What we're doing

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-06-05 2:21 p.m.

I've only been a member of this forum/group for couple of months (I never knew about TTF) but as I read I see a lot of familiar names and so I get a little sense of community here. Therefore I just thought I'd present an idea to see if anyone is interested.

Post a little something, maybe on a weekly or even daily basis, about what you're doing trombone-wise or musically. I know some of you are on YouTube regularly so that might seem a little redundant. But for the rest of us I think it would be interesting to find out where you all are in your "progression" as a trombonist, what you double on, what else you dabble in or concentrate on musically, etc.. If you're working on a particular piece of music, either solo or in a group/band/orchestra, maybe take a quick pic of your music and post it. Talk about troublesome areas in what your working on or how great you sounded last night. Whatever....

Maybe this would make for a new forum? Idk

How about I start. Last night I had my first rehearsal with a community band (my 3rd now) that's in it's 99th season in my town. It's a big traditional yearly event where musicians come from around the area to participate in a six week series. There's at least 100 of us and I counted 13 trombones in our section! I'm trying to play 3rd on my bass and I'm the only one with a double valve horn (probably because it's not necessary). Good thing because one chart had low C below the staff as an option. And yes, I pumped that baby out with pride :pant: As mentioned, this is my 3rd community band I'm playing in and so I'm either rehearsing or performing every weekday and twice on Mondays. Yesterday, I played 1st bone parts in the morning and 3rd parts on the bass in the evening. Since I've only been back on the horn for six months (after being away for 35 years), endurance is an issue and yesterday was no exception. I get so tired I can't even sustain a G at the top of the staff. Right now, playing my trombone is like going to the gym. I'm just trying to build endurance. Also the guy sitting next to me was playing an old King tenor he said was the same horn he played in the 5th grade. He looked to be in his 60's. The horn had a really small bell so I'm guessing it's a 2B?? I'm going to try and get the serial number off it and see if I can't find out what it is and when it was made. I'll get a pic of it and post it next rehearsal.

Someone tell me what they're doing, what they're playing and how they feel about it. It's ok if it's boring. You never know what you can start here.

Cheers,

Robert

Neo_Bri · by **Neo_Bri** » 2018-06-05 3:50 p.m.

Playing a gig tonight at a local outdoor venue - gonna be hot. Picking up my teaching schedule, too.

ghmerrill · by **ghmerrill** » 2018-06-05 5:45 p.m.

[quote="BflatBass"]There's at least 100 of us and I counted 13 trombones in our section! I'm trying to play 3rd on my bass and I'm the only one with a double valve horn (probably because it's not necessary). Good thing because one chart had low C below the staff as an option.[/quote]

I avoid the giant community bands. Partly because I don't care for crowds in general, and partly because rehearsals and performances are so crowded. Last year I switched from being the principal in one of the local community bands to coming up to speed in another on bass trombone. I don't try to split time among different bands. For me, life is too short, and I feel I want to focus on one thing and devote time to just one organization. Doing more would kill me in travel time and practice time as well.

Our trombone section consists of 4-5 people. Three on medium bore tenors with F-attachements, one who switches between a straight horn and an old 88H, and me on the double-valve bass. Sometimes one of the others doubles on third with me, but often I'm the only one with the reliable lower range.

For our play list the double valve isn't truly necessary, but it's pretty much a practical necessity. A number of things we play has the low C in them (and not just once in a while), and a low B-natural is encountered at times as well. Some pieces have required playing in the pedal range down to the pedal G. I don't regard these as optional, and the director specifically asked me to play bass to anchor that part. Moreover, a large bore tenor isn't really an adequate substitute for a real bass trombone in many of the things we play.

At this point, I quite satisfied with my progress, the director and band are satisfied, and I'd classify myself as an "adequate" bass trombonist re community band. I expect that in another 6 months or a year, I'll feel that I'm as good a trombone player as I have been a tuba player. One target now is high range since we play a lot of contemporary arrangements that score only 1st and 2nd trombone parts. I need a little extra work to handle the 2nd parts reliably, but it's coming along.

Burgerbob · by **Burgerbob** » 2018-06-05 7:53 p.m.

Got stuff coming up on bass, large tenor, and euph. Also trying to become anything close to proficient at contra.

LeTromboniste · by **LeTromboniste** » 2018-06-05 8:55 p.m.

Been back in Basel for about a week now after spending May in Canada for a couple of gigs and a week home with my partner and family in between. First project of the trip was a particularly meaningful one - an interdisciplinary project in collaboration with three indigenous people, with early and new music and spoken texts and soundscapes, and layering, all trying to assist them in telling their stories (there is a lot of racism in Canada aimed at the various indigenous people and native communities, and the horrific effects of the 19th and 20th century attempts at forced integration are still very much present in their communities and ignored/brushed off by government and general population alike). Quite emotionally demanding week. The week home was quite busy seeing friends and family and rehearsing for a recital I played with my best friend on harpsichord. Got three or four quiet days, then played trumpet and trombone in a very nice concert version of Orfeo (where we took the picture below - it's actually missing another cornett, trumpet and bass sackbut, but we ran out of space!).

Preparation for that solo recital had monopolized most of my practice time in April. I find it much easier to be motivated when there is a clear goal to aim for (concert, recording, etc). So now it's a bit hard to get back in the "beat". I can feel the mental and emotional fatigue. I allowed myself a few days off the horn and now starting again. Practicing a lot of ophicleide, which is a bit more motivating at the moment because it's fairly new so I can see the progress happening fast and anything I play is a challenge. At least it helps get me in the practice room where I then have no good reason not to also spend some time on trombones, and I keep ophicleide for last and end up practicing longer than planned every time. Helps fighting the temptation to just go hang out by the Rhine with beers and friends...Anyhow, fortunately or unfortunately, this month will be a lot more quiet than the last.

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-06-06 1:33 a.m.

Neo are you the one teaching? And if so are you giving private lessons?

Burgerbob what kinds of gigs are you expecting on a Contra? Strictly brass stuff or orchestral? Or solo?

Neo_Bri · by **Neo_Bri** » 2018-06-06 1:50 a.m.

[quote="BflatBass"]Neo are you the one teaching? And if so are you giving private lessons?

Burgerbob what kinds of gigs are you expecting on a Contra? Strictly brass stuff or orchestral? Or solo?[/quote]

Yes sir. I'm doing a reasonable amount of private lessons these days. I'm glad for it. I love helping people get their chops together so they can work on music.

I get the mechanics working first, then it's on to whatever the student wants to achieve (sound, power, orchestral playing, improvisation).

My youngest student is in 3rd grade and my oldest in their 60s (but haven't seen them for a while).

Burgerbob · by **Burgerbob** » 2018-06-06 2:38 a.m.

[quote="BflatBass"]

Burgerbob what kinds of gigs are you expecting on a Contra? Strictly brass stuff or orchestral? Or solo?[/quote]

Much of the studio stuff here in LA requires a lot of doubles... if you play bass, the contra is almost a must! It's not as if I am in the studios right now, but I need to learn it in order to even be considered.

I'd love to play it in an orchestra as well!

StefanHaller · by **StefanHaller** » 2018-06-06 3:06 a.m.

I like the idea, thanks Bflatbass for getting this going. Will post something about myself later when I have more time.

I also like the suggestion of creating a new forum dedicated to this. Having all of this in one huge thread doesn't seem ideal. People could have their own threads in a new forum, regularly posting what their doing, and every thread would then be something like a blog or diary. Would that make sense?

MoominDave · 2018-06-06 7:05 a.m.

Due to health reasons I've cut back to a large extent on the amount of playing I do during the last year - thank goodness I don't depend on it for income. Actually, it's been quite a welcome adjustment schedulewise - I was playing in a number of things simply because I had enjoyed them in the past, rather than because I'm still enjoying them. Now the sensible way to run my life is to make sure that I'm not out playing more than one night in a row - for comparison, I've gone whole months before with group playing to do every day. One ten-week term at university, I fitted in 40 concerts on top of a maths degree. I've led a busy musical life, but now has to be different.

The only regular commitment I now maintain is to the brass band that I help run and also play bass trombone in, which rehearses Monday and Thursday nights 8-10 and performs once every few weeks on average. It's a good group with a good ethos; a competing band in the "championship section", but one that recognises the essential absurdity of musical competition while embracing it as what we enjoy doing. On top of that I slot in one-off gigs, orchestral, big band, brass ensemble, as they arise and if they look interesting.

Interesting gigs soon upcoming: Mahler 10 in July on 1st trombone; Gurre-lieder in August on contra.

timothy42b · by **timothy42b** » 2018-06-06 8:01 a.m.

Last week I played a rehearsal with the first community band I was with in this area. It's been about 15 years since I left them to go overseas, and when I returned 5 years later I didn't go back. The personnel have mostly changed, the director is new, but the book is the same, pieces not duplicated by any other area band. It's a small band now and I'm the trombone section, I enjoy that much more than the larger groups.

So I'm sightreading again, and trying to follow the road map for those German pieces. First ending, folge ending, DS, folge, DS, coda, first ending, folge...................... You can have one beer max, maybe, or you're lost for sure on this stuff. Keeps me alert. If it were not for the drive I'd stay with this group, but it's a long way, and when winter comes I reduce my evening driving.

ExZacLee · by **ExZacLee** » 2018-06-06 11:03 a.m.

Nothing.

Doing nothing... but I have a good reason - got married on Sunday and the new wife and I are honeymooning in New Orleans. We'll meet up with some friends and check out their gigs, but I'm not going to try and book myself while I'm here (mayhap I'll sit in somewhere if I'm invited.)

We get back in town (OK) next week and then it's back to the grindstone. A lot happening this summer. I have some dates scheduled with some of the groups I play in, and I'm particularly looking forward to a Salsa gig with my 'mano Raul. He's been tearing it up in the One O'Clock at UNT so I don't get to see him or play with him as often as I'd like. My preparation for things like this is basically listening (right now it's Barry Rogers on the Palmieri stuff) and getting my chops in shape for the blow - a lot of loud playing with a tuner and metronome so I can keep my control. I don't do as much "heavy lifting" as I did even two years ago, so I have to prepare for gigs like this now... and maybe use a microphone (or at least have one there just in case.)

My quintet has been getting a few dates here and there, and I've been writing a bunch for that group. After years (decades, yikes) of output that mostly sounded derivative of Wayne Shorter and a bunch of other composers I worship, I finally feel comfortable enough writing stuff that sounds like "me" and I have a great group of people to work with. Some of the music tackles difficult and dark themes and I need a singer to communicate those messages and there are plans to bring in a vocalist after I get the lyrics together. Lyrics are hard. In my teens I wanted to be a writer and I dabbled in poetry and short stories... now I can't put two stanzas together without cursing my worth as a human being. I like the challenge, though. We don't progress as people without something difficult to work on.

I'll be teaching at the UCO Jazz Camp at the end of the month, so I'm looking for things to transcribe and bring into the band I direct. I usually mix things up and try to expose them to a wide variety of jazz from different eras. I haven't brought in any Bix/Trumbauer stuff yet so I might do that, and there's some Grant Green I've been looking at. Of course there will be some JJ.

The rest of the summer will be even busier, but I'll save all of that for another post.

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2018-06-06 11:07 a.m.

This time of year, my main playing transitions from a couple of college+community orchestras to the Legion Band, which is actually a pretty decent wind ensemble. The longtime director of Legion Band moved away a few years ago (and subsequently died). We do not have a permanent replacement. Our current conductor is in at least the third year of being our interim conductor. I guess she would rather play flute, but I really enjoy playing for her. The trombone section currently has three players. Three of course is a perfect number, except this being a summer band, backup would be nice. Hopefully my daughter will be home by the time we need a sub. I play first in this band. We would probably be a better section if third and I swapped, but I enjoy playing first. If asked to play first, I do, even though I know we should swap.

I also play in an activist street band. The number of trombones varies from gig to gig, but a student home from college has joined us, making the section excellent. When my daughter gets home, the section will be even stronger.

Technically my playing has reached a point where if I want to improve, I need lessons. Hopefully when autumn gets here I will have time and make the effort to take lessons.

Kbiggs · by **Kbiggs** » 2018-06-06 11:30 a.m.

[quote="ExZacLee"]Nothing.

Doing nothing... but I have a good reason - got married on Sunday and the new wife and I are honeymooning in New Orleans. We'll meet up with some friends and check out their gigs, but I'm not going to try and book myself while I'm here (mayhap I'll sit in somewhere if I'm invited.)
[/quote]

Congratulations!

(Unsolicited advice: Make a real effort to spend time with your wife now. You only honeymoon once. Then, continue to take time with her. Marriage is once, but the relationship lasts a while—hopefully a lifetime! Just like music, relationships take practice and maintenance.)

***

Personally, I’m not doing much playing lately. I’m at a crossroads in life, wondering whether to switch gears/careers (again!). Wanting to play more and get more involved, yet having difficulty motivating myself to practice and put myself out there. I have a regular summer gig in August, but June and July are wide open.

imsevimse · by **imsevimse** » 2018-06-06 1:31 p.m.

