebook page: Trumpet4Fun

https://www.facebook.com/Trumpet4Fun “

I would certainly defer to Ivan to elaborate further on his wonderful idea.

The email also had a link to the Rotterdam Philharmonic, while socially isolating from home, playing the Ode to Joy as a single unit.

@Tobylou8 said in A little humour:

@SSmith1226 said in A little humour:

@Dr-GO said in A little humour:

@SSmith1226 said in A little humour:

What`s the difference between a baroque trumpeter and a dressmaker?
A dressmaker tucks up frills.

However, maybe if the trumpet player wasn't baroque, the trills would be fixed up!

@Dr-GO said in A little humour:

Tell me if you heard this one:
A drummer walked past the bar...

Means the other side is nothing but brass!

That is a BRAVE thing to say!
Reminds of the this pawn shop but two instead of three.