Posts made by Trumpetb

Thanks for that reply Dale, the horns clearly share similar braces, good to know.

@Dale-Proctor

The middle trumpet has a very distinctive brace

Is that perhaps an early Besson

I would counter that there was nothing communicated throughout this clip between 0:43 to 2:41

0:43 to 0:50 was the exactly same as 1:10 to 1:30 and exactly the same as 2:10 to 2:30 in content it was the musical equivalent of repeatedly saying

Four score and 17 years ago
Four score and 17 years ago
Four score and 17 years ago
Four score and 17 years ago
Four score and 17 years ago
Four score and 17 years ago
Four score and 17 years ago
Four score and 17 years ago
Four score and 17 years ago

Yes the audience went wild but audiences have gone wild over my performances and that reaction in itself does not mean anything was communicated, other than surprise.

I can make audiences cheer due to surprising them as well as anyone but it is not an aspiration of mine to make a career from simply surprising or shocking people.

They were impressed by trombone shortys ability but there was no communication at all that I could detect beyond "I can do the same thing over and over and over and over again without stopping"

I agree trombone shorty was skillful but being skillful is not communication.

Any politician could have given a speech at ghettysburg, but Abraham Lincoln communicated a message that inspired a nation.

Just repeating the same few notes over and over again for 2 minutes or for 2 hours or for 2 days does not move me at all.

I can listen to an entire performance of The Magic Flute, that is 3 hours and 5 minutes and be entertained from beginning to end but 2 minutes of trombone shorty had me losing the will to live.

I am going to add this.

Circular breathing not only makes no sense to me but appears to be in opposition to what I want to achieve.

I explain music as beginning with playing notes then phrases then playing the spaces between the notes.

To be understood and have the most impact music needs spaces between notes or it begins to make no sense

Like talking
Icannotbegintoundertsndwhatmusicmightmeanifspacesbetwennotesdonotexist

In throwing the spaces away are we not throwing the baby out with the bathwater just to prove how technically brilliant we are.

I dont want to impress I want to communicate, and I achieve that with notes and with using spaces between notes.

Thank you chef 8489,

I totally agree that many instruments designated today as student or intermediate instruments made by the great makers such as Conn Olds and King were nothing of the kind but were very high quality instruments beyond the capabilities of most players.

And the King 2055T is one of those as you quite rightly say.

I would be proud to own a 2055T or S, and the OP's niece has made a great choice in selecting that instrument.

Yes I know that chef8489

What I am saying is if you look at the offers to sell there are many 2055S models offered some have triggers and some have saddles.

The sellers appear to base the model number in their description as a 2055S simply because the instrument is silver.

I have seen many 2055S models on offer that have triggers so these are really 2055T models not 2055S models

So if the OP grabs a 2055S without seeing it first and expecting it to have a saddle it may arrive with a trigger.

Alternatively seeking a 2055T and rejecting 2055S instruments may cause the instruments with triggers to be rejected simply because the 2055T is wrongly advertised as a 2055S

That is the gotya I am talking about

The sellers are the ones who do not know the S states saddle not silver, not me.

And as for your info I agree with all of it, I did say that King instruments are great instruments.

I simply said that the 1055T is the preferred model which I believe you have also said.

So really you are disagreeing with me when I am not disagreeing with you.

Then some care in selection is needed because I have seen many 2055S instruments advertised some carry a trigger and some carry a saddle.

Commonly 2055S appears to be advertised as an S model if it is silver.

It appears that many sellers get it wrong so this must be watched for or the wrong model may be chosen simply because the sellers do not appear to understand the model designation.

It is a gotya.

On King, I have a great respect for King (and H.N. White aka King) great company great instruments.

Silver Flair is a great choice IMHO however it has to be said that the Silver Flair model 1055T is the preferred model to go for.

Playing should reveal if the 2055S or T meets your expectations.

Right on kehalani, I consider this to be of paramount importance, simplicity and a quick solution.

For an amateur, options can be explored to reach the very best solution and if it takes a while to find the best combination then that is time well spent.

But for me or any professional time is money. I need a solution for a gig right there and then. Like a session musician we have to deliver the goods with no mistakes or we get "he aint ready".

I think we are similar in this kehaulani we both need to provide the results required quickly or we dont get the gig. If we cannot do that we do not deserve the gig.

