Posts made by tjcombo

A lighter moment in the grim saga of Australia's bush fires as a Scottish reporter is introduced to a deadly drop bear....

@Vulgano-Brother - nailed it VB. I don’t hear discussions comparing the Beatles, Stones, Doors, ABBA et al with the myriad cover bands out there.

Is there a behavioural trait that is peculiar to trumpet players?

Maybe we should coin a new collective noun...

A “comparison” of trumpet players ???

@ROWUK not quite sure what you mean by "resonating at the whole wavelength" and "hear the overtone". When I play Bb3 or Bb2 (pedal) I hear the same pitch as a pure sine wave at those frequencies.
Speed of sound ~= 343 metres/second.
Length of Bb trumpet = 1.48 meters
Frequency = Speed of sound/wavelength 343/1.48 = 231 Hertz (Bb3 = 233.08 Hertz).
At “Low C” – A#/Bb3 the trumpet is one wavelength long.
Speed of sound ~= 343 metres/second.
Length of Bb trumpet ~= 1.48 meters
Frequency = Speed of sound/wavelength 343/1.48 = 231 Hertz -near enough to Bb3.

I think I know where you are coming from Rowuk, with the reference to the actual spectra produced. I'd like to see spectra produced by some calibrated lab kit, but my Mickey Mouse setup (Zoom mike with iPhone, wave file fed into Audicity) shows the following...

I used a flugelhorn to produce the samples (FWIW) because pedal C slots a whole lot better and is more in tune than on a trumpet – you alluded to the small size of the bell at pedal C. The flugel also has a larger taper than a trumpet, I’m not making any assertions on this point but both the bell size and taper may change the playing of pedal notes. Important however is the that tubing length is the same. I’m guessing that the pedal C graph is muddier because the lower fundamental frequency means that harmonics will be closer together – and the spectrum analyser in Audicity is not great.
The chart for Bb3 indicates that 2nd, 3rd and 4th harmonics are stronger than the fundamental pitch, but the fundamental is certainly what we hear.

@Trumpetsplus

@ Rowuk, I guess this is totally the wrong thread on which to be pedantic and point out that pedal C on a trumpet is resonating at a half wavelength (of the horn). It is relevant to how a trumpet works.

@Kehaulani Performing live with sound reinforcement, balance is the domain of the person at the mixing desk. Fold back is better managed now with the option of earpieces delivering a mix that makes it easier to blow in tune and resist the temptation to blow one’s tits off trying to achieve balance (or even just hearing yourself).

Thanks for posting @Kehaulani nice performance, loved Arturo's cameo. Interesting to see comments on the YouTube postings along the lines of 'better than the original' and 'better than the current lineup'. It's quite common to hear remarks like this about bands covering music from a previous generation - and let's face it, for all of their great talent, this band is "just" a cover band.
Chicago successfully took a great fusion of styles to a mass(ive) audience, and whilst the later - was it Chicago 342? - albums didn't, probably couldn't, delivery the same freshness, energy and originality as their early stuff, they're still a great outfit.
I saw them play in Concord CA last year and there are still three original members - Lee Loughnane, James Pankow and Robert Lamm and they delivered a top show.
There are a lot of musicians of great ability these days and the sound gear enables far tighter, precise performances. You could scratch together bands that can perform way "better" than so many bands from the past, but the original bands had the creative spark to compose and perform the tunes in the first place.
I'd still pay way more to see even the current line-up of Chicago, than an albeit brilliant cover band.

@N1684T Doesn't have to be silver or even a lead-pipe. I attended a workshop run by Mr Spence where he'd asked everyone to bring their mouthpiece. He handed out large bubble-tea straws and all the attendees were able to replicate the demo.

I could never buzz my lips without unnatural facial contortions, but have no problems making trumpet noises with a horn.

This video from Greg Spence shows airflow straight from the chops, with a mouthpiece and then with mouthpiece and leadpipe. Not sure where the quote can from, but this seems to demonstrate that "you do not play the trumpet, the trumpet plays you". It also made me feel better and that lack of a "naked" buzz was no big deal

@Carsen-Abraham I think I know exactly what you mean and used to suffer the same problem in my first couple of years playing. It's more than 50 years back, but I remember exactly what and when it happened...
At band practice for the local brass band, later in the evening, sitting playing dumpty-dumpty-dumpty dum boring-as-bat-sht third cornet parts, it was like something in the upper pallet just let go and air started come out of my nose. There was no way I could direct the entire air stream to go through the horn. I don't recall ever having the issue whilst practicing. The problem went away after a year or two and I advanced to second cornet and then repiano parts. I don't think that the more interesting parts changed things. It was probably fatigue and tension due to fatigue and poor technique. At the time I was only nine years old and band practice ran a couple of hours past normal bedtime.
Since the advent of Dr Google, I've come to the conclusion that the condition was pharyngeal insufficiency - as nailed by @Dr-GO above.
I have no qualifications to make a diagnoses, but wonder if you have the problem all of the time - from warm-up through normal playing, or just when fatigued? If it's all the time, then seeking a medical opinion would be in order (problem is finding a physician who understands the physiology of playing brass). Otherwise, get a teacher who can make an assessment of how you are using your body WRT to tension and air-use - if all is in order, then you're back to seeking medical advice.

good luck!

Not sure if I'm a collector of trumpets. I have 20+ horns, mostly vintage, predominantly Olds. After 25 years away from playing, I decided to treat myself to the horn that I could never have as a kid - an Olds Recording. I learnt to play and grew up in the local brass band. Once I could make a decent noise, they started providing me with nice cornets - the last one was a B&H Imperial. The only trumpet I had was an Eastern European "Zenith" branded horn. Looking back it was pretty ordinary, but I was playing 1st trumpet in the school and concert bands with it. Some of the other kids with rich relatives had Olds Recordings - there was never really a full range of instruments available in Oz. I always thought that cornets were naturally easier to play than trumpets because I had a good cornet and a PoS trumpet :-). When I started working and had discretionary income it was "invested" in motorbikes and good times!
When I started playing again, I bought my Recording and discovered an absolute treasure trove of beautiful vintage instruments that, by and large, were stupidly good value.
So... a collector? Probably more of an accumulator and I'm planning to do something to reduce the count, but I like @Trumpetsplus response the best "you need a reason?"
These days I try to cycle through the herd every now and then, but end up back on the same couple of horns.

@Dr-GO thanks for posting Doc. I remember Leloil posting on TM too - in particular this video of an interesting performance in an amazing outdoor location

Sounds like the terrorists have won.

@J-Jericho said in A little humour:

Do Bunyips drain the swamp?

Not sure, but if there were a lot of them, they may swamp the drain.

@SSmith1226 - did you run into Ms Kidman in PD? I don't think that she was there during my visit as there was no sign of her hubby Keith at either of the open mic sessions I attended (and what muso could resist a chance to play in tropical paradise ).
Were you up close and personal with the cassowary? Brave man!

@SSmith1226 some of the critters are selective Steve so you may have no say in the cause of your demise.

Take the saltwater crocodile for example. According to a tour guide in a recent trip to the Deep North, 80% of croc fatalities happen within 6 metres of the riverbank, 80% at dawn or dusk and 20% are German. This may be the reason for languages used on this sign (at the Port Douglas swimming beach!).
I will make no further comment...