Practicing on the Road

Much discussion has been raise over the noise factor when practicing on the road and for that reason I wanted to give just another suggestion for solving this problem.

Next week I will be on one of our vacations and because of the luggage limitations, I will not be able to take my horn. *&%^%$#@#%

I did plan to carry my mouthpiece with me but buzzing on a mouthpiece is not the same as buzzing on a horn. The resistance is such that I end up deciding I wouldn’t do that again. Also the buzzing sound tends to annoy my wife. I can’t understand why!

While rummaging through our garage the other day, I spotted some plastic tubing of various diameters and lengths. One caught my eye and I found that my mouthpiece fit into the tubing perfectly. Not able to resist the urge, I gave it a blast and to my surprise, it wasn’t very loud and seemed to have the same resistance as my trumpet. The harmonics were more like a bugle and after visiting my local hardware store, I found a much longer section of the same pipe and after placing my mouthpiece in this longer section, I found that I had more control of the harmonics and could connect much of the range of the new instrument into scale steps with a few exceptions.

Obviously I would not be able to justify carrying an eight foot long plastic tube on the plane but at the very nominal cost of the pipe, I plan on buying one when I reach our destination and use it there.

Problem solved.

Oh, also……

I taped a plastic funnel to the other end and changed by new horn into a better, although louder instrument of torture.

PS Watch out for those revolving doors.

Bruce was a member of the faculty at the University of Northern Iowa, School of Music in Cedar Falls from 1969 until his retirement in 1999. He has performed with many well-known entertainers such as Bob Hope, Jim Nabors, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Anita Bryant, Carman Cavalara, Victor Borgie, the Four Freshman, Blackstone the Magician, Bobby Vinton and John Davidson.

6 thoughts on “Practicing on the Road

  1. Vern

    Bruce, thanks for the ideas. Any value in taking a few days off the horn while on a trip? My thought is a break might give the facial muscles and lip time for “rebuilding”. Thanks!

    • Bruce Chidester

      I used to have a schedule with one day off a week and always thought it was a good idea.

      I’m still on the road and I got about thirty minutes of long tones on the PVC tube yesterday. That was some real “burn” time.

    • Bruce Chidester

      I’ve found that a day off once in a while is always good to rebuild. I usually rest one day a week. If I’ve done too much, I find that I lose flexibility and my chops feel stiff and dry. At least that is what I have found.

    • Bruce Chidester

      I agree……..

  2. Alex

    Look up the Hosaphone. It was good enough for Dennis Brain.

    • Bruce Chidester

      We all used a hoseaphone when giving clinics to young kids. It always went over well. I think I still have one in my studio.

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