I have stood there with a film crew standing by in an audition against other guys with just one melody that they stipulated to decide it, and one shot at getting the gig, and I got the gig. They dont mess about and we shouldnt either.

We cant say hang on a few days or weeks guys while I change my gear and perfect my setup.

For this reason I keep a range of mouthpieces to hand that I know I can play on that gives me choices, and I know how I perform on each and I can predict how I will perform after a change.

If I get the chance I ask the band what tonality they need for the session and take it from there.

It takes just a matter of moments to make changes and I can see the effects immediately.

I have sometimes taken 3 or 4 mouthpieces and two quite different instruments to auditions or gigs with new guys so I can mould the tonal options to what they need like a chamelion when I am there.

I see it as tone chasing.

My system works. I can predict and test a combination and then shift darker or brighter in increments and zero in on the sound that I am looking for and the band wants.

I usually hit it immediately or maybe need one change. Sometimes they want brighter sometimes they want darker and I can deliver it.

All we have is our sound and it is up to us to create the sound that is needed but we need the tools to be able to do that quickly and easily.

Just having one instrument and one mouthpiece makes no sense to me, all professionals need a rich tonal palette available to them and this is my way of providing it.

Option combinations are really only legion if you dont know all your gear and how it all works together and have enough choice.

Respect to you kehaulani

I will defend the OP here.

I know the general advice to never buy a horn without play testing it is good advice but I have never followed it myself.

Almost every instrument I have purchased has been from an auction purchased without playing it and they all turned out to be excellent although some needed a little work.

Let us not forget that the OP is unable to test an instrument and conclude reliably if it is worth buying so it had to be a gamble.

Good vintage instruments are well made and can usually be relied upon to perform well if given a chance.

The OP appears to have a Reynolds Medalist and that is a good horn equivalent to any of Bach Selmer Reynolds Olds Yamaha Holton King etc.

I would as kehaulani suggests place it in the hands of a tech and find out just how good or bad it is before writing it off.

You may be right Bermuda, home depot might be the only option but a good tech will of course help and advise if that is the only option, and an assessment of the horn to find out if it is worth spending money on it might even be a very low cost first step.

It is a risky strategy I know but I have never regretted buying without playing as long as the instrument being offered is a quality instrument from a quality manufacturer and all parts appear to be present.

Perhaps it is my bad in describing a mouthpiece change transforming an instrument.

I accept that the reality is that the instrument stays the same it is the tones and articulation emerging from the bell that is transformed.

Many are the times that players have said they went on a trumpet safari and changed instruments to find a positive change to their tone and were satisfied that they found their ideal instrument. Then over several weeks or months their tones changed back to their original tones that the old instrument had delivered to them before the safari.

Then the safari began again.

The same is true of mouthpiece safaris. The player changes mouthpiece, player is happy with change, tones shift back and safari begins again.

It is often said that the players own sound eventually emerges with the new equipment.

This is I believe an example of the players embouchure and the players tonal concept changing the tones that emerge from the bell and this is a transformative act.

If this happens naturally without our intending it to happen, why can we not learn to control this and intentionally transform the tones that emerge from the bell by the conscous control of our tonal concept and our embouchure.

Dizzy sounded like DIzzy not because that was how the trumpet made him sound it was because that was the result of his tonal concept and his embouchure.

The same is true of Miles of Chet and of Harry James of Wynton and of any player you care to mention.

I cannot get a Louis Armstrong trumpet and a Louis mouthpiece and expect to sound like Louis.

I can however play like a mariachi or a jazz player or a blues payer or a symphonic player.

We are in control of the instrument or the instrument is in control of us.

I am no great player there are many more finer players in here than I will ever be and I firmly believe that anything I can do you can do better. You just have to believe it.

Like many things it depends.

If I have a cornet that has good intonation with a particular mouthpiece length short or long, then it is transformed by using the mouthpiece better matched to the instrument.

If I am looking for a rich and fluffy tonality and I have trumpet c cup mouthpieces then moving to a deeper cup can transform the instrument tonality closer to what I require.

I think we dont have to be professionals to have to make this kind of decision and see useable results.

A community band still has needs for tone and blending even if we only play for fun.

The professional has a need to deliver tonality that is required and needs to have the ability to deliver a range of tones so he or she can do his job as well as can be done.