Today I played in Solna Brass Band at a cermonie on the Swedish national day. We played a short program and then the national anthem with a choir and all people who pertisipated. This was my last gig before summer. I haven't even a rehearsal planned. If nothing new comes up next gig will be in the beginning of August where I will play at a private party.

Vaccation starts soon (from job as programmer) so I signed up for a summers camp like I did last year to play symphony orchestra with "The Bergslagens Kammarsymfoniker". It is a course-week were we play in a Symphony Orchestra and also in different chamber settings from early morning to evening. We will only rest to eat and concludes the evenings with a couple of lagers in the small hours. To me this is vaccation and also an opportunity to meet new friends.

To sum up; this first half of the year has been the bussiest ever musically. Our band "The Johan Stengård Big Band" has been busy and will continue to be with a series of concerts at "The Olympia Theatre" in Stockholm from September. We will also have a couple of tours to the south of Sweden in September-October. The band has even some bookings for next year.

Then I will be on tour with "The Torgny Hansson Wind Orchestra" to Tranås in Oktober. First time I played with them was 2017. This will be my third tour with the Wind Orchestra. We spend a weekend to rehearse and then do a concert. People come from all over the country to this orchestra so it is a great joy and I'm very greatful to have been invited to play with them for the third time in a row.

It is great to have all this musical activities mixed with my every day job. It removes a lot of stress and adds variation.

/Tom

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-06-08 7:40 p.m.

Played 3rd bone in my first concert with the "big" community band last night. I didn't play nearly as well as I would've liked but there's a lot of trombones in our section so I don't think anyone noticed as much as me. Really fun being a part of this tradition in my town and I'm getting to meet lots of local musicians.

Since the parts I was playing weren't designated bass parts and I'm using my King DG, I was having a little trouble with endurance with my big Shilke 59 mouthpiece during rehearsals. Last night I switched to my old Bach 2G and it helped a little.

Back to the tenor in the "tiny" community band this morning. There's only 12 of us and I'm the only bone. No commitments tomorrow so if I practice it'll only be for 30 minutes tops. My chops are worn out.

Bach5G · by **Bach5G** » 2018-06-08 7:53 p.m.

This caught my eye:

“Just like music, relationships take practice and maintenance.”

Indeed.

Trombone finished in early May. A couple of guitar things this month, and then dark until Sept.

It might be jet lag, lousy weather, or sub-clinical depression, but I’m not feelin’ it these days.

Neo_Bri · by **Neo_Bri** » 2018-06-08 8:19 p.m.

[quote="Bach5G"]This caught my eye:

“Just like music, relationships take practice and maintenance.”

Indeed.

Trombone finished in early May. A couple of guitar things this month, and then dark until Sept.

It might be jet lag, lousy weather, or sub-clinical depression, but I’m not feelin’ it these days.[/quote]

I get that way, too. Sometimes I'm tired of gigging. I rarely get tired of teaching, though.

torobone · by **torobone** » 2018-06-08 8:28 p.m.

We are getting into the busy summer and outdoor season here in Toronto.

I'm subbing at the main veterans hospital this Sunday with a new big band. I don't even know how many trombones or what part I'm playing, but it'll be fine. The community band where I play lead will be in the same venue on Thursday evening. I'll being playing Eddie Graf's arrangement of Laura.

Over the next 2 months, I have about 12-14 gigs scheduled between a big band and the community band. That includes the Beaches Jazz Festival. There are several outdoor venues where weekly concerts are held, and we take our turn with each one.

Geordie · by **Geordie** » 2018-06-08 9:25 p.m.

Just finished a two hour show in a three piece horn section, part of a 10 piece soul band. We do standard cover songs but add our own bits to them sometimes. Seems to work, we have been going for a year and every show we do, about one a month average, leads to us being asked back.

What I’m ACTUALLY doing NOW is drinking a nice craft ale at home at 2:25 am to cool off.

LeTromboniste · by **LeTromboniste** » 2018-06-10 4:28 a.m.

Early morning train ride to a small Swiss town to play in a catholic service. On sackbuts. With an otherwise modern orchestra.

Just realized today that Mgr. Thomas Gullickson, the Vatican's nuncio (ambassador) to Switzerland and Liechtenstein is in attendance, along with a detachment of the Swiss Guard!

henrikbe · by **henrikbe** » 2018-06-12 7:06 a.m.

Great idea for a thread!

I'm a fairly low level amateur player, returned to playing about a year and a half ago, but has not (so far) joined any group (except for sitting in occasionally at the local children's band to assist a couple of new trombone players).

But I have some "gigs", if you could call it that, occasionally, mostly in my local church. Nothing upcoming at the moment, though, but my parents are celebrating their 70 years birthdays this weekend, so I'll join the rest of my family on "Waltz nr 2" from Suite for Variety Orchestra by Shostakovich.

Apart from that, I'm just playing for fun, trying to improve whenever I find time to practice. Try to get in at least a few minutes every day. Currently, I make some feeble attempts at the second movement of Marcellos first cello concerto (to try to get double tounguing working). Also, I have been trying to improve my upper register, and now I can usually almost hit a high C ( :trebleclef: :space3: ), which is a huge improvement for me, as up until a couple of weeks ago I usually had problems hitting the A below ( :trebleclef: :space2: ). Not useful for music yet, though, but I suppose I'll be able to solidify with more time on it.

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2018-06-12 8:48 a.m.

[quote="henrikbe"]Nothing upcoming at the moment, though, but my parents are celebrating their 70 years birthdays this weekend, so I'll join the rest of my family on "Waltz nr 2" from Suite for Variety Orchestra by Shostakovich.[/quote]

Hey, this is cool! What instruments does your family band have?

henrikbe · by **henrikbe** » 2018-06-12 2:10 p.m.

[quote="StevenC"]<QUOTE author="henrikbe" post_id="61395" time="1528801618" user_id="2956">
Nothing upcoming at the moment, though, but my parents are celebrating their 70 years birthdays this weekend, so I'll join the rest of my family on "Waltz nr 2" from Suite for Variety Orchestra by Shostakovich.[/quote]

Hey, this is cool! What instruments does your family band have?
</QUOTE>

With brother, sisters, wife, in-laws and children, we are 4 violins (one of which possibly viola), 1 cello, 1 double bass, 1 piano, 1 flute, 1 saxophone, 2 trumpets and 1 trombone (me). The other ones (except the children) are professional musicians, I chose a different career path but it's lots of fun to play with them and I'm sure it'll be great fun (both for us and our parents) on Saturday!

sirisobhakya · by **sirisobhakya** » 2018-06-13 12:56 a.m.

I just finished my last concert with a community band here (Higashihiroshima Wind Ensemble) on Sunday. It was a part of the larger annual music festival in my city. There were many bands and group performing everywhere for a period of 2 weeks, mostly on weekend. The finale concert on Sunday had bands from the city's junior high school, high school, university, one elementary school amateur band, and 3 or 4 amateur/semi-pro bands. The program was mostly japanese composition, with a few film music. Then at the end, all wind bands performed together. The joint session force numbered over 150. The trombone section alone was probably 15 or 20. It was quite a sight and sound to behold.

It probably was the last major concert in my life: I have got a job (not music-related) in my home country and will go back at the end of this month, and in my home country (Thailand), community band or even amateur band is non-existent even in large cities. Most don't even care about wind band except in schools. I may still have practice and instructing opportunity (don't want to call it teaching; my skill is not at that level) at my former school. But it is my dream to make Thailand a band country, at least half of that of Japan or at least only in Bangkok would be a satisfying achievement for me.

But first I must find a way to haul my horn back safely...

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2018-06-13 7:24 a.m.

[quote="henrikbe"]With brother, sisters, wife, in-laws and children, we are 4 violins (one of which possibly viola), 1 cello, 1 double bass, 1 piano, 1 flute, 1 saxophone, 2 trumpets and 1 trombone (me). The other ones (except the children) are professional musicians, I chose a different career path but it's lots of fun to play with them and I'm sure it'll be great fun (both for us and our parents) on Saturday![/quote]

That's some lineup. What are you using for an arrangement? When we did something similar for my parents, it was three trombones and three reed instruments. In the younger generation, the two trombone players are at conservatories, while the two reed players studied engineering. I don't know what it is about trombone players.

henrikbe · by **henrikbe** » 2018-06-13 8:45 a.m.

[quote="StevenC"]That's some lineup. What are you using for an arrangement? When we did something similar for my parents, it was three trombones and three reed instruments. In the younger generation, the two trombone players are at conservatories, while the two reed players studied engineering. I don't know what it is about trombone players.[/quote]

Did some googling, and found this arrangement: ~~[url]~~https://musescore.com/lcc/secondwaltz. Don't know if it's the original or what it is, but it sounded ok, so I started on that, and did some adjustments to fit the group. Basically, what I did was move most reed stuff into a single sax part, move horns into trumpets and trombone (and reduce to one voice for each...), and remove bassoon, tuba, harp, percussion etc. I'm pretty happy with the result, esp. considering that the arrangement was done by the only non-professional in the group (me) :D

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-06-17 3:11 p.m.

Really glad this thread got started. Fascinating diversity in this group here.

Played my second concert with the "big" community band last Thursday night. Our main conductor (we have two) told us that this time we were probably playing the most difficult set that's ever been presented with this band. The marches are the hardest for me because the tempo moves along so quickly. We played Hall of Fame, Bravura and The Thunderer for marches. I also learned that this band is the oldest active community band in the state of California. We had 131 musicians this time around including two string basses.

During rehearsal last week I noticed one baritone player had baritone that was very small. It looked like a tenor horn but when I asked him he said, "no, it's just a small baritone". How do you tell? Anyway, I've never seen a baritone that small. I guess it's like the difference between a tenor trombone and a bass trombone.

I also had some slide work done on my King 3B by a local repair shop. Just replacing the cork or felt at the top of the inner slide to stop the banging noise when coming up to 1st position. And a sonic cleaning as well. The tech told me that the slide and bell section are from different horns because the serial numbers don't match. He also pointed out where the horn was previously damaged and repaired. I got the horn sight unseen from the Brass Exchange about 4 years ago and payed WAY too much for it. What a mistake. NEVER buy a horn unless you can play it first. Even if it's new and you've played the same model before.

Cheers,

Robert

BurckhardtS · by **BurckhardtS** » 2018-06-20 2:04 a.m.

A couple weeks late, but here we go:

Great year at CWU. Played a 'music department showcase' concert which featured our Jazz 1, Wind Ensemble and Orchestra. I played bass trombone in Jazz 1 and we played a killer lobby set, and the Wind Ensemble performed Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, which was really energetic and tight. The orchestra performed the Brahms Ein Deustches Requiem.

The following week, I played a concert with the orchestra where I got to perform the Kazimierz Serocki Trombone Concerto 1st movement (I won the Concerto Competition that the university holds in 2017), and performed a great concert with Jazz Band 1 again, which was one of the tightest and most energetic sets the band has played in a while (in my opinion).

Here's a recording from the concert of In a Sentimental Mood arranged by Mike Crotty. I'm not sure if I should be posting this recording but I am really happy with how it turned out. There are some live blips and oopsies, and I'm not sure if it's mixed completely yet, but overall it was a great concert.

<LINK_TEXT text="https://www.dropbox.com/s/15abrmahs31ul ... 3.mp3?dl=0">https://www.dropbox.com/s/15abrmahs31uloj/2018_06_02_B1_In_A_Sentimental_Mood_13.mp3?dl=0</LINK_TEXT>

shider · by **shider** » 2018-06-20 6:12 a.m.

Love reading this post!

So here is what I was doing the past few weeks:

My local Wind Band (Musikverein) hosted this years "Kreismusikfest", which is an annual gathering, at which most of the local Bands from the "Landkreis" (a governmental subdivision, including the smaller towns in an area with roughly Ø60km) come together to play a parade and afterwards get a beer in the "Festzelt" (a large tent capable of holding up to 2500 people at once).

Us beeing the host this year it was mainly a lot of very unmusical work, setting up everything a week beforehand and cleaning up afterwards, but it was a great form of bonding for our Band. Including the 93 members of the band, we had in total around 500 people from the whole region helping us over the weekend!

My musical highlights of the weekend were the "Massenchor", which is a mass"choir" of all the attending bands, roughly 3000 amateur musicians playing 4 pieces together. I'm getting chills just thinking about it!

And the other highlight was to conduct one of our youth orchestras in the tent in front of so many people!

Next week i will sub in a local Big Band and in summer i will hopefully be able to finally join a local (british style) Brass Band on Bass trombone!

Greetings from Germany (if it wasn't obvious already),

shider

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-06-27 1:09 a.m.

Back at it.

We're in our 4th week with the "big" community band and we're gearing up for all the patriotic music appropriate for Independence day. Since our concerts are on Thursdays and "the 4th" is on a Wednesday we're playing all the appropriate stuff a week in advance. Again the marches are the hardest. That cut time really keeps my on my toes.

