Best posts made by Trumpetsplus

Petrucci Music Library
https://s9.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/8/8c/IMSLP599943-PMLP1617-Brahms_Symphony_No.4_-_Trumpets_in_Bb.pdf

I have often said that valve problems are due to either Dirt, Damage, or Distortion. Your cleaning certainly resolves one of these possibilities. However I would hesitate to encourage or even strongly discourage people from willy nilly cleaning their valves in an ultrasonic bath. Those ultrasonic waves can also pierce thin or compromised metal, and sometimes the thinnest gauge brass on a trumpet is the ports in the valve.

Caveat Emptor!

If by "best valves" you mean action, that is simply a manufacturing/quality issue. However, I regard valve section as the heart of the trumpet. Different valve sections will encourage particular playing characteristics. For instance, all the trumpets that were made with Bauerfeind valves have a similar feel, all the trumpets made with Getzen valves have a similar feel, all the trumpets made with Carol valves have a similar feel. All three of those brands are very well made, and could be in the running for "best" action. I would stack my valves up against any of those brands, and in fact have only ever had one instrument back with valve issues - due to a dent in the valve casing from a loose mouthpiece.

Players remark that all my trumpets play as if they are in the same family, and I have some very diverse designs. I attribute this to the valve section/cluster.

Talking about backwards and wives, a friend suggested that when you get married you should film the whole ceremony so that when the disillusionment sets in you play the film backwards and end up single again!

(It's my thread, I'm allowed to hijack it!)

As Louis Armstrong said (paraphrased)
"I play the melody, then I play the melody around the melody, then I play the melody around that melody".

Avoid riffs and avoid patterns. Learn to play melodies by ear, learn to hear what key of the moment you are in, and listen to the greats of the past. Sing their solos.

In the simplest 4/4 situations 120 is the number of quarter notes per minute and the music will be marked
(quarter note) = 120. (Star Wars theme).
Play each quarter note on the tic
Sorry, don't know how to insert quarter note note symbol
Or if it is very slow
(eighth note) = 120 (Bach/Gounod Ave Maria)
Play each eighth note on the tic

In 12/8 the music will be marked
(dotted quarter note) = 120 (Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall)
Play each dotted quarter note on the tic, the eighth notes will be like triplets

Or if it is very slow
(eighth note) = 120 (Barcarolle from Tales of Hoffman)
Play each eighth note on the tic

So look to see what the time signature says. Is it (quarter note) = 120, or is it (dotted quarter note) = 120, or is it (eighth note) = 120?

Easier to explain face to face, but I hope this helps.

@Dr-Mark In fact the English language has a wonderful workaround for this: In order to be gender neutral it is permissible to use third person plural for third person singular.
Example:
The trumpeter produces sound from the trumpet by buzzing their lips.
Or even better:
Trumpeters produce sound from the trumpet by buzzing their lips.

Notwithstanding the noted political incorrectness, the statement is factually wrong, an alternate truth if you will. Trumpeters produce sound from the trumpet by exciting the air column inside it. This excitation of the air column will not only vibrate or buzz a sheet of paper held loosely over the bell, it will also vibrate, or buzz, the lips. The lips are an intrinsic, essential, part of the system, not the creator.

@Dr-Mark We are getting into the can of worms area. The terms "fundamental" and "harmonics" can quite correctly be used in the way you state. However, in trumpet land both these words can have a different specific meaning: the fundamental can be the pitch that is being sounded, and the harmonics can be the notes that can be played with identical fingering. I like to use the word "formants" to refer to the range of higher frequencies that determine the color of the note. Otherwise we are teasing our brains with "harmonics of harmonics".

One versed in the art of acoustics can freely discuss acoustics matters with their (or, previously his or her!) peers, but if such an expert discourses with a layman, misunderstandings and heat are inevitable.

My advice to all is to recognize that information is available, to recognize that this information does explain some of the intricacies of trumpet playing, then pick up our trumpets and play! At the end of the day A flat is still fingered 2 and 3.

I put this one up to help clear confusion.

http://www.jaegerbrass.com/Blo/Entries/2019/12/brass-instruments-are-not-pneumatic-circuits.html

Here is chapter 2.
http://www.jaegerbrass.com/Blo/Entries/2019/12/explaining-brass-instruments---2-the-notes.html

Jack Holland, the Pitch Finder guy, put these out. On his death the products were taken over by his friend, one of my customers. It is a practi\ce device for buzzing and fingering which has since been copied and marketed by several people. The latest of these is the Sandovalve.

@Niner Not a bad idea, but it may transform the forum into something other than a friendly chat station. And it may impinge on the right (which I wholeheartedly defend) of members to remain anonymous. I've seen in other places where beginners ask for advice and the most advice came from the least knowledgeable. Anyone can construct a fake bio. This is a big reason why I have always chosen to be identifiable. I may not be right all the time, but you can always know the background from where my error has come.

Just because someone is an absolute expert player does not mean they will have an unchallengeable opinion about a practice routine for player X or equipment for player Y. Such a sticky might present that they do.

@Niner I give beginners 3 things to do
Breathe
Lips together
Blow.

This seems to do the trick,

The more advanced version is
Breathe out then breathe in
Hold the lips together as if saying the letter M
Blow gently at the apogee of the breath out - breath in.

@flugelgirl said in Instrument Maintenance:

French hornists and other rotary players are incapable of disassembling their instruments and have no idea what a rotor looks like or how it actually functions. .

I have rotary valves in stock (for my quarter tone and ascending valve instruments) and I show my rotary valve customers what these valves look like in order to explain how to lubricate them. I also explain why to use different oils for different parts (the faster the surface speed the thinner the oil). I dissuade owners from disassembly mainly due to the care required to seat the back bearing.

Here is the next installment of Brass for Dummies, or Brass for Parents.
http://www.jaegerbrass.com/Blo/Entries/2020/1/explaining-brass-instruments---3-more-notes.html

Today I posted the 200th song to help people pass the time through Covid. These songs are posted through Trumpet4Fun by email and also on the Trumpet4Fun Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/Trumpet4Fun/

It is possible that your endurance increased because the Bach had worn valves and took more work.

I have found, especially with mature age students, that sharp lower notes are often due to TMJ issues.

This is an excellent listing of the tendencies. But there are many differences to this list shared by many (but not all) trumpet designs. One difference I should mention is the very sharp 3rd overtone C (look at the number of top professional players using alternate fingering 2 and 3) on many C trumpets.

Also let's consider the bell effect (thank you Arthur Benade). Because the instrument has an open bell, sound waves do not see their zero pressure happening at exactly the same place. Specifically low notes think the instrument is longer and high notes think it is shorter. The lower the note the flatter it tends to be, the higher the note the sharper it tends to be (poor technique notwithstanding). Incidentally this is why the pedal C, first harmonic, is so unusable; it is almost a 10th lower than the first overtone "low C". It is why the didgeridoo overblows not at an octave but a 10th (or so).

The solution to this global untunefulness is balancing the amount and quality of feedback to the player with projection into the auditorium. I have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours working on this balance.

One of the processes in manufacture is dipping the horn in Formic acid to soften any excess solder, making it easier to buff away. I don't know if Yamaha do this as they use lead free solder. If the immersion time is too long the Formic acid can challenge yellow brass enough to increase the chances of premature de-zincification (red rot). Speak to a Yamaha rep or contact your nearest Atelier.