A Committee is not going to sit well in the trumpet section of the LA symphony and the symphonic player needs to know what works well and where it does and have access to a broad range of malleable tones to do his job well in all scenarios in all genres he performs in.

As for seeing an instrument transforming with mouthpiece change alone I have experienced huge and unexpected changes in the response and articulation of an instrument when the only change made was a different mouthpiece.

But then this is just my own experience and may be perhaps attributed to my lack of playing experience at higher levels.

That is so true ROWUK we are often captivated by a single horn and attribute characteristics to it that maintain a reverence for it that is not borne out by the real facts.

What I mean by this is, the sound of a horn is a correlation between the embouchure the players characteristic sound, the mouthpiece used and the instrument itself.

I cannot say how many times that the sound of a horn has been utterly transformed by a mouthpiece change or to a lesser extent an embouchure change or to an even lesser extent a change in my sound concept while playing.

It is often asked which horn will make this sound or that sound or it is asked what horn dizzy or louis or chet or miles played as if we might sound like dizzy on dizzys horn.

No

We can however mould ourselves if given the right guidance and the right mouthpiece to go some way towards achieving the sound that we crave. Or even better our own sound.

We can play mariachi, symphonic, lead, smooth, the instruments are largely limitless if we know what we are doing and if we can match the equipment to ourselves and mould ourselves to the equipment.

chet dispensed with his flugel saying he has no need of it he can sound like a flugel on his trumpet if he chooses to. I am convinced he could easily do that.

But then some horns have that extra something that cannot be emulated by changing mouthpiece or changing the approach.

The best mouthpiece cannot make a silk purse out of a sows ear even if it can get very close to it.

Go to horns, are of that type, we simply can do more of what we want and more convincingly and naturally with our go to horn.

I have a modern yamaha a very capable horn but there is something missing that I get with my goto that I cannot get with this yamaha or any other horn and that makes my goto the most satisfying instrument that I have and I play better on my go to than any other horn because of it.

It has taken me decades to find and now it is with me and I am forever in the debt of all who helped me find it and prepared me so that I could recognise it when I found it.

The dream becomes reality only when we have put enough work in and understand how to use it to its full potential.

I have huge respect for you barliman2001 reading your experiences.

I stand by what I have said.

Yes in chasing dreams we can suffer and I too have suffered in chasing my dreams but I have also enjoyed success in equal measure to the failure.

It has been a wild ride and I would not have missed a moment of it.

We drive things that take us to places and we are driven too not by things but by dreams

Dreams drove the Wright brothers and despite many failures they attained flight

Henry Ford was driven by the dream of cheap transport for all and despite many setbacks he attained that and we have today modern transport

Christopher Columbus was driven by a dream and despite many setbacks he attained the discovery of the new world and the opening up of the americas

Gutenberg was driven by the dream of widespread printing and the result was a global population with access to knowledge and the world as we know it.

Nasa was driven by President Kennedys dream of placing a man on the moon and they suffered many setbacks and attained that goal, and that has created a legacy that still inspires the world to this day.

The greatest achievements of man have come from dreams and the striving for them and we can name a thousand of them.

The greatest disasters of man have come from dreams too I know, but without dreams and the willingness to chase them we humans would still be wearing animal skins and living in caves.

Dreams contain the best and they also contain the worst of us and we can fail easily in the attaining of our dream but that is not I think the real failure.

There is really only one real failure in my opinion, and that is the failure to take our fate in our hands and to chase our dream, and instead to accept something less and then we might spend a lifetime wondering what might have been.

Dreams

They are never where you think they are going to be.

Buying into a dream without seeing if it can become a reality is a recipe for disappointment but contains the seeds of greatness and huge satisfaction.

The Blackburn is your dream and if it is it will be worth every penny expended in the pursuit and more besides.

The Yam is a safe option but safety is often where mediocre lies

I do not want safety I do not want mediocre I do not want security and certainty

I want risk I want hopes I want to have the chance to succeed wonderfully or in the attempt I will take monumental failure and take it gladly

We must aspire to greatness and if we crash and burn in the attempt to attain it then we have tasted greatness and will forever be uplifted by the memory and the experience and therein lies a world of self respect

The Blackburn holds your hopes and dreams and you must pursue them.

I am not a specialist and havent been into hifi for more decades than I care to remember, so forgive my poor comments.

Your system looks good to me, I see a well and strongly decoupled platter (the large slab beneath the gramophone/phonograph) and good and interesting elements well put together, however I do not see any decoupling between the speakers and the floor.