Tonight I had my last rehearsal before our next concert with another band I play tuba parts in on my Duo Gravis. Here my biggest challenge is having enough air. I really need to do more breathing exercises when I practice. Since the band is really small (18 of us) my part is at times a solo part. Even though they are often "oom puh" parts I need to be at my best because all eyes are on me. Really fun though. I love the low stuff.

I've been playing around with writing trombone duets (with rhythm section) for some of my favorite jazz tunes. I've done one for Gerry Mulligan's Festive Minor and now I'm thinking of either Line for Lyons or Birdland. I might use Maynard Ferguson's version of Birdland as a backdrop for how I arrange that duet. I've been using MuseScore for my final drafts. Anyone else use MuseScore?

afugate · by **afugate** » 2018-06-27 8:11 a.m.

[quote="BflatBass"]I've been using MuseScore for my final drafts. Anyone else use MuseScore?[/quote]

Yep. I do all my work in it. :)

I'm running for office our state legislature here in Oklahoma, so my composing (and playing/practicing) has taken a back seat to that. I've had the itch to write a couple of times, but I've squelched it. Once I start, I get sucked into it and can't think about anything else... ;)

-- Andy in OKC

blast · by **blast** » 2018-06-29 5:06 a.m.

Last week of our run of Eugene Onegin . This week Belfast. Heatwave. Doing as little as possible... eating, warming up, show, beer.

There, Isn't that exciting ?

Next week booked for a gig with no trombone parts...

Do I sign the contract or tell them they got it wrong ?

The life of the pro trombonist.....

Chris

Basbasun · by **Basbasun** » 2018-06-29 5:45 a.m.

Chris I think you should ask for more money since it is more expencive to not be on the stage?

peteedwards · by **peteedwards** » 2018-06-29 5:51 a.m.

just think, your pay "per note" would be infinity!

Doug_Elliott · by **Doug_Elliott** » 2018-06-29 2:31 p.m.

An orchestra player's pay per note is already more than just about anybody else.

imsevimse · by **imsevimse** » 2018-06-30 12:15 p.m.

No performance!

I fxed my lawnmower. I had to switch some broken parts. Then I picked stones and took care of gardening. I'm real proud of myself I did not call my son to help me out with the lawnmover.

My son is the one who understands mechanical things. He knows cars and engines and stuff. A great help. I'm more of a theoretical person. This means I sit on a chair most of the year. As a consequence my back now hurts and muscles I didn't know I had also hurt.

I have the tactics to take care of the gardening in small steps. Now I will rest and eat something and then I will take care of practice. To be able to fix a better legato is the goal for this summer.

/Tom

Kingfan · by **Kingfan** » 2018-06-30 2:09 p.m.

Morning - put new sway bar links on my bro-in-law's Honda CR-V. One was broken and the part that was flopping had been zip tied up to the sway bar. He didn't know what they were or why to spend the $18 to get replacements! Got it done by 11, before it got too hot. Bad part - was two-handing the handle on the bench vise when trying to get a semi-stripped nut out of the socket and got my finger caught between the handle and the vise. Now have a purple nail :frown: Good thing it is not on a finger I need for playing, just for waving at bad drivers :good:

Now, I am working on the final set list for big band gig at the end of July. We play 20 tunes and have three rehearsals to polish them up. Three charts are regulars each gig, the other 17 must be new. Three vocalists doing two each, got those pretty much nailed down. As for the rest, we have newer high level players complaining about playing "old, bad arrangements" and long term members who are complaining about too many "new, hard charts". Audience feedback last time was not enough old Miller/Dorsey tunes, too many old Miller/Dorsey tunes, not enough time between charts, too much dead air between charts, announcements were too long, announcements were too short. Fun times, fun times...

Burgerbob · by **Burgerbob** » 2018-06-30 2:45 p.m.

Finished up an audition, taught 4 days of drum corps, now heading to the beach for a week with the family. Time to test the screwbell case!

LeTromboniste · by **LeTromboniste** » 2018-06-30 5:48 p.m.

Sitting at my computer the last couple days preparing the handouts for a class I'm teaching next week about improvising Renaissance polyphony. Ophicleide is in the shop to be adjusted. Need to practice more sackbut!

ExZacLee · by **ExZacLee** » 2018-07-01 10:06 a.m.

We just finished up the UCO jazz camp on Friday - kids (and adults) were great, but I am worn out. Lots of early mornings and late nights, and a salsa gig in this Oklahoma heat (with a gorgeous sunset right in the eyes) that I had a hard time recovering from. It's worth it watching them play, I was dead on my feet but beaming seeing them having a good time on stage.

Saturday was mowing day (only got in the 90's) and I harvested some chard. Today is sunday and it's back to work. Well, kinda - I'm going to be lazy for some of it at least.

I'm looking forward to tonight's rehearsal with Chanda, a great local singer with a powerful blues inflected voice. We are lucky to have some people who work hard to provide venues for this scene. Christian Pearson, a local entrepreneur and musician, has worked hard to develop some recurring gigs at a few of the hipper places in OKC and this gig is part of one of those. Saint's in the plaza district does live jazz on thursdays - and it's the real deal. If you're ever in town you should come by...

Writing-wise, I'm working on original stuff for my group and my big band and I'm doing another big band chart for one of my favorite players, who I'll call "Ches McBobney." I recently did "Alone Together" for him, but I woke up this morning with an idea for this tune (at a much slower tempo than I originally did) that might be cool (it cribs from the old Miles recording - or at least the one in my dream did) so I'll be working on that while the rains roll in.

Pro Tools - I'm going to be in the studio a lot this week and next, but on the opposite side from where I'm normally, as I'm trying to get certified as an instructor. Class is in mid july. My main focus this weak is figuring out how to run cue mixes using the Audient board and finding my way around this 8 channel headphone amp we have just sitting here. It looks neat, has all sorts of lights and whirligigs, kind of like the control panels in Apollo 13. I want to unlock the secrets of the perfect headphone mix - I've experienced it a handful of times and it makes recording soooooo much easier.

I'm subbing a bunch this week for friends who are going out of town. I talk a lot in lessons and ensembles I direct at school about how we're all here to build a community and build each other up, and how part of professionalism is being a nice person. This week is just one of many where I've had my mortgage bacon saved by colleagues calling me to sub for them. I'm so thankful for the wonderful scene here and the beautiful people who make it such. If the people weren't so awesome, I'd have given up this life a long time ago.

blast · by **blast** » 2018-07-01 12:56 p.m.

[quote="Doug Elliott"]An orchestra player's pay per note is already more than just about anybody else.[/quote]

Ah..... the grass is always greener......

I wish it were that simple.

Chris

peteedwards · by **peteedwards** » 2018-07-01 1:34 p.m.

Last night i played a big band gig for Inependence Day with fireworks show in St Michaels Md: 95 degrees at downbeat (7pm) pitch center was interesting to say the least!

Still over 85 degrees at 10:30pm tear down- I could not wait to get in the car to get some relief!

Construction on the Chesapeake Bay bridge meant I didn't get home till 2am, covered in a salty layer of dried sweat.

Still a fun gig with a great band & great bunch of folks!

Bach5G · 2018-07-01 1:58 p.m.

World Cup. Very intriguing tournament so far. Italy didn’t qualify. Germany finished last in its group. Argentina, Portugal and Spain knocked out in the 16. The only big teams left are Brazil and France and I’m told that both are on the same side of the bracket. So at least one dark horse in the final.

Music-wise: a couple of guitar gigs with a big band. Its future is unclear although there’s been some interest in keeping it going. I’m having trouble finding my trombone chops after taking May off.

MrHCinDE · by **MrHCinDE** » 2018-07-01 2:22 p.m.

Watching the World Cup

Trombone-wise after a few weeks off, starting with some preparation for Beethoven 9 later in the year. I’m on the alto part, lots of high note practice it is then. Strangely, my dog quite likes to come and listen, not sure about the neighbours though.

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2018-07-01 6:39 p.m.

[quote="MrHCinDE"]Strangely, my dog quite likes to come and listen, not sure about the neighbours though.[/quote]

My cat hates trombone, and hates alto trombone most of all. He even runs away from video recordings of alto trombone.

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-07-01 7:44 p.m.

[quote="StevenC"]<QUOTE author="MrHCinDE" post_id="62609" time="1530469344" user_id="3472">
Strangely, my dog quite likes to come and listen, not sure about the neighbours though.[/quote]

My cat hates trombone, and hates alto trombone most of all. He even runs away from video recordings of alto trombone.
</QUOTE>

My wife says any trombone sounds like a truck horn.

I practice in my garage. This is what it's like. It's 13 degrees cooler inside the house.

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2018-07-01 8:19 p.m.

A few weeks into the Summer Band season, we seem to have stabilized at five trombones. I'm having my daughter play first, because it is good for her and good for the band. When we have our first concert, because of a conflict we'll be down to a three trombones. Perfect, except I'll have to play third. My enthusiasm for third comes and goes.

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2018-07-01 8:27 p.m.

[quote="BflatBass"]My wife says any trombone sounds like a truck horn.

I practice in my garage. This is what it's like. It's 13 degrees cooler inside the house.[/quote]

Your wife should be more supportive. Tell her I said so. I am lucky in this respect. Not only does my wife tolerate all the trombone playing that goes on in and around this house, she really seems to enjoy it. She seems to judge concerts based on how much low brass is featured. It seems strange to me, but it also works for me.

timothy42b · by **timothy42b** » 2018-07-02 9:45 a.m.

[quote="StevenC"]Perfect, except I'll have to play third. My enthusiasm for third comes and goes.[/quote]

I like third with a community band, no endurance issues, but I never get to do that. Yesterday I knew the third would be missing and I planned to move down instead of doubling the first. Alas, the other first couldn't make it and I ended up in my usual spot. It was an hour and a half of too loud. I've reviewed snippets of the recording and you can't hear me much. Maybe I'll post a bit for your comments.

I played third in bone choir, and those parts are mostly midrange but have the occasional high C, something I've only seen once in my life in a community band.

hyperbolica · by **hyperbolica** » 2018-07-02 11:16 a.m.

I play mainly with a trombone quartet, where I play bass when the 4th part goes below the staff. I'm not really a bass player, but the other players show up with straight horns or a 36b, so I'm the last man standing, I guess. I get to play lead here and there when the other three parts aren't too low. We also have a traditional brass quintet that we get together for special occasions.

I also play in a local chamber orchestra, which is off season right now. I'm usually on principal there, but sometimes I take third to spread it around and give the other guys a chance. I used to play in a local big band but I'm switching to a college trombone choir. Like a lot of people, I only have so much spare time, and deciding where to spend it is tough.

The summer is a little lean, with only the quartet active, so I'm playing with Band In a Box to learn some standards, improve improv and other stuff.

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-07-03 2:31 p.m.

Yesterday I had one band practice in the morning with the New Horizons band and was planning on one more in the evening with the "big" band. As we were getting ready to start in the morning, our conductor gets a phone call and finds out someone made a mistake and the third band I'm in, which he also conducts, is supposed to perform that evening instead of tonight. Great!

So...after performing in the early evening, I wrapped up quickly, hopped in my car and drove over to catch the second half of the "big" band rehearsal. Three bands in one day. That was a lot for me at this point.

The holiday this week has thrown off the schedule for everyone so I doubt I'll encounter this again anytime soon. At least not until Christmas.

PhilipEdCarlson · by **PhilipEdCarlson** » 2018-07-04 12:30 a.m.

just pulling out n driving to Louisville for the last Jamey Aebersold's Summer Jazz Workshop!

leaving Salt Lake City at 22:30!

planned stops in Denver and KC

of course the plan wasto leave at 08:00 this morning! missed that!

blast · by **blast** » 2018-07-04 5:48 a.m.

[quote="blast"]Last week of our run of Eugene Onegin . This week Belfast. Heatwave. Doing as little as possible... eating, warming up, show, beer.

There, Isn't that exciting ?

Next week booked for a gig with no trombone parts...

Do I sign the contract or tell them they got it wrong ?

The life of the pro trombonist.....

Chris[/quote]
So there are parts. I even remember them now I see them...it was over 40 years since I last did it, so I have an excuse.

Glad nothing else is in this week. Too hot for me.

Chris

PhilipEdCarlson · by **PhilipEdCarlson** » 2018-07-04 9:32 a.m.

[quote="PhilipEdCarlson"]just pulling out n driving to Louisville for the last Jamey Aebersold's Summer Jazz Workshop!

leaving Salt Lake City at 22:30!

planned stops in Denver and KC

of course the plan wasto leave at 08:00 this morning! missed that![/quote]
just made it to Denver!

Mikebmiller · by **Mikebmiller** » 2018-07-06 10:06 a.m.

