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hi

Post 1

Farlander

hello there, babelhorn, and welcome to hootoo! i take it (from your personal page intro) that you are somewhat skilled in using the 'babelhorn' - trumpet - to er, convey to others your emotions in the form of notes on the ear-hurtingly high end of the register? smiley - winkeye mind you, i'm a trombonist myself, and we usually express ourselves in sonic boom-like blats.

smiley - cheers
far.


hi

Post 2

babelhorn

Yes! Thank you for your kind note. I would like to turn this page into my personal trumpet players journal. However this page is a only a work in progress; with not enough work and no evidence of any progress from the beginning. However, I feel that the concept of the babble horn is promising. There just seems to always be a hitch on the user end of the thing. It seems that it's rather difficult to come up with an aesthetic that is appealing to anyone. Apparently Mozart had some skill in this aspect of music.

I'm considering that some of the problem may be brought to light with this recent definition of "Trumpet", I found in my notes from Music Literature notes:

The trumpet is an orchestral instrument of an incredibly wide range of musical nuance. That is, at least, when its operator is not caught up in a "HIGHER FASTER LOUDER" mind set, as this unintentional enthusiasm elicits an ear splitting migraine due to the sonic phallus they tend to express in such raptures.


hi

Post 3

babelhorn

Are you the author of the B-17 article?


hi

Post 4

Farlander

here are quotations taken from Barber, David W. 1997. A Musician's Dictionary. New Expanded Edition. Sound & Vision:

"BRASS
1. A family of orchestral instruments. Includes the trumpet, trombone, French Horn and antique bedsteads. Development traced back to 12th century cisterns. Sound produced by means of blowing or buzzing (so-called raspberry or Bronx cheer) into one end of a long curved tube in the hopes that the sounds that come out the otehr end will be less rude. In between may be any number of valves, crooks, spigots etc. In essence they are no more than elaborate spitoons.
2. Richard Strauss' advice for would-be conductors: never, under any circumstances, never look at the brass."

"ORCHESTRA:
Result in musicians having discovered there's safety in numbers. So much that the orchestra often outnumbers its audience. Distinguished from a mob only by the fact that a mob chooses weapons such as placards and stones whereas an orchestra chooses weapons such as violins and trumpets (which are much, much worse). Also, mobs rarely wear black."

the clarinettists in my university band/orchestra used to complain about having to sit in front of the trumpets. of course, that was *before* they were relocated to the seats directly in front of the trombones!

(out of curiosity, are you a part-time or full-time trumpet player?)

re: b-17 - yeah, i wrote it smiley - smiley why?


hi

Post 5

babelhorn

I play full time, which is not to say that I make a living doing this. I personally am responsible for tinnitus in several trombone players who have sat in front of my in a number of Jazz Bands. Oddly enough the lead altos blame their tinnitus on the lead trombone player who sits directly behind them. There is no doubt in my mind that a trombone played with Dick Shear’s enthusiasm will always come out the champion in volume and distance. Bill Watrous’ sound would probably cure some hearing problems.

It turns out that it is easier to make money with a jazz ensemble than other venues, so I have done a lot of playing with The Great River Big Band. This semester I am playing the Haydn, the Halsey Stevens and a concerto by Torelli with various groups locally.

Those are great definitions I will copy them. I have this problem with buzzing/raspberry as the source of our sound I believe it is a myth and work very hard to spread the word that it “JUST AINT SO”. But I do see that it makes for good comedy. I always love to put the blame for bad playing squarely on the shoulders of the players and how they think to approach the concept of making music on these instruments.

Your article on the Flying Fortress was very impressive. I believe that it is an excellent example of what authoring in digital media should be. Bravo! I am looking for pictures of the ball (belly turret) because the kit that I am building has it all clear plastic and I am a little confused as to all the areas that are actually glass. It is quite a detailed piece of equipment. I think I have already painted over one window.


hi

Post 6

Farlander

are you interested in joining the musicians' guild then? A150368. it's for musicians and music afficionados alike, the only requirement being that a person *likes* music smiley - ok.

i must confess that i've never actually gotten the hang of jazz. i was raised on a diet of hardcore classical (loved beethoven, loathed strauss), and when i finally got round to playing the trombone it was in a serious concert band that played primarily overtures and 'serious music' (eg. john williams' 'summon the heroes', and just about everything by jacob de haan). SO when they finally lobbed jazz music in our direction, most of us were *lost*. we had pretty decent playing techniques, we could read accidentals and wild leaps in the music - but we just didn't *have* the jazz groove. it still takes me a couple of rounds each time to properly read jazz, so i greatly admire those who are able to just tackle it head-on, improvise and make it *sound* like jazz.

re: b-17 article - thanks! i had a love affair with world war two aircraft back when i was in school (still love 'em), and when i joined hootoo as a 'researcher' and started writing articles, i decided to write about things that were close to my heart. then again, most people who know me will tell you that i'm a compulsive rambler, so...smiley - winkeye

i'll go see if there are any sites around that offer photos of ball turrets -


hi

Post 7

babelhorn

I love playing in the trumpet section of a Jazz Band. Most of my performing life has been doing that. I improvise at home with some Jamie Abersold CDs. When it comes to improvise jazz I would rather hear someone else play it in public. The wear and tear of playing those lead parts has taken its toll on me, I am starting with a local Symphony Orchestra next week, and so it looks like I will be snuggling up with the classics myself.

Tell me more about the musician’s guild. Is it part of H2G2?

Tom


hi

Post 8

Farlander

yup, it's a part of h2g2, otherwise i wouldn't have brought your attention to it. basically (as i've said earlier) it's a music community for musicians and non-musicians. among other things it's affiliated with the h2g2 virtual orchestra, as well as a host of other music clubs at h2g2. it also has a comprehensive listing of all music-related articles here, many of which were written by guild members (i contributed A1304957; a second is being edited... don't worry, it's not an obligation. we just do it 'cos we want to). fragilis started it quite a long time back but then gave up because of the lack of enthusiasm among members, so danny picked up the threads (!!!), and i help out there whenever time permits.

the dreadful thing about playing brass for classical music (well, other than the tuba anyway) is that you sit and wait for about 20 bars, then play a couple, and then wait some more, the consequence being that (if your concert hall is as cold as ours) your instrument will have become frozen by the time you pick it up. alternatively, you get frozen to the mouthpiece! well, at least that's what happened to the euphoniums at our last concert smiley - winkeye(my mouthpiece was safely in my pocket).


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