The sound stage might be muddied by crosstalk through the floor.

Is it worth considering fitting a decoupling arrangement beneath the speakers. (a large weight like a slab, and a suspension) So the speakers can be active without propagating sound into the floor.

A few dollars spent here might help clean up the sound and replace a few hundred dollars invested in the amplifier or other areas dealing with the crosstalk.

It also would make your general soundproofing of the room more effective. Floors do propagate sound very well.

Removing the crosstalk at source is always a good and less expensive move than having to lift the quality of the other stages to deal with it at those later stages.

Speakers generate as you know a lot of energy to the room that can overwhelm everything if not controlled.

On the other hand having the floor as a resonant base can make the sound more alive and less clinical and we never want a dead sounding room.

It all depends on the relative construction of all the physical components and how they interact in the journey stylus-cartridge-platter-preamp-amp-plinth-speaker-floor-plinth-platter-stylus (endless loop) to determine the best sound quality compromise for the equipment and the room.

Have you considered removing the cartridge (keeping it connected) and spinning it so its connecting wires are twisted together like a rope. then refitting it this can give crosstalk at source at the cartridge which can improve the sound.

Another zero cost improvement is to swap the speaker cables end to end. it was believed that the flow of electrons along the cables can be slightly different in each direction affecting the sound and spinning one or the other cable end to end might match them and improve the sound.

I am unconvinced of this effect myself having never witnessed it but that was a commonly held belief back in the day with high end system audiophiles so I repeat it here.

Additionally the use of very heavy 79 strand speaker cable was highly recommended and I experienced benefits from using that, if you havent zeroed in on your speaker cables then this is a low cost area to explore.

Of course connecting cables are often overlooked and high quality gold tipped cables can benefit although we do risk being ripped off by less than scrupulous manufacturers marketing ridiculously expensive cables that carry little benefit.

I am sure you have most of these areas already sorted out but maybe I have offered something new.

I must apologise this is not an issue at all, my settings on my computer were wrong, it is now fixed

Ive checked the RMC brand it is unfamiliar to me however it appears to be a custom mouthpiece made by Martin to accompany the Committee trumpet.

In other words a specialist high quality mouthpiece.

It may be that your instrument was owned and played by a professional many professionals have played on high quality student instruments like yours.

Some mouthpieces can make it difficult to play, I would look after that mouthpiece as it seems to be a high quality antique, and perhaps get a more usual mouthpiece perhaps a Bach 7c, I would try a few out or get some advice.

Getting a good mouthpiece that suits you and suits your level of play is important so I would look to get a mouthpiece that fits you and that might make playing more pleasurable and easier for you at this stage.

And by the way welcome to the site.

Ok first of all dont panic it may be that the instrument is gunged up and needs a really good clean.

I would also suggest that the corks are falling apart, and the water valves corks are probably leaking.

Bad or leaking corks can make an instrument sound strangled. I would take it to a good tech and ask them to make it playable, basically a cork and felt replacement and that should only cost a few dollars and will make a world of difference.

Also they will check the valves are all seated correctly and working correctly.

The instrument sounds like a Reynolds Medalist trumpet these were a premier student trumpet from a great manufacturer and they had many features of professional instruments. It sounds like you have a very good instrument there that is well worth having a tech check it over and it will help you to develop for many years.

Our messages crossed.

I am very happy you sorted it out.

Dont worry the trumpet is a quite different instrument in many ways and the mouthpiece might be causing an issue for you.

I would first of all practice sounding notes by thinking of breathing rather than blowing, but this may be difficult at first.

What mouthpiece is it can you read any markings on it.

And by the way if the instrument is a little bit full of dust and other stuff that can cause it to be difficult to play.

A good internal clean may be called for.

Trumpets play easier the cleaner they are generally.

I am also going to make a suggestion and please dont be upset at this, but remove the mouthpiece and play for a while on that alone.

It has been a long time since you played and perhaps the instrument is introducing some kind or resistance to you that makes it hard for you to sound notes.

If you buzz notes and tunes successfully and strongly into the mouthpiece alone and then bring that technique to the instrument perhaps that will assist you in overcoming any problems that the instrument might have.

I sometimes have difficulty sounding notes myself so it is no embarrassment particularly on an instrument that is unfamiliar to you