I played Reflective Mood (Sammy Nestico) with my community band at our big July 4th concert this week. I thought the director was going to put it early in the program, but he put it an hour in, after I had already played first bone on lots of loud sustained stuff. I tried to lay out for most of the 2 tunes leading up to the solo, but I still stepped up the mic with less than fresh chops. RM is not super difficult, but it does have a few optional high C's and one optional high D. I ended up taking the first C down, but made the D and last high C. It's interesting how you can have something practiced to a T and then things go south at show time. I was not used to playing into a mic and only got about 30 seconds of practice on that in warm up. But everyone applauded, so I guess it went OK.

timothy42b · by **timothy42b** » 2018-07-06 10:29 a.m.

Yeah. Sunday we played Sweet Virginia Breeze, our highest and loudest, at an hour ten minutes in. The highest note is only an Ab, but my chops were pretty tired at that point, trying to balance 11 clarinets and the same number of trumpets. I'll post an mp3 of how it went. I think I played okay, but I hear myself going sharp. I wish I knew how to play brighter on pieces like that.

Davidus1 · by **Davidus1** » 2018-07-07 2:37 p.m.

I played Tuba in the Army for 13 years and left the Army in 1995 due to my father's health issues. (terminal cancer). I continued playing into the late 90s but my son was born in 1999 and in the 2000s I stopped performing mostly due to time commitments. I missed playing and started back in 2015. Very frustrating to have played at a high level and then come back. I was a good tuba player, not great but competent.

I started playing trombone 2 years ago and am playing in a local big band made up of area band directors and a few other musicians. Great band of which I am one of the weaker links. Again, a new experience for me. I've pretty much "moved" to trombone and am playing it in a community/college concert band as well. I started taking lessons a few weeks ago from a local pro in St. Louis. Very very humbling. I just read a nice article from Michael Lake (link below) that I appreciated.

<LINK_TEXT text="https://www.altobone.com/its-it-too-lat ... bone-well/">https://www.altobone.com/its-it-too-late-in-life-to-play-trombone-well/</LINK_TEXT>

I play because I love playing. I know that I'll never have Bill Watrous' (RIP Bill) technique at this point...lol....but that's ok. Playing has been a big part of my life and I will play as long as I'm physically able. I appreciate this site and those of you who are music lovers like me. Cheers!

Burgerbob · by **Burgerbob** » 2018-07-07 3:14 p.m.

Back in town... and of course it's over 110 degrees. Heading to the hardware store to find a new slide screw for my contra, and on the lookout for a new small horn.

I do go through a lot of horns, but I really like to have one setup for each instrument that I don't need to change. Just found out recently that the small horn situation isn't where it needs to be. Oh well!

sf105 · by **sf105** » 2018-07-07 4:27 p.m.

This weekend, hacking through a couple of acts of Die Frau Ohne Schatten (Strauss) with Fulham Opera. It's brutal but we get there, and we're all sweating this weekend.

Then one quintet blow through before shutting down for the summer break.

S

ghmerrill · by **ghmerrill** » 2018-07-07 5:00 p.m.

[quote="StevenC"]Not only does my wife tolerate all the trombone playing that goes on in and around this house, she really seems to enjoy it. She seems to judge concerts based on how much low brass is featured. It seems strange to me, but it also works for me.[/quote]

Yes, I am in the same situation. My wife (a piano player who has little feel for playing in/with an ensemble) greatly appreciates band music. With regard to the community bands I've played, she generally remarks that the low brass sounds good and in tune while the other sections play out of tune. On the other hand, in general, the other sections DO play out of tune, and the low brass doesn't.

blast · by **blast** » 2018-07-07 6:35 p.m.

[quote="sf105"]This weekend, hacking through a couple of acts of Die Frau Ohne Schatten (Strauss) with Fulham Opera. It's brutal but we get there, and we're all sweating this weekend.

Then one quintet blow through before shutting down for the summer break.

S[/quote]

Haha ! I remember playing with Fulham Opera in my late teens.... good to know it's still there. I played for 7 mins in today's gig.... but it was a 300 mile round trip. Strange world. An old college friend was playing.... I don't think I had seen him since... 40 years.... it was a sort of 'how did your life turn out ?' conversation.

Chris

brtnats · by **brtnats** » 2018-07-08 7:32 a.m.

I play bass trombone in a 70+ year old community band that visits assisted living facilities each week. We learn 2 concerts per year (Christmas and spring) and then tour it around the area to folks who don’t get out often. Often I’m reinforcing either the tuba book or the euphonium book as well as holding down the bass trombone book. Band’s shut down for the summer, so probably 20 of us meet weekly and sightread band pieces and charts from the band’s large music library. Sometimes I’m the “tuba,” sometimes the only trombone. This group also breaks into chamber groups, so I play the tenor book in a little German band and the bass book in a Dixieland group.

I also play tenor in a local reggae band. We just played an after-party last night in a bar that was easily 85F without the lights. Lead guitar, bass, drums, alto sax, and me, all tunes either originals or original covers. Great great opportunity to play stuff that’s just been written by a non-trombonist, and that pushes me out of my preconceived comfort zones. I also play in area pit orchestras as needed for amateur musicals. Always SOMETHING to play!

I joined both of these groups sight unseen and committed myself to try them for at least 3 months. I can’t overstate how important it is to stick around for a while when you’re in a new group. The community band isn’t super-duper great, but the people sure are, and I wouldn’t have known that if I’d bailed after the first rehearsal. Same with the little reggae band, although we do actually make some money. My forum advice would be to always jump at the chance to play and just see what happens.

Bassbonechandler · by **Bassbonechandler** » 2018-07-12 11:30 p.m.

I am currently using my summer to practice as much as I can. I'm trying to spend a lot of time on my fundamentals after an enlightening lesson with Dr. Pollard at IU. I've had to think a lot about moving my slide faster and buzzing my mouthpiece to help my playing.

imsevimse · by **imsevimse** » 2018-07-13 5:35 a.m.

Summer camp starts on sunday and that will be the end of my three weeks of heavy practice. Now I will play music for a week with a symphony orchestra. If there is free time I will spend time on further practice.

The past three weeks I've practiced beween one and four hours a day, and there are some changes in my playing that I can notice. To sum "practice helps".

1) My embouchure is more efficient which means I don't waist so much air and can play longer phrases. About the double length compared to before. Comes from a deeper breath and more economic playing. I can now play phrases mp-mf for up to about 15 seconds. I try to improve efficiency further and my goal would be to play 20 second phrases which would cover a four bar legato phrase in 4/4 at a tempo of 60 with some margins.

2) I managed to play the whole book of 15 elementary studies by Tommy Pederson at faster tempo than before.

3) I managed to play through the first half of the book of 15 advanced etudes by Tommy Pederson although not at full speed. It's a progress because earlier I had to give up on some of them. They just left me with frustration. Now they all are within reach. That's a big leap forward.

4) My fretting technique has improved which I think comes from a better controlled embouchure. This means I can now do fast slurs on each of the seven positions from low to high much better than before. As an example I do fast fretting (glisses) from :bassclef: (b) :line2: to :trebleclef: :line4: and back again. I touch every note in between with a full sound on every note. The feel is my lips works just as a camera lense, it opens and closes, but allways seeking the smallest possible opening for the best efficiency. Air is on. Corners are firm. I can feel my bottom lip is pushed slightly forward on the low notes? I definitely feel this study is helping me right now. The feeling of how I do this exercise is complete different from before.

5) My tonguing techniques has also been improved by this better control of the embouchure. I notice I hit notes more accurately all over the horn.

6) I have got a few advice that helped me make progress on the tenor as well as on the bass trombone.

7) I have practiced all major scales on my euphonium to be more intuitive and familiar in the sharp keys.

What's my goal for the future?

I guess I want the feeling of my instrument playing itself. That's the feeling. Until this happens I don't expect anything will sound easy. If it doesn't sound easy it is not going to be music. It hasn't happened yet that my instrument has played by itself. It takes a lot of work to get me there.

/Tom

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2018-07-20 4:29 p.m.

Playing third in the summer band is going well most of the time. The music in the folder is a mixture of difficulties. One piece spends a lot of time with pedal G and pedal Ab. Playing it makes me feel like a fraud. I don't play this passage well at all.

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-07-20 7:40 p.m.

The "big" community band is done and it was great. Challenging, lots of work and an excellent social atmosphere.

Down to two bands now but in late August I may be able to play in the local junior college night concert band. It's part of the adult education program so I think all you need is a high school education. That will take me through December then I'll just sign up again for spring semester.

Today I had my first rehearsal in a couple of weeks with the band I'm playing lead bone parts for and my chops got really tired really early. That's what happens when you don't go to the gym. You get out of shape.

I'm really jealous of those attending ITF. I would have loved to be there.

Robert

Kingfan · by **Kingfan** » 2018-07-20 9:03 p.m.

Played bass tbone today in an amateur big band that does a freebie for a nursing home once a month. The bass bone player in the big band I run plays lead and I play bass, great break in routine for the both of us as in my band I play lead and he plays bass. Next week dress rehearsal Monday, big band gig Wednesday (any other Clevelanders here? Brothers Lounge on Detroit, 8 to 10 pm), community band rehearsal Thursday.

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-07-20 11:00 p.m.

[quote="brtnats"]I play bass trombone in a 70+ year old community band that visits assisted living facilities each week.[/quote]

I do the same thing in one of my bands except it's a 50+ band...although one of our trumpet players just turned 90! And I'm the only trombone so it's usually 1st bone parts.

I'd like to keep playing for this band even in a few years after I've (hopefully) improved to a point where I'm capable of bigger and better things. I really like what we do for these people in the nursing homes and assisted living facilities. It gives them a small break from their often depressing lives.

Zandit75 · by **Zandit75** » 2018-07-25 7:57 p.m.

Last Tuesday night, the local NW Tasmanian Brass Bands got together for a seminar/workshop with Nigel Seaman who is assistant Band Director for the Corey Band, the worlds top Brass Band.

It was a fantastic night, he may be a Tuba Player, but damn he knows his stuff, and explains everything in such a great and funny way that you don't feel intimidated by his expectations and knowledge. If you ever get a chance to see, or hear him, I highly recommend it.

We are being very spoiled as coming up this Monday, with another combined Band seminar/workshop, this time under former Principle Trombone Player for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Mark Eager.

Mr Eager came down to us a little over a year ago for a similar event, and again, just as it was with Nigel, his insight and tutelage is a fabulous resource for us here in little ole Tassie.

There was some talk about perhaps having a one on one session with some of our soloists, and I would certainly be putting up my hand if there is an opportunity, but time may be against us.

I'll update with a revision of the night when I get a chance.

Mikebmiller · by **Mikebmiller** » 2018-07-26 1:26 p.m.

I am teaching the bone/euph section at a HS band camp for the next couple of weeks. I have never done this before, so it will be an adventure for me and the kids. Fortunately, this is one of the top bands in the whole state, so hopefully they already have good fundamentals. Unfortunately, the bones are playing marching baritones instead of real trombones.

Burgerbob · by **Burgerbob** » 2018-07-26 2:27 p.m.

One of many band camps this week! A really great one, good staff and good kids.

Today I'm buying a horn and trying some others. Excited!

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2018-07-26 2:54 p.m.

[quote="Burgerbob"]Today I'm buying a horn and trying some others. Excited![/quote]

What are you buying?

Burgerbob · by **Burgerbob** » 2018-07-26 9:24 p.m.

[quote="StevenC"]<QUOTE author="Burgerbob" post_id="64081" time="1532629664" user_id="3131">
Today I'm buying a horn and trying some others. Excited![/quote]

What are you buying?
</QUOTE>

LT16M! Just got it home. Love it already.

Finetales · by **Finetales** » 2018-07-26 11:57 p.m.

I've been pretty fortunate with gigs recently. Played a show in LA (trombone, flugabone, and synths) on July 7th, wrote and recorded all the horn parts for an album in a two-day session last week (I used trumpet, flugelhorn, alto cornet, French horn, and trombone), recorded horn parts remotely for a jingle (trumpets, trombones, bass trombone, and tuba - including a tuba solo!), am playing in the Cincinnati Jazz Festival on the 28th (trumpet, trombone, and synths), and in between all that have had sporadic shows with a funk band I'm in.

During all of this I have been preparing for a cross-country move from Indiana to Los Angeles. Moving, especially cross-country on your own, is a nightmare.

As for my playing deficiencies, right now it's the same old issues: high notes on trumpet and low notes on French horn. I have no idea how horn players do it. Fortunately, I've only had to perform one exposed low horn part (4th horn on Liszt Les Preludes...I don't think the personnel manager realized the 4th part is the most important when he put me on it) and it went fine, but don't ask me to play Heldenleben.

blast · by **blast** » 2018-07-29 5:47 a.m.

Well this week we have been playing Pagliacci by Leoncavallo in a very large Circus style tent. There are lots of sideshows... face painting, tarot reading, hot dogs, puppets, donkey rides etc. The audience just walks about as the singers and chorus are all around the tent. It is actually very good and great fun. Until yesterday, we had great weather but last night was cold and wet and today looks to be worse. No control over the weather. I have also started coaching on a youth orchestra course. Busy, busy.... but we are on a break soon... we are in the US in August.

Chris

imsevimse · by **imsevimse** » 2018-07-29 7:35 a.m.

86 Fahrenheit at night 93.2 Fahrenhiet at daytime. This has been for the last four weeks. Numerous fires starts every day even one in my neighbourhood. Some fires are out of control. Thunderstorms and trains are causing most fires but there are also fires started by pyromans. This summers wether is insane. Since we have no aircondition (we don't need one usually) it is very unpleasant. Hard to get some sleep. Climate changes are for real. I have never experienced a summer with four-five weeks of constant warmth over 90 Fahrenheit and no reign. My lawn is dead. I can remember maybe two days of warmth like this in my lifetime (more than 50 years). What to do? I have two fans that I sit by the whole day. I play 20 minutes shifts and then I have to rest. I change shirts often. I want reign and cool whether now. I hate this.

As an answer to my prayers it started to reign now. Hope it will reign for hours.

/Tom

BGuttman · by **BGuttman** » 2018-07-29 9:01 a.m.

Couple of suggestions for staying cool, Tom:

1. Try sleeping under a damp sheet. As the water evaporates it feels cool.

2. Shower with cooler water than normal. Take a "cool soak" at the end of your usual shower.

3. It may feel uncomfortable at first, but wearing a damp shirt will make you feel cooler. In fact, there used to be a medical treatment that had sufferers wearing wet clothing.

SwissTbone · by **SwissTbone** » 2018-07-29 9:20 a.m.

Trying to get rid of my summer chops...

I took it very easy on the musical side last year so it feels as if I am fighting the summer chops from last year!

August will get serious with a big wind band project under the baton if one of the most known wind band composers worldwide, then brass banding will start and chamber orchestra stuff too.

Have to get up to speed on tenor and bass... sold my alto, not enough time :-)

StefanHaller · by **StefanHaller** » 2018-07-29 10:02 a.m.

[quote="imsevimse"]86 Fahrenheit at night 93.2 Fahrenhiet at daytime. This has been for the last four weeks. Numerous fires starts every day even one in my neighbourhood. Some fires are out of control. Thunderstorms and trains are causing most fires but there are also fires started by pyromans. This summers wether is insane. Since we have no aircondition (we don't need one usually) it is very unpleasant. Hard to get some sleep. Climate changes are for real. I have never experienced a summer with four-five weeks of constant warmth over 90 Fahrenheit and no reign. My lawn is dead. I can remember maybe two days of warmth like this in my lifetime (more than 50 years). What to do? I have two fans that I sit by the whole day. I play 20 minutes shifts and then I have to rest. I change shirts often. I want reign and cool whether now. I hate this.

As an answer to my prayers it started to reign now. Hope it will reign for hours.

/Tom[/quote]

I'm on vacation in Sweden right now with my family (like almost every year; we love Sweden). No wood fires in this area. Temperatures are a bit extreme, that's true, but we just jump in the lake when it gets too bad. I'm having a great time.

I'm trying to keep my chops in shape as good as I can, by doing some mouthpiece buzzing and free buzzing every day, and playing with a practice mute a bit (yes, I brought my horn). My plan was to get at least half an hour of face time every day this way; this hasn't quite worked out yet... It's going to be tough when I get back.

JohnL · by **JohnL** » 2018-07-29 10:21 a.m.

[quote="blast"]Until yesterday, we had great weather but last night was cold and wet and today looks to be worse.[/quote]
I hope the tent is weather tight...

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-07-29 1:41 p.m.

It's been really hot here too. At this time of year triple digit temps are the norm. I practice in the garage where there is no AC and it's normally around 89 to 91 degrees F so I run a fan while I play. If I keep it at the low setting I don't notice the effect it has on my sound too much. Just a very low flutter.

I have the same conductor for two of the bands I'm in and he's writing over half of our charts for the band I play lead bone parts in. He's really working me on the upper register taking me up to G's and A's above the staff so this is what I've been practicing on the most lately on both the bass and the tenor trombone. I posted a thread about training to improve upper register in the Teaching and Learning forum using the Jason Sulliman approach. I make sure I put some time in on this every day. Right now my target note is F# above the staff. Like he says in his video, it's got to sound easy.

My next concert is in two weeks playing tuba parts on the bass and it's going to be outside which means it will be HOT! :redface:

AndrewMeronek · by **AndrewMeronek** » 2018-07-29 6:53 p.m.

I just got done playing a puppet show called "Wanda And Winky Go To California" based on the children's book of the same name. Unusual orchestra: trombone and piano only. It turned out to be fun and as far as tromboning goes, fairly challenging. A mix of classical music (selections from the Korsakov and Boutry concertos, pieces by Poulanc) and jazz (caravan).

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-07-30 12:09 a.m.

Andrew that did sound like fun. I guess you and the pianist were the pit ensemble?

blast · by **blast** » 2018-07-30 2:55 a.m.

[quote="JohnL"]<QUOTE author="blast" post_id="64261" time="1532857664" user_id="52">Until yesterday, we had great weather but last night was cold and wet and today looks to be worse.[/quote]
I hope the tent is weather tight...
</QUOTE>

Mostly :amazed: :shuffle: :D :D

MoominDave · by **MoominDave** » 2018-08-01 5:30 a.m.

Late notice call last night to help out a local wind band on 1st trombone of 2. Smallish group, doesn't make a huge ff. Took my 24H and spent the evening happily parping away - small-bore noises worked pleasingly well in that context.

shider · by **shider** » 2018-08-01 6:39 a.m.

Had a sectional with the 2 tenor trombone players of the brass band i will start playing the bass trombone with in September. I was a little nervous before it because i knew both of them a (as amateurs) very good players:

-The one playing 2nd has studied the trombone for a few semesters before switching to becoming a teacher in a school.

-The other one plays all low brass (except tuba) on a high level and also plays with one of the premier "polka-groups" in my region.

So i was a bit anxious if they think my playing will suffice, because last they heard me play was a year ago before i went through cancer treatment.. Seems my playing is back on track! I could hold my own concerning intonation and they complimented me on my rhythm/time feel but told me i could play a fraction louder and be more present in the section, which is fine by me :biggrin:

Looking forward to explore what it means to play in a (british style) brass band!

SwissTbone · by **SwissTbone** » 2018-08-01 7:58 a.m.

[quote="shider"]i could play a fraction louder and be more present in the section, which is fine by me :biggrin:

Looking forward to explore what it means to play in a (british style) brass band![/quote]

I am a naturally lpud player, dont know where that comes from. I frequently got the hand in Bruckner, Mahler etc and even in military parades, although I dont make any effort to play louder than the people around me.

I also played a lot of british style brass band. Played with some of the internationally highest level competing bands and under the baton of brass band top shots like James Gourlay or Philipp Harper. Never ever have I been asked to play softer on bass trombone in a brass band, quite the contrary!

Prepare yourself for some really loud and low playing.

Some years ago, on the highest levels you saw some pedal Bb or A. Maybe a G. Now the composers ask us to play pedal F or Eb really loud and sustained. That takes training! Phil Teele embouchure studies are your friend.

Nowadays I stepped back and play in a band competing in a challenger section. But volume requirements are still pretty crazy.

MoominDave · by **MoominDave** » 2018-08-03 6:05 a.m.

It rather depends on the tastes of the MD. Some can never have too much bass trombone, resulting in some insane sounding balance issues in performance. Others prefer the sound to have a more natural part in the mix.

mrdeacon · by **mrdeacon** » 2018-08-03 2:16 p.m.

I've been spending some time on a 1 1/2G this past week!

I never though I'd be playing a 1 1/2G again in my lifetime but I'm really liking it. It is a little harder to be flexible between extreme leaps, into and out of the low and extreme low register, but everything else is so much easier I'm willing to work on my flexibility. I think the mouthpiece switch will be a permanent change :biggrin:

imsevimse · 2018-08-03 3:43 p.m.

I will play a big band gig at a garden party tomorrow with various players in a temporary band from all around stockholm. "Dress nice" I had planned to go in my gray suit, a white shirt and tie. Unfortunately wether says thunderstorm tomorrow so I have no clue what to were tomorrow.

/Tom

JohnL · by **JohnL** » 2018-08-03 4:49 p.m.

[quote="imsevimse"]I will play a big band gig at a garden party tomorrow with various players in a temporary band from all around stockholm. "Dress nice" I had planned to go in my gray suit, a white shirt and tie. Unfortunately wether says thunderstorm tomorrow so I have no clue what to ware tomorrow.[/quote]
Gray suit, white shirt, tie, and a flotation device. Maybe a set of swim fins.

BGuttman · by **BGuttman** » 2018-08-03 7:46 p.m.

Sitting at home. This is the second week in a row that my gig got cancelled due to tornado warnings. Too bad I have to be on the road when the decision is made.

imsevimse · by **imsevimse** » 2018-08-04 7:16 a.m.

The strangest clothes desicion ever. The garden party might be in a tent or in the open air. Might be a meadow with horses. Maybe reign and thunderstorm and hard winds or sunny and very hot. An hour ago a short thunder went over me and the sky opened and water was everywhere but apparently very local. I grabbed my jeans and a red shirt and looked in the mirror. "Dress nice"? No, thats my every day look. It's totally wrong. I prepared the white shirt and now I'm in my gray suit and umbrella heading for this gig. There are two hours by train which means weather can change as I'm getting there. At the moment it is no reign and no thunder and the sun is shining. I'm hoping for the sun for the rest of this day even though the weather man talks about local thunders.

Update: Clothes fine! Gig done. Huge tent placed in meadow with horses. First set; sky opened, all people in tent, reign falls, wet in tent, broken glas on dance floor, warmth, lightnings. Thunders "helped" drummer. Pause! Dinner, speaches, drinks, Second set; Sunny outside. Sunny inside. All sing. Band is happy, guests are happy, folks out of tent. Quit playing! Applous! Oh no, one more? Heading for home. Not wet on outside only on inside.

/Tom

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-08-14 1:06 a.m.

The usual as far as practicing and performing in the two community bands I play in. Last Tuesday the band I play tuba parts in played outside for National Night Out. I really don't like playing out doors. Just not for me.

Then yesterday this happened. My bass was on a the work bench in the garage resting on the bell with the slide hanging over. I was doing something near it, bumped it, had my hands full, couldn't respond fast enough and it fell to the ground. All the tuning slides have little dents now and when I went to take the horn apart, the hand slide wouldn't come off the bell section. I did get it apart but when I did I realized the piece pictured was stuck in the bell section receiver. That piece is actually press fitted into the slide handle and I had inadvertently pulled it out. I'm surprised it's not soldered in place. I wish I had taken a pic of it when it was still "broken". Anyway, I got it fixed today. The rest of the horn is ok thankfully. My old DG isn't as pristine as it used to be.

Also, while I waited for my horn to get repaired I got a chance to try out a Benge 290 bass with a rose brass bell. I didn't really like it other than the nice tone quality of that bell. Very uncomfortable to hold and the hand slide was VERY close to the bell. I had to hold the slide brace with the very ends of my fingertips or else they would bang into the bell when I moved the slide.

BGuttman · by **BGuttman** » 2018-08-14 1:34 p.m.

You describe a common complaint from King 6B and early 7B/8B owners. These horns were designed to be held with the thumb around the bell brace, and thus yo9u support the weight of the horn with the left hand instead of gripping it with the weakest fingers of the left hand. I will only part with my early King 7B when they pry it from my cold, dead, fingers or can no longer play and need to sell it.

Your complaint about the bell clearance on the 290 is probably similar with the King 8B and the Conn 88HK (9" bell). The horns are basically the smaller bell versions with a larger bell; hence the close slide clearance.

What am I doing? Played a gig this morning for a Senior Center where they were dancing. Actually saw one couple dancing a polka to the polka they usually do a line dance to. I'm a happy caper.

djdekok · by **djdekok** » 2018-08-14 1:48 p.m.

Another season of SPSO coming up, along with the regular singing at church.

SPSO highlights include El Amor Brujo, Three-cornered Hat, Sibelius 2, Dvorak 9, Gershwin Concerto in F, Bernstein On the Waterfront. I've been practicing :D

BurckhardtS · by **BurckhardtS** » 2018-08-15 9:42 p.m.

I'm playing a big band gig in Maple Valley and Snoqualmie this weekend, and then going to the Vancouver Trombone Week next week. I'll be back, and two more big band gigs @ our local Rodeo (yee haw), and then school's basically back at that point...

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-08-16 12:56 a.m.

I tried to get a little something to eat before heading to rehearsal last night and ended up biting my tongue right on the tip. It wasn't really painful when playing the horn, it was more of a distraction. I kept thinking about it or anticipating it and it messed up my concentration.

There are plenty of other situations that can cause much more discomfort or pain than simply biting your tongue. Like braces for example. My best friend in high school got braces when he was a sophomore and at that time we were taking private lessons together from the same teacher. At one of our lessons he broke down and cried because his lips were bleeding on the inside from the braces digging in. I'll never forget that.

