Chris Still is a renowned musician and educator, and I was delighted that he was able to find time to do this interview. He is currently a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the founder of ‘Honesty Pill’. Regular readers will have read Chris’ feature a couple of weeks ago - If you haven’t … Continue reading Trumpet Artist Profile : Christopher Still
Many top players have already turned to Pickett Brass and Blackburn Trumpets for mouthpieces and trumpets. At the helm is Peter Pickett who has kindly given up his time to answer some questions... Can you talk a little about the background to getting started on this trumpet craftsmanship journey? This entire journey to date in … Continue reading ‘Meet the Maker’ : Peter Pickett
Educator, clinician and coach (and also a trumpet player with the Los Angeles Philharmonic!) Chris Still has a really fascinating project that can benefit ALL musicians. I am extremely grateful for his time to chat about "Honesty Pill". Can you give a brief rundown of what Honesty Pill is all about? Sure. Honesty Pill is … Continue reading Honesty Pill : In conversation with Christopher Still
"When you are passionate about something, you can always find room to consistently pursue what is important to you. So I have, for example, no scruples about a practice session in an empty airport gate before a connecting flight, or to practise in a car park if there is nothing better available."
The challenge of adding resistance to the mouthpiece buzz is one that a number of people have tackled, but always with big compromises to be made. German trumpet player, educator and designer, Markus Arnold talks to me here about his journey in designing the acclaimed 'Buzz-R'.
Randy Dunn is a trumpeter from Houston, TX with incredibly broad experience across diverse musical styles as a performer and educator. It was fascinating to interview him on a whole range of topics including his approach to playing and teaching as well as working on mouthpiece designs with Legends Brass.
You will probably already be familiar with and have seen the 'BG France' brand around. It is huge and has a great reputation for quality. However, you may not be aware that they now do a great range of trumpet accessories to go alongside everything else. I caught up with Franck Bichon to find out more about his design processes.
At the helm of Atelier Donat is Dimitri Donat. The workshop was set up by Dimitri's grandfather in the French Alps in 1936, originally to manufacture parts for the Swiss watch industry. Now, generations of technical expertise are combined with a musical passion to create some of the most innovative mouthpiece designs today.
Last year we spoke to Johnny Thirkell about his new venture “Horn Camp” – a week-long course in Southern Spain for Trumpet and Sax players. It all sounded pretty exciting, so we caught up with him again to see how it all went and if he had plans for more.
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!
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
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!
When I left music college (nearly) 20 years ago, the approach to building a healthy portfolio of freelance work as a trumpeter was rather different to now: Face-to-face networking; Being in “the right place at the right time” with the right people; Backing up any opportunities by being a “good guy to have around” and a good player. This was the limit to one’s self-marketing.
It struck me at the time that even when things were busy, and the diary was booked up a couple of months ahead, there was never a feeling of being in control and having ‘ownership’ (this seems to be the buzz word) of your career. This is what led me to start to explore other things that I could do alongside the trumpet-playing that could bring me more of a sense of control over my own career.
Speaking to younger professionals now, I see quite a different picture. The opportunities that the internet has brought are vast, and musicians are quickly learning how to maximise what it has to offer. Players now have limitless control over their own image and career. This series looks at this in more detail:
Next up in 'Part 2' to help me look at this in more depth is Kate Amrine. Kate is a trumpet player and educator based in New York City. She currently freelances in many different genres from Orchestra to Broadway, and also is an active soloist, currently working on her second album. Music entrepreneurship has always been an interest and she recently presented her "Designing your Career in Music" masterclass at New York University where Kate has been an Adjunct Professor since 2013.