It’s No Wonder We Have Junk Horns on The Market!

I think all serous trumpet players will find this interesting. I did several searches for a list showing the most popular and talked about trumpets on the Internet today and found this one…… The following was taken from one such “Most Popular” on the Internet lists… Hold on to your Bach, Schilke, Benge, Conn, Yamaha. 10 Best Trumpets 60,413 reviews scanned BestReviews.guide (BRG) is a data¬driven assistance tool for your online shopping research. There’s so much information available out there: social platforms, blogs, forums, comments, articles, and many more. At any given moment, there are thousands of new reviews published.…

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Good Trumpet Players Are Full Of Hot Air

No, this is not going to be another trumpet bashing article, although we sometimes deserve one. The amount of warm air you exchange through your instrument can be an indication as to how well you are playing. A great way to tell if you are playing with efficiency is to check the amount of condensation coming out of your instrument. The better you play, the more condensation is generated. Why does water form in a brass instrument? Most brass instruments (the exception being the Horn- incorrectly referred to as a French horn) are equipped with a water key which is…

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Playing On A Cruise Ship

I have been asked to share some information on playing on a cruise ship. I have not played on one myself but most of my friends in Branson do it regularly so from what they have told me, I will try to share this information with you. The good side of cruise ship playing. 1. For a single person, it is a lot of fun. 2. The pay isn’t bad and the scenery is fantastic. 3. Living conditions on the boat are cramped. 4. The food is wonderful. 5. The shows are OK and lean towards the commercial side of…

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Here are 10 reasons most of our bands are playing out of tune- #3, #4, #5

3. Tune your band before, during and at the end of every rehearsal! The need to tune your ensemble at the beginning of a rehearsal is obvious but what about during your rehearsals and again towards the end. The more often you bring up good intonation, the more conscious your students will be aware of any changes in pitch. Changes in room temperature can alter a once in tune ensemble and even the size of the instrument will affect the bands intonation. Think about the amount of air and the length of time it takes a warm breath to fully…

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Here are 10 reasons most of our bands are playing out of tune- #2

Stop relying on your electronic tuner! Too many directors have continued to rely on the little tuning box and have forgotten or possibly never learned to used their ears. That statement reminded me of a Faculty Brass Quintet clinic we were giving in a small town in Iowa. One of the members of our ensemble was illustrating how we began our rehearsals and performances by first tuning up. We proceeded to play our tuning Bb and began making the appropriate adjustments to our instruments. When we asked if anyone had any questions, a very shy student spoke up “Do you…

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Here are 10 reasons most of our bands are playing out of tune- #1

1. You can’t tune your band to a tuba! Read…….. http://www.thetrumpetblog.com/why-are-we-still-tuning-our-bands-to-a-tuba/ http://www.thetrumpetblog.com/scientific-proof-tuning-to-a-tuba-can-be-hazardous-to-your-bands-intonation-2/ http://www.thetrumpetblog.com/continued-discussion-on-tuning-a-band-to-a-tuba/ http://www.thetrumpetblog.com/recent-comments-on-the-topic-why-do-bands-still-tune-to-the-tuba/ http://www.thetrumpetblog.com/continuing-discussion-on-why-do-the-bands-still-tune-to-the-tuba/

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The Westerlies- Revisited “REQUIRED READING FOR ALL MY READERS”

Earlier, I posted an article describing a fantastic brass quartet which I introduced as “Possibly The Best Quartet- Period”. Photo taken by Sasha Arutyunova After posting my material, I was lucky enough to get in contact with this ensemble and they agreed to answer a few questions I had about their group. Here are my questions and their responses- How did you all get together? We all grew up in Seattle, Washington playing music in the public school system. ​Seattle has an incredibly ecosystem and history of music education and we were all lucky enough to be immersed in that…

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Band Directors! Learn to Tune Your #%@&*%$# Bands!

“I have had it with out-of-tune bands”! The more I listen to concert bands, the more I get upset and wonder where we have gone wrong in instrumental music. As my readers have learned, I am a very patient yet sometimes out spoken person. I try to understand other opinions and give most people the benefit of the doubt but in the case of poor intonation in most of our instrumental music programs today, I have had it! I have decided to face the reality that the instrumental programs for the most part in our country have failed our students…

The Perfect Practice, Rehearsal, Recording Studio- Part 2

Now that we have the basic room and have found it to be sound (pun intended), we will need to fill it with equipment. If you were expecting a long list of the ultimate recording equipment in both hardware/software, let me remind you that I am a retired professor of music and not a wealthier member of society. This studio was done on a budget and for those of you who are in the same financial situation; you may be surprised at what can be done with limited funds. Recording equipment- Analog- Yes, there are people still using tape for…

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