Mikebmiller · by **Mikebmiller** » 2018-08-17 10:15 a.m.

With no gigs or rehearsals for 2 months (YES!!) I have spent the summer working on the Vining range songs book and trying to work up Tommy Dorsey's "Trombonology." That is probably the hardest thing I have every tried to play. It's basically one big long fast lip slup. I am trying to get it to the level where I can play it with my big band, but that is still a ways off. The high range is getting a bit better. That Vining book will wear you out in a fairly short time. I am OK up to the high E flat, but above that, there is still work to do.

The highlight of the summer was going to the STS workshop in Columbus, GA. That event has doubled in size since I went in 2015. What a treat to hear Joe Alessi, Jim Nova, Paul Pollard, etc., in recital every night.

We start our big band back next weekend and I am actually looking forward to getting back into that routine.

And the thing I am most excited about is non trombone - I am registered to do a mountain bike ride from Grand Junction, CO to Moab, UT on the Kokopelli trail the first week of October. That is going to be a blast. Cool temps, great scenery, and hopefully fantastic riding.

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-08-30 1:56 a.m.

Started my "other" 3rd community band tonight playing 3rd trombone parts (and even one bass trombone part). The "big" community band finished it's annual run about a month ago and now this band is what a lot of people in this area do for the rest of the year. It's the local junior college's community concert band and I really like our conductor and the tunes he's selected for this semester. It's typical community band stuff, movie medleys etc.. But it's still fun and I'm staying connected with people in the local music community.

Since I'm playing tuba parts on my bass in one of the bands a few people said they are keeping there eyes open for a good deal on a used tuba for me. We'll see if I can talk my wife into letting me buy a tuba if an outstanding deal crops up ha ha.

SwissTbone · by **SwissTbone** » 2018-08-30 2:05 a.m.

Just finished a great session with our local orchestra and Brass Band competition season begins. Working on a more "brass bandy" sound now.

Means: play even louder...

LeTromboniste · by **LeTromboniste** » 2018-08-30 9:26 a.m.

In sessions with my new group recording demo materials. Video and promo pictures two days ago, audio yesterday and again today. The line up is one cornetto, one violin (who's playing a gorgeous 1684 Matthias Albani!), one trombone, and harpsichord (or organ when we have access to one). All very good friends who I've known for years; we'd been wanting to form a group for a long time and the timing was finally right. The music for this first programme we're making a demo of is all Venetian virtuosic chamber and solo music; Castello, Riccio, Marini, Dalla Casa - all stuff that is both gorgeous and quite challenging. We had a week of intensive rehearsing and now three days of recording. I've never been part of a group where the sound comes together so fast (it helps that we all frequently play with one another in various combinations) - it's quite thrilling!

Geordie · by **Geordie** » 2018-08-30 9:59 a.m.

Practicing Big Band pieces for our demo recordings in two weeks as well practicing parts for Soul band demos a week later plus a couple of gigs. Keeping the long notes and flexibilities going to. Enjoying what might be the last sunny spell of the English summer - probably.

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-09-16 1:47 a.m.

Bought my first tuba!

It's an old St. Peterburg 202L BBb yellow brass/laquer 4 valve (rotary) in decent condition.

The guy I bought it off of had a Miraphone 186 for sale that I was interested in but he said he had another horn for sale that he hadn't listed yet because it needed a little work (that would be the St. Pete). After driving for 6 hrs to meet this guy I tried the Miraphone and it was hard to play. I had trouble finding the "tone centers". Then I tried the St. Pete. It just about played itself!! I haven't played the tuba in over 35 years so I really suck at it but when I played the St. Pete it was so easy. I just played a Bb scale and it came out fine. It was like playing my King DG. It was effortless. When I wanted a note it produced. My lips weren't saying "where the hell is it?" like it was with the Miraphone.

Anyway, it needs a sonic cleaning and the valve linkage needs to be upgraded to miniball linkage as well as lapped and cleaned up. The whole horn has LOTS of usage markes (dents) buts it's plenty playable and since tuba is just my doubling instrument, it will do. As soon as it gets cleaned up I'll finally be able to play the tuba parts I'm playing in one of my community bands on an actual tuba instead of my bass trombone :D

Cheers,

Robert

blast · by **blast** » 2018-09-16 10:17 a.m.

Just back from Krakow, Poland. Playing in a small contemporary ensemble (only brass player) at a music festival. Krakow is a beautiful city, the people friendly and the food and drink fine and good value. The festival staff looked after us like royalty. If only all gigs were as nice.

Chris

imsevimse · 2018-09-16 10:45 a.m.

[quote="blast"]Just back from Krakow, Poland. Playing in a small contemporary ensemble (only brass player) at a music festival. Krakow is a beautiful city, the people friendly and the food and drink fine and good value. The festival staff looked after us like royalty. If only all gigs were as nice.

Chris[/quote]

Sounds like a pleasant tour :good:

In Stockholm we start our series of gigs with the Johan Stengård Jazz Big Band. We'll do ten gigs monday evenings in September-October starting tomorrow. This will be to intruduce our own jazz scene - "The Olympia Theatre" - near Odenplan in Stockholm. To establish a new jazz scene is a quite rare thing to do here in 2018 and to have a professional band who have played regularly and trained together for three years to be prepared is also very rare. We will see what happens. The bar will be open. Anyone in Sweden who visits the capital and likes jazz (and beer) is welcome.

/Tom

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2018-09-16 12:25 p.m.

This is a season of transition for me. I've changed schools where I teach, and have a very challenging course load. With some regret, I told the college+community orchestra where I have played for years that I would not be available this season. The college+community orchestra I joined this past spring plays higher level music, and is closer to home, so that is where my focus will be.

Yesterday I found out that they would like me to play tenor, not bass like I played last season. I am a better tenor player, so this sounds like goodness, but I am still shaky with clefs. I can mostly play tenor clef, but in alto clef I need to write in lots of notes. I wish I had one more week to prepare, but first rehearsal is this Monday. I'll be bringing in my own copies of music, printed from imslp, full of my markings. For all I know, the real copies will also be marked up with notes. If so, hopefully they are correct.

BurckhardtS · by **BurckhardtS** » 2018-09-16 9:53 p.m.

Start classes on Wednesday, have auditions for ensemble placement on Thursday (big bands) and Friday (classical ensembles). Then I get to start cranking away on the Bourgeois III for my recital this fall.

shider · by **shider** » 2018-09-17 3:15 a.m.

Yesterday, I finally had my first rehearsal with the (british style) brass band i joined.

They have their rehearsals scheduled on the weekends, mostly from 9 am to 4 pm (i hope that checks out timewise.. It basically spans over 7 hours) with two small breaks and a lunch break in between. They don't get together every weekend, but sometimes twice on the same weekend. As i'm playing bass trombone there i got through quite well and didn't have any problems with endurance, which surprised me quite a lot! But man... I can't remember when i last moved so much air in a day! :shuffle:

All members (except the conductor) are amateurs and some of them live more than 2 hours (by car) away from the practice location and the conductor himself even drives to rehearsal from another country :o

well... he's from switzerland and the german-swiss border is only 1.5h away from us, so it's not as impressive as one might think :lol:

To finish the day, i had a rehearsal in the evening with a bunch of people playing traditional german/eastern european Polka, Waltz and Marches.. I can't make the next gig with them but enjoy playing that stuff so much i had to sit in :good: I played tenor and had to dial back my air a LOT from basstr. in brass band, which was really challenging aswell.

When i came home at 9pm i realised i had just finished a day of 12 hours of practicing and playing the trombone.. Not bad for an amateur i dare say :horror:

MrHCinDE · by **MrHCinDE** » 2018-09-18 2:32 a.m.

Hi shider,

Glad you enjoyed your brass band rehearsal. I‘m a UK expat living in Southern Germany and often get homesick for the music I grew up with. Have you got any concerts coming up?

p.s. if you need any deps on anything lower than tenor horn let me know.

Burgerbob · by **Burgerbob** » 2018-09-18 2:58 a.m.

Wrapping up my trip to Europe in the next couple days by visiting Antwerp. Had a great time in Amsterdam and at the DBTO in Ede. Met some really great folks at the Open and closed down the bar both nights!

shider · by **shider** » 2018-09-18 3:45 a.m.

[quote="MrHCinDE"]Hi shider,

Glad you enjoyed your brass band rehearsal. I‘m a UK expat living in Southern Germany and often get homesick for the music I grew up with. Have you got any concerts coming up?

p.s. if you need any deps on anything lower than tenor horn let me know.[/quote]

It's completely new for me but i appreciate the challenge it provides and i love the sound of brass bands!

We just started with concert preparations after a summer break, so the first concert will be on November 4th. Not sure we can hold up to british ears (and expectations) though :D

i'm not sure what you mean by "deps", sorry... :shuffle: assuming you mean subs i would have to disappoint you, the band is set up quite good for the season, just introduced two new members to fill open positions (me on bass trombone and the flugelhorn player).

Oh.. and a new conductor of course! :idea:

Also i assume they have a list of regular subs they already know.. :shuffle:

I can really understand your homesickness, i would feel the same! Where are you located? I'm between Stuttgart and the "Bodensee" ("lake of constance" i believe..) and i only know of two brass bands around here, so it's really not much

MrHCinDE · by **MrHCinDE** » 2018-09-18 5:13 a.m.

[quote="shider"]i'm not sure what you mean by "deps", sorry... :shuffle: assuming you mean subs i would have to disappoint you, the band is set up quite good for the season, just introduced two new members to fill open positions (me on bass trombone and the flugelhorn player).[/quote]

To me a "dep" is a deputy, same as a sub. Perhaps dep isn't the best choice of words, it could easily be confused with a "Depp". For people who speak even less German than me, the polite translation of the German word Depp is an idiot/loser (alternative translations available by request!).

I'm located near to Ludwigsburg, I couldn't find a brass band to the North/North-West of Stuttgart so far. I had planned to go down to a brass band near Göppingen and play a bit of Eb tuba but so far that didn't work out due to other events.

Enjoy your banding!

SwissTbone · by **SwissTbone** » 2018-09-18 6:08 a.m.

Come to switzerland! Plenty of brass bands here :-)

shider · by **shider** » 2018-09-18 7:23 a.m.

[quote="MrHCinDE"]

I'm located near to Ludwigsburg, I couldn't find a brass band to the North/North-West of Stuttgart so far. I had planned to go down to a brass band near Göppingen and play a bit of Eb tuba but so far that didn't work out due to other events.

Enjoy your banding![/quote]

Yeah i would expect it to be hard to find one here.. Brass Bands are a rare breed in Germany!

I think it's especially hard to get people to comit to the instruments that are (in Germany at least) only used in Brass Bands.. And to find a conductor that understands what he's doing with a brass band.

I will for sure enjoy banding!

[quote="cozzagiorgi"]Come to switzerland! Plenty of brass bands here :-)[/quote]

And apparently a few conductors willing to leave for a band in Germany :mrgreen:

Joking aside, i would love to visit switzerland in the future to experience the scene there!

SwissTbone · by **SwissTbone** » 2018-09-18 9:16 a.m.

[quote="shider"]<QUOTE author="MrHCinDE" post_id="67784" time="1537262031" user_id="3472">

I'm located near to Ludwigsburg, I couldn't find a brass band to the North/North-West of Stuttgart so far. I had planned to go down to a brass band near Göppingen and play a bit of Eb tuba but so far that didn't work out due to other events.

Enjoy your banding![/quote]

Yeah i would expect it to be hard to find one here.. Brass Bands are a rare breed in Germany!

I think it's especially hard to get people to comit to the instruments that are (in Germany at least) only used in Brass Bands.. And to find a conductor that understands what he's doing with a brass band.

I will for sure enjoy banding!

[quote="cozzagiorgi"]Come to switzerland! Plenty of brass bands here :-)[/quote]

And apparently a few conductors willing to leave for a band in Germany :mrgreen:

Joking aside, i would love to visit switzerland in the future to experience the scene there!
</QUOTE>

Best occasion to visit montreux is the last weekend of november when our national brass band championship takes place.

djdekok · by **djdekok** » 2018-09-18 5:46 p.m.

Getting ready for an all-Bernstein concert--selections from "On the Waterfront", "Candide", and "West Side Story". Also learning neume notation in preparation for participation in Latin Mass.

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2018-09-25 7:05 p.m.

The orchestra I play in is preparing an all Czech program, Dvorak, Smetana, Suk,... Should be fun.

Kingfan · by **Kingfan** » 2018-09-25 11:14 p.m.

Tomorrow is my last gig with the big band I have played in for over ten years and took over from the founder a year ago when he could no longer play. I was really enjoying it and growing into the job of leading the band until the personnel manager got a new drummer and bass player who think the band revolves around them. I am having some medical issues outside of the band, and sold my half to the personnel manager a few weeks ago. I can't stand to go to rehearsals and deal with all the drama and egos even as just a player, so for my own well being I'm walking away from it.

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2018-09-26 9:20 p.m.

