February 2013 – Trumpet Blog

Features to Consider when Buying a Trumpet

written by Bruce Chidester on February 25, 2013

When deciding on which trumpet/cornet to buy, there are a few guidelines that need to be addressed. The bottom line cost is one of the most obvious questions for most people. Unless you are interested in the ultimate, hand fitted, custom made, work of art, one of a kind horn, you should expect to pay between $1,000 and $2,500 for a quality instrument. When I speak of the ultimate, one of a kind trumpet, I am reminded of a situation many years ago when a college first told me about his friend who was making truly one of a kind,…

Even More Interesting Assumptions Proved and Disproved

written by Bruce Chidester on February 23, 2013

It seems as if there is an endless list of miracle changes which can be made to your trumpet to make it play better and this is just another idea I wanted to test for myself. Some have criticized me for not “using more individuals and instruments” as test units or not doing “blindfold” tests. Some feel that I have not entered enough variables into my testing to make my observations conclusive. To these comments I can only say this; these are my findings and from what I have tested, I feel very confident that I have answered the questions…

Musical Engraving

written by Bruce Chidester on February 13, 2013

With all the new developments in technology, we sometimes forget how things used to be accomplished and for that reason, I thought some of you might be interested in another lost art in the music business. While teaching at our university, I offered music writing manuscript as an elective and enjoyed working with our students in placing musical notation on staff paper which was at that time the only way to get the job done. With the advent of computer software we can now complete the same amount of work in record time with a much more profession product at…

The Ups and Downs Of Playing On A Cruise Ship- Part 2

written by Bruce Chidester on February 5, 2013

I just got home from a cruise and spent some time visiting with the musicians on the ship. I asked them some questions that some of you may be interested in hearing. The ship was one of the largest and the band was from all over the globe. The instrumentation was two trumpets, one trombone, two saxes, a bass, keyboard, and drums. Every musician was a good reader and the trumpets were very fine solo players. The tenor, who you would expect to be the jazzer, was a little light. The best musician in the band, in my opinion, was…