Visitors to the City of London (London's main financial district) will be accustomed to the glass-fronted homes of high finance and over-priced coffee. They may well have also come across the interestingly named 'Trump Street' and thought it to be a nod to our friends over the pond. They would however be wrong! I recently … Continue reading What’s the story behind Trump Street?
When trying out new instruments or mouthpieces, it is often challenging to find the right environment in which to do so. You may have had that experience of being shoved into a completely dead-sounding, glorified broom cupboard in a music shop. Or left just to play in the middle of the store, trying not to … Continue reading How to build the perfect space for trumpet playing
Over the past few years I have come across numerous apps for reading and performing with ‘sheet’ music. I find the developments staggering in how far we have come, integrating this technology into our performances. However, there have always been compromises to be made, whether it be in turning pages, marking up parts, editing, or just the general viewing and using experience, that I have made me wonder whether I wouldn’t just prefer to have some sheets of paper in front of me! That is until now!... I tried BlackBinder for the first time a few weeks ago on my iPad, and it is the first app that I have found that really addressed all of these niggles that I had.
I was blown away by this video introduced by K.O. Skinsnes from Stomvi USA, about the 'Stomvi Titan 4 Valve Edition' range of trumpets and cornets. They sound absolutely stunning in this performance by Pacho Flores, Javier Gonzalez and Aaron Smith. Perhaps there really will be no need for trombones in the future!
The Bach Stradivarius 180 model Bb trumpets have been the best-sellers worldwide in the pro and advanced upgrade instrument market for many many years. The 2 most popular bell shapes, models 37 and 43 both provide a lot of flexibility and versatility, and of course will respond very differently depending on the player. This video from Dawkes Music gives a really good overall and balanced comparison of the two models, allowing you to really hear the different characteristics.
So, here is a really interesting new product that I have been sent through for review… The Vhizzper mute is the brainchild of Christoph Baerwind, trumpeter in ‘German Brass’ and ‘Der Orchester der Hamburgischen Staatsoper’. The essential concept is a practice mute that can also be used as a mouthpiece mute. This is not something that I have encountered before so was fascinated to give it a try.
Since 2006 Dario Frate has been designing and making mouthpieces from his base in Lombardy, Italy. The aim across the entire range is to give the player richness of sound, fluidity, and to do it as easily as possible. These are certainly noble ambitions and I was very keen to try some mouthpieces for myself!
A run down on the Bach LT190 1B Commercial Model trumpet, and demonstrated by the brilliant Georgina Jackson
Mario Guarneri will be known to many readers as a performer and educator of the highest calibre. A former member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mario is also in demand as educator and lecturer on the pedagogical concepts involved with his groundbreaking designs and the trumpet in general. Here he shares with me some thoughts on approaching different stylistic challenges both as a player and a teacher.
When you talk about getting your trumpets adjusted so that they respond perfectly to you or matching and adjusting a mouthpiece so that it works perfectly with your horn, you are probably already thinking about Bob Reeves!
Keep your horn clean and you will never have a problem with sticky valves or slides. Keeping it clean inside also removes bacteria that can build up in the tubing.
Johnny Thirkell is one of the great unsung heroes of the music industry. With a truly prolific recording output, his trumpet features on thousands of hits over the past thirty odd years. To find out more about Johnny, please follow this link to read this great interview (even if I do say so myself!) that … Continue reading Johnny Thirkell : Horn Camp 2019
‘Design Innovations’ is a series of articles looking at new and innovative developments in trumpet design, as well as gadgets and tools that are designed to make our practice and performance easier.
Mario Guarneri will be known to many readers as a performer and educator of the highest calibre. A former member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mario is also in demand as lecturer on the pedagogical concepts involved with his designs. Here he shares some thoughts and insights on the processes involved with the development of the BERP.
Interview with Hub Van Laar (June 2018 @ ITG Conference, San Antonio) What made you want to play brass in the first place? As a child you had 2 options in my village. I began by playing football, and in my first game I scored 3 goals… in the wrong direction! It was then decided … Continue reading Van Laar Trumpets : Interview and Instrument Overview
Practice Mutes have become accepted as a necessary evil for brass players. They are not an ideal way of preparing yourself, however there are times where we all accept that you just need to practice or warm-up quietly. Listed below are a number of mutes currently available that will all do the job. They will all have different strengths though, so I have tried to demystify them somewhat with this ‘Buying Guide’.
Marvin Stamm is a colossus of the music world, having performed and recorded with many jazz legends throughout his illustrious career. At 79-years-young, he is still going strong and and has many interesting thoughts here on adapting to change, both musically and physiologically over the years. There is sound and compelling advice here for musicians of all instruments and of all ages!