[quote="Kingfan"]I can't stand to go to rehearsals and deal with all the drama and egos even as just a player, so for my own well being I'm walking away from it.[/quote]

Do you have other groups to play with?

harrisonreed · by **harrisonreed** » 2018-09-26 11:28 p.m.

[quote="LeTromboniste"]In sessions with my new group recording demo materials. Video and promo pictures two days ago, audio yesterday and again today. The line up is one cornetto, one violin (who's playing a gorgeous 1684 Matthias Albani!), one trombone, and harpsichord (or organ when we have access to one). All very good friends who I've known for years; we'd been wanting to form a group for a long time and the timing was finally right. The music for this first programme we're making a demo of is all Venetian virtuosic chamber and solo music; Castello, Riccio, Marini, Dalla Casa - all stuff that is both gorgeous and quite challenging. We had a week of intensive rehearsing and now three days of recording. I've never been part of a group where the sound comes together so fast (it helps that we all frequently play with one another in various combinations) - it's quite thrilling![/quote]

Sounds like Caecilia-Concert! Or the album Lindberg did a few years ago. How do you get by without another violin and a bassoon?

Kingfan · by **Kingfan** » 2018-09-26 11:32 p.m.

[quote="StevenC"]<QUOTE author="Kingfan" post_id="68259" time="1537931680" user_id="3053">
I can't stand to go to rehearsals and deal with all the drama and egos even as just a player, so for my own well being I'm walking away from it.[/quote]

Do you have other groups to play with?
</QUOTE>
I play in a brass quintet playing the French horn parts on trombone, and will be re-joining a community band. I may go back to the big band at some point, I don't know. There are a few German bands in the area looking for trombones, but I don't know if I would enjoy that.

LeTromboniste · by **LeTromboniste** » 2018-09-27 12:44 a.m.

[quote="harrisonreed"]Sounds like Caecilia-Concert! Or the album Lindberg did a few years ago. How do you get by without another violin and a bassoon?[/quote]

No need for a second violin or a bassoon since we already have two trebles (cornetto and violin) and a tenor/bass instrument (me). We can of course add one or a few guests sometimes (an extra violin, cornetto or trombone, a viol or bassoon, a theorbo...) and play pieces that we can't play otherwise, but the four of us will be the core group. There is tons of repertoire for one or two trebles and trombone (trebles often unspecified, sometimes specified as cornets or violins, and trombone is very often specified, often 'or bassoon/or viol'), or more generally for unspecified 2 canti e basso. We did two Castello sonatas (book 1 no 4, book 2 no 12), a few pieces by Riccio, a Marini, a Picchi, a Scarani. Cornetto and trombone playing Bassano diminutions for soprano and bass after Palestrina. Violinist has a Fontana solo sonata, I play a Dalla Casa crazy bastarda diminution piece. Harpsichord has some A. and G. Gabrieli intinazione to play in between pieces within sets and a Merulo toccata as a longer feature piece. We also play a Dalla Casa diminution piece were the diminutions are passed around between the four of us. Little bit of singing too.

It's going to be a very fun (and challenging) program to play.

ronnies · by **ronnies** » 2018-09-27 2:44 a.m.

This Saturday is a Charity Opera Gala for Target Ovarian Cancer.

Cavalleria Rusticana - Easter Chorus

Turandot - In Questa Reggia

Nabucco Overture

Nabucco Act 2 Finale

Lucia Di Lammermoor - Verano a te

Macbeth Act 1 Finale

Carmen - Aragonaise and Votre Toast

La Boheme - Quando m'en vo

Turandot Finale

And more that doesn't include the orchestra.

I'm playing the Cimbasso/Contra-bass parts on my normal Chinese bass trombone. Should be fun but we haven't seen all the music yet.

Ronnie

harrisonreed · by **harrisonreed** » 2018-09-27 12:01 p.m.

Very cool, Maximilien

imsevimse · by **imsevimse** » 2018-09-29 4:25 p.m.

I played Bruckner "Te Deum" in Tyska Kyrkan (The German Church in Stockholm) this Saturday. It was to celebrate the restoration of an 80 year old organ. It turned out to be a nice concert where the local church choire with a little help of the church choir of The Gustav Wasa Church filled every seat in the hall. A lot of Germans were there, and of course the minister held the cermonie in German. There are obviously a large german community here in Stockholm that I did not know of and they had collected all the funds needed for the restauration among this community. It turned out several people had donated more than 10 000 swedish crowns each to bring this old organ back to life. I'm happy to have been a part of this. It turned out to be a good orchestra and a good choir and everything come together nicely at the concert :good:

/Tom

imsevimse · by **imsevimse** » 2018-09-29 4:28 p.m.

I played Bruckner "Te Deum" in Tyska Kyrkan (The German Church in Stockholm). It was to celebrate the restoration of an 80 year old organ. It turned out to be a nice concert where the local church with a little help of the church choir of The Gustav Wasa Church filled every seat in the hall. A lot of Germans were there, and of course the minister held the cermonie in German. There are obviously a large german community here in Stockholm that I did not know of and they had collected all the funds needed for the restauration among this community. It turned out several people had donated more than 10 000 swedish crowns each to bring this old organ back to life. I'm happy to have been a part of this. It turned out to be a good orchestra and a good choir and everything come together nicely at the concert :good:

/Tom

CalgaryTbone · by **CalgaryTbone** » 2018-09-30 3:32 a.m.

OK - wasn't going to toot my own horn (pun intended) but just finished two performances of the world premiere of a new trombone concerto - Sandman's Domain by Vincent Ho. Had a great time the last 2 nights, and the piece got a great reaction from the audience. It was a great experience, and a major milestone in my career. It's a real high to have something to do with adding a new piece to the solo rep for trombone. Vince did a great job with the piece, and it's a unique new sound for the instrument. Hope I can share it with others sometime soon.

Jim Scott

Tetraphosphate · by **Tetraphosphate** » 2018-09-30 4:40 a.m.

[quote="CalgaryTbone"]OK - wasn't going to toot my own horn (pun intended) but just finished two performances of the world premiere of a new trombone concerto - Sandman's Domain by Vincent Ho. Had a great time the last 2 nights, and the piece got a great reaction from the audience. It was a great experience, and a major milestone in my career. It's a real high to have something to do with adding a new piece to the solo rep for trombone. Vince did a great job with the piece, and it's a unique new sound for the instrument. Hope I can share it with others sometime soon.

Jim Scott[/quote]

Oooh, sounds awesome!

Savio · by **Savio** » 2018-09-30 1:54 p.m.

Im playing La Boheme, big opera from Puccini. Its a big experience for me and very fun. Not often I get the possibility to play such things, so I enjoy every note! I even have some few notes with the text "Solo"! Seven I think. Anyway, some magic moments in the soprano arias.

Leif

imsevimse · by **imsevimse** » 2018-09-30 2:01 p.m.

[quote="Savio"]Im playing La Boheme, big opera from Puccini. Its a big experience for me and very fun. Not often I get the possibility to play such things, so I enjoy every note! I even have some few notes with the text "Solo"! Seven I think. Anyway, some magic moments in the soprano arias.

Leif[/quote]

Good for you I bet your solo notes will sound beautiful :good:

BurckhardtS · by **BurckhardtS** » 2018-10-03 1:38 a.m.

Substituting in a regional orchestra this week, and speaking of that long post I made about jazz band setups and how the 2nd player gets wrecked by the drum set, guess what chair I get to play this quarter...

imsevimse · by **imsevimse** » 2018-10-03 2:41 a.m.

[quote="BurckhardtS"]Substituting in a regional orchestra this week, and speaking of that long post I made about jazz band setups and how the 2nd player gets wrecked by the drum set, guess what chair I get to play this quarter...[/quote]

I know the feeling. Second trombone placement has it's troubles. The drummer is one of them. The second trumpet in your neck is the second problem, the first trumpet in your left ear is the third. Fourth problem is first trombone because you need that seat... :mrgreen:

Well to take care of troubles one by one you could begin and ask the drummer if he has other cymbals. He might have another setup. To play drums is not all about force it is a lot about using the things right which we often forget. How many times have we heard; "The band consists of 15 musicians and a drummer".

There are lots of drummer tools, and cymbal sounds can be very different. The drummer we have in our band ("The Johan Stengard Jazz Big Band") is one of the best in this country and he plays very musical. I'm sitting right next to his high-hat often very close but it is no problem at all. He is also very humble and ask how I'm doing. Some drummers go berserk on their crash and other cymbals but he does not play like that.

/Tom

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-10-03 8:57 a.m.

After purchasing the tuba I've been practicing on it exclusively for the last two weeks trying to develop enough "chops" to be able to play our next concert on Nov. 6. I don't know if It'll happen. Adjusting to the larger mouthpiece is harder than I thought. My lips keep fluttering between partials. Very frustrating.

Switching back to trombone, especially bass, is a lot easier than I thought it would be. Once I get the hang of this tuba thing I think doubling will be really fun.

We're already practicing Christmas music in of my bands. The holiday season is already upon us.

Cheers,

Robert

hyperbolica · by **hyperbolica** » 2018-10-03 10:18 a.m.

I've been playing with my tbone quartet and arranging tunes for that group. I play mostly bass bone there, which keeps me practicing and learning, although it doesn't really help my tenor chops much.

Also playing with a local chamber orchestra. This can be very rewarding, but our brass section seems to be in decline this year.

I also decided to play with a tbone choir at a local university which needed a couple extra voices. I guess I was hoping for a higher level of playing. Still, I love the trombone sonority, and the blend from high to low.

JohnL · by **JohnL** » 2018-10-03 3:57 p.m.

[quote="BflatBass"]We're already practicing Christmas music in of my bands. The holiday season is already upon us.[/quote]
Christmas season starts early for musicians and crafters...

AndrewMeronek · by **AndrewMeronek** » 2018-10-03 5:13 p.m.

It's cool to see a variety of ensembles represented here. I feel I'm in a good place here in Detroit, given that there are some great jazz orchestras, symphonic orchestras, and brass bands in the area.

I have my regular gig with the Rhythm Society Orchestra, which is almost 20 years old (and I'm an original member) and IMHO it has developed into a great regional band. Lots of fun to work in. I'm currently working on some transcriptions for this band. Listening to and writing down what I hear in recordings for many hours per day for weeks does strange things to the brain, though . . .

BurckhardtS · by **BurckhardtS** » 2018-10-04 1:33 a.m.

The drum set thing is not actually as bad as I make it out to be. It's pretty loud sometimes, but mostly during the shouts when the drummer is doing ensemble punches and loud set-ups. I usually just wear an earplug in my right ear during the shout sections, and it's not unreasonable at other times.

LeTromboniste · by **LeTromboniste** » 2018-10-10 6:10 p.m.

This week (concert tomorrow), a project of fun but not so easy 17th century polychoral music from Italian composers who worked outside of Italy - playing bass sackbut. Some of my parts are in sub-bass clef and I'm just generally hanging out in the low range, with parts full of low Ds and Cs with a few Bbs and even an A (something quite rare in a sackbut part!). Having quite a blast filling our 13th century church with those majestic low notes! I kind of wish I had access to a contrabass sackbut for this...

Two projects next week, the first playing tenor sackbut in a fun program of music of Ludwig Senfl at the Antiquarium of the Munich Residenz (old palace of the Bavarian monarchy), where the composer himself served at the end of his life (also where Orlando di Lasso spent most of his career) - I can only imagine that playing there will be quite inspiring, really looking forward.

For the second I play ophicleide in Mendelssohn's Elias for concerts in two towns in the Black Forest. Even though that part is not very hard, playing gigs on the ophicleide is stressful - in a good way; because I've only been playing for a few months I really need a high level of concentration to keep up with my colleagues and play at a high level. It is both humbling and very stimulating. It also makes me realize just how much fun it is to learn new instruments and take on new challenges.

imsevimse · 2018-10-14 7:31 p.m.

This weekend I did a tour with the wonderful "Torgny Hansson Wind Orchestra to Tranås in the south of Sweden. Tomorrow starts a two day vacation. To be able to do a two day cruise to Finland where I'm playing rock/pop/soul with a big band. We will leave at 3 pm Monday and will return at 3 pm Tuesday The band will alternate with another smaller band and play every second hour. When we don't play the other band play and we'll eat and do shopping, and of course socialise. We will finish with a beer in the bar around 1 am. Then the day after we do a two hour concert before we return to Stockholm.

/Ton

Savio · by **Savio** » 2018-10-14 11:36 p.m.

You play in lot of bands Tom! Never been in Finland, sounds fun.

Leif

imsevimse · by **imsevimse** » 2018-10-15 5:34 a.m.

[quote="Savio"]You play in lot of bands Tom! Never been in Finland, sounds fun.

Leif[/quote]

The secret is

1. a good job that's not associated with music with regular good money and a good employee that allows vacations.

2. a lot of musical contacts, also professional musical contacts.

3. I play at a reasonable level.

4. have no family, only two grown children now 24 and 27 years.

I can do what I want, go anywhere, play anywhere, at anytime of the day and nobody asks questions.

