2020 has certainly brought its trials. Global lockdown has put paid to the bulk of most musicians' work and has added additional challenges to the projects that are still up and running. I have recently been catching up with Manchester (UK) based trumpeter Graham South as he releases a new album on 18th September.
As for many other musicians over this lockdown period, there has been a lot more time at home than I would have liked. Also like many others, I have tried to use some of this time to explore new music and practice routines that I would not normally have time for. With the help of … Continue reading Solo Trumpet Repertoire
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
Hands up, anyone who has wasted a practice session messing around with heavy valve caps and trim in the hope that they will be the answer to all of their problems. And then gone back to what they had on originally. I guess that I am probably not alone. There are some really attractive options out there and there is no doubting their ability to give you a ‘pimped up’ horn. At first glance, these trim kits from Frate Precision are beautiful. A gold-plated refined Italian design with black onyx set into the finger buttons, and black anodised aluminium stems. They are simply stunning. Ultimately though, what will persuade us to keep them on the horn is how they help or improve the instrument’s performance.
"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.
The Frate Precision HM cup Mouthpiece range is an excellent solution for trumpet players
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.
A brand new development from Donat mouthpieces, in collaboration with Ko de Rooij: Tone-Ring mouthpieces, available for cornet and flugelhorn, designed to give an unmatched combination of sound and playability. Along with a unique new design, adding a Tone-Ring to the cup, a shorter heavy blank has been developed for improved tuning. Characteristic for the … Continue reading Tone-Ring Mouthpieces from Atelier Donat
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.
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.