/Tom

Zandit75 · by **Zandit75** » 2018-10-15 7:55 a.m.

Some of you may remember that I also play the guitar and sing, which I mentioned in the thread "what else do you play?"

Saturday night was the Tasmanian Independent Country Music Awards night, and as a winner of the Most Popular New Talent award from last year, I was asked to perform at this years event.

This year, I was nominated for the Most Popular Male Vocalist, and was in the final three, just missing out on the gong. So, while I wasn't the winner, being nominated was still a real honour.

The most emotional part of the night though was being asked to present my Father with his Induction as a Legend of Tasmanian Country Music. He has performed around the state for around 60yrs, and has done so mostly without any interest in gaining recognition for his efforts. We somehow kept it secret from him, and while I knew I would be emotional, we feared that he would also be too emotional if we presented him with the award before he performed.

While I was a blubbering mess, he was quite composed.

One little anecdote that I mentioned was a small event in the mid 70's where he was plucked out of the crowd to perform a couple of songs at. While waiting to go on stage, he was talking with the lead guitarist and he asked him if he knew the intro to a particular song. The guitarist assured him it would be no problem. Dad stepped up to the mic, and the then promptly forgot his words when Tommy Emmanuel opened up with a perfect intro!! I highly recommend you check him out if you want to see one of the most highly regarded guitarists in the world!

Later in the night, I had my second go on stage to perform my 2 songs, Eddie Rabbit's old classic, "I Love a Rainy Night", and Dan Seal's "Everything that Glitters". My new guitar performed beautifully, my voice thankfully didn't waver, and the band followed so closely, it was just as perfect as it could be!

Something that I haven't mentioned on this site was that recently I was able to tick off one of my bucket list items by building my own acoustic guitar from scratch under the guidance of a professional luthier. This was an intensive 2 week course in Miami, Queensland, and the results have blown me away.

I had so many people asking about my guitar, what brand it was, and also wondering how on earth I was able to build it myself!! I couldn't help but start beaming as soon as someone asked me about it.

For those who may be interested in my build can check out this link - <LINK_TEXT text="https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/for ... 297&page=6">https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=415297&page=6</LINK_TEXT>

The link I provided starts on page 6, as that's where the build officially starts, the previous pages were me starting to dream a couple of years ago, listing some setbacks, getting prepared for the trip, and then finally starting the build. I would love to have this same experience with building a Trombone, but believe that would be a near impossibility!

Lastly, going back to the Awards night, after I finished my songs, I was then informed that my version of "Everything that Glitters" had just reached the #1 position on the local country music charts. To say I was deeply humbled would be an understatement!!

Bassmike · by **Bassmike** » 2018-10-15 12:19 p.m.

I'm doing Fountains and Pines of Rome on the same concert this weekend, Brahms 1, a World Premier Fanfare, Macmillan "Vien Vien, Emanuel" percussion concerto next week, and a Harry Potter Concert the following week. The Macmillan is one of the most difficult pieces I've played. I'd rather play "Rite of Spring."

blast · by **blast** » 2018-10-15 1:11 p.m.

[quote="Bassmike"]I'm doing Fountains and Pines of Rome on the same concert this weekend, Brahms 1, a World Premier Fanfare, Macmillan "Vien Vien, Emanuel" percussion concerto next week, and a Harry Potter Concert the following week. The Macmillan is one of the most difficult pieces I've played. I'd rather play "Rite of Spring."[/quote]

Macmillan's music can be very, very hard to play.... but it is well worth it :D He is a Wonderful musician and a very genuine human being.

Chris

norbie2018 · by **norbie2018** » 2018-10-15 2:03 p.m.

We have a community band concert this Sunday; a varied program with some good charts including American Overture. I may have mentioned this, but I am planning a recital with my wife who is a fine soprano. The idea is we each perform solos with piano and then perform a few pieces written for trombone and voice. I've chosen a Galliard, Elegy for Mippy, and Piece Concertante (I forget the composer); going to add another piece but undecided.

LeTromboniste · by **LeTromboniste** » 2018-10-15 8:50 p.m.

Not a musical story per se but...en route to my gig today, was quite an adventure. Headed to the meeting point in France with my gear without knowing if everything would fit in the car. Turned out, through an epic game of real-life 3D Tetris, we managed to fit :

-one organ+bench in their travel chests

-two wheeled bogies to transport the organ

-one spinet harpsichord+bench

-one ophicleide

-one sackbut

-a few cornetts

-music and camera stands

-three suitcases+hand luggage

-a printer+spare toner cartridges

-a large pile of printed scores and parts

-3 people

That made for a very fun five and a half hour drive up and down the winding mountain and country roads of the Schwarzwald and the Swabian Alps!

LeTromboniste · by **LeTromboniste** » 2018-10-15 8:53 p.m.

[quote="imsevimse"]This weekend I did a tour with the wonderful "Torgny Hansson Wind Orchestra to Tranås in the south of Sweden. Tomorrow starts a two day vacation. To be able to do a two day cruise to Finland where I'm playing rock/pop/soul with a big band. We will leave at 3 pm Monday and will return at 3 pm Tuesday The band will alternate with another smaller band and play every second hour. When we don't play the other band play and we'll eat and do shopping, and of course socialise. We will finish with a beer in the bar around 1 am. Then the day after we do a two hour concert before we return to Stockholm.

/Ton[/quote]

This sounds like tons of fun. A boat a and trombone, what more could one possibly want!

timothy42b · by **timothy42b** » 2018-10-16 8:04 a.m.

[quote="JohnL"]<QUOTE author="BflatBass" post_id="68665" time="1538571476" user_id="59">We're already practicing Christmas music in of my bands. The holiday season is already upon us.[/quote]
Christmas season starts early for musicians and crafters...
</QUOTE>

Yes. This month I started cycling through the recorder collection (rotating a week on each, reviewing how to play high F#, etc.) because they always want a little recorder fill during the Christmas pageant. Something to kill dead air while shepherds and angels are retrieved and moved to their places.

But last night I found out it's worse than that. There is no they - the person who ran the Christmas pageant retired. My daughter was at last night's vestry meeting and volunteered me to take over.

timothy42b · by **timothy42b** » 2018-10-16 8:05 a.m.

[quote="LeTromboniste"]

This sounds like tons of fun. A boat a and trombone, what more could one possibly want![/quote]

Life jacket.

Bassbonechandler · by **Bassbonechandler** » 2018-10-16 9:52 a.m.

I get a chance to play in a brass quintet for madrigal dinners and with a choir. Also trying to decide when to have my junior recital.

imsevimse · 2018-10-16 2:10 p.m.

[quote="timothy42b"]<QUOTE author="LeTromboniste" post_id="69460" time="1539651231" user_id="3038">

This sounds like tons of fun. A boat a and trombone, what more could one possibly want![/quote]

Life jacket.
</QUOTE>
Survived the boat! Tomorrow after regular job a one hour trip by car to Nyköping and a concert with "The Johan Stengård Big Band". Has been a lot of playing for me lately. A lot of fun <EMOJI seq="1f600" tseq="1f600">😀</EMOJI>

/Tom

imsevimse · by **imsevimse** » 2018-10-17 6:23 p.m.

Close to 400 people at the concert in Culturum In Nyköping when we played there today with the Johan Stengård Jazz Big Band. A fantastic concert hall, a bit different from what we are used to, which is a small jazz club located in a cellar. This hall had much better aucustics. The result was the best performance we've done so far, and what a great audience. I could easy get used to this... :-)

Sunday and Monday we have two more concerts and then I will be on 1:st. I will have a sub to cover for me on 2:nd. I have some homework to do until then. :biggrin:

/Tom

BurckhardtS · by **BurckhardtS** » 2018-10-19 10:07 p.m.

I feel like I'm drowning in music this quarter. Preparing a LOT of music for grad school auditions in the Winter, and for my recital in the Fall. Also, doing a LOT of work on improvisation right now, because of the amount of solos I'm doing in jazz band, and we will be performing at the JEN conference in Reno in January. A GREAT quarter, but a busy one.

Bassbonechandler · by **Bassbonechandler** » 2018-10-20 7:39 a.m.

[quote="BurckhardtS"]I feel like I'm drowning in music this quarter. Preparing a LOT of music for grad school auditions in the Winter, and for my recital in the Fall. Also, doing a LOT of work on improvisation right now, because of the amount of solos I'm doing in jazz band, and we will be performing at the JEN conference in Reno in January. A GREAT quarter, but a busy one.[/quote]

Where are you auditioning for grad school?

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2018-10-20 12:12 p.m.

[quote="timothy42b"]But last night I found out it's worse than that. There is no they - the person who ran the Christmas pageant retired. My daughter was at last night's vestry meeting and volunteered me to take over.[/quote]

Hey, congratulations!

torobone · by **torobone** » 2018-10-20 10:11 p.m.

It's been a while since I checked in. I had a pretty busy summer. I play lead in a Sinatra big band (almost all vocals- the crowd loves this band), and a community band that lets me solos at the front of the band. I play bass in a high level rehearsal band where I'm happy to be in the room. The big bands usually only rehearse twice per month, so I have time to play ensembles and sub in other bands and orchestras.

For fun, I play trios with 2 bassoonists; it's quite a workout. I also had a chance to play some bass bone quartets that were written for the DBTO. For some reason, the host had us play outside, and that presented additional challenges like hearing the other players. We'll do that again, but inside now that the colder weather is upon us.

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-11-03 3:56 a.m.

Been a while since I've checked in too.

Playing in 4 bands now. 3 concert bands and one jazz/rock dance band. Playing tuba in one of the concert bands and started private lessons on the tuba as well. As soon as I feel confident on the tuba I'll stop the lessons. I don't need to be great, just decent. Also shaved off my goatee as instructed by my tuba teacher. Crazy how much difference it makes. Especially on the really low stuff.

There's a jazz band at a college about an hour and a half from where I live that's usually the size of a typical big band which means at least 4 trombones. I'm going to see if I can sign up for this band for spring semester. 4 trombones means the 4th part could be a bass part which is what I'm really looking for. All the bone work I'm doing right now is tenor work and my bass chops are just dying for an opportunity to play.

Cheers,

Robert

blast · by **blast** » 2018-11-03 5:35 a.m.

Last week, Opera in Glasgow, chamber group in Aberdeen. This week Opera in Aberdeen, chamber group in s'Hertogenbosch, Holland... fly out today.. conc tomorrow. Next week Opera, Edinburgh. Don't ya just love travelling ?

Chris

LeTromboniste · by **LeTromboniste** » 2018-11-03 6:28 a.m.

[quote="blast"]Last week, Opera in Glasgow, chamber group in Aberdeen. This week Opera in Aberdeen, chamber group in s'Hertogenbosch, Holland... fly out today.. conc tomorrow. Next week Opera, Edinburgh. Don't ya just love travelling ?

Chris[/quote]

's Hertogenbosch (gotta love Dutch town names that start with an apostrophe!) is a cute town! Hope you get enough free time to visit a bit if you've never been!

What's the chamber stuff?

imsevimse · 2018-11-03 8:09 a.m.

It has been an intense period of gigs and everyday work the whole autumn and it continues.

- We finished our two months of monday night gigs at the Olympia theatre in Stockholm with the "Johan Stengård Jazz Big Band". We played the last and seventh concert this monday. The trial period turned out just right. First concert we were about as many on stage as in the audience. The three last concerts were sold out and people had to turn in the door because there were no seats. It was crowded and they could not put in another chair because of fire regulations. We had some help from a radio broad cast that helped get our name out, and we have made it known through facebook but besides this there have been no adverts about us. Adverts are expensive and we are on a small budget, but mouth to mouth and the good reputation of our leader seem to have spread the word enough. The collaboration with the theatre will go on next year and we are booked for another 20 gigs from January to June.

- I will do another two day dance party gig on a cruise ship soon with a traditional Big Band, playing bass trombone. I applyed early for vacation, and was granted one day to be able to do the cruise gig.

- Next is a big band gig with an American bass trombone player living here who has put together a band called "George Graham Foundation Orchestra". We are playing in memory of the great LA trumpet player George Graham who passed away a couple of years ago. It is the original arrangements from the George Graham book. The band is playing at a festival.

- The week after I will sub in a 1930-40 style of a band. I don't know what to expect from it but I know I will pick one of my old small horns.

- In december I have two gigs as a choralist but nothing yet on trombone. My everyday job as a programmer will keep me busy most of december because we have a lot to do but it would be nice to play a traditional Christmas concert in a church too. We will see if something turns up.

Busy as a bee....

/Tom

blast · by **blast** » 2018-11-03 8:39 a.m.

[quote="LeTromboniste"]<QUOTE author="blast" post_id="70639" time="1541237704" user_id="52">
Last week, Opera in Glasgow, chamber group in Aberdeen. This week Opera in Aberdeen, chamber group in s'Hertogenbosch, Holland... fly out today.. conc tomorrow. Next week Opera, Edinburgh. Don't ya just love travelling ?

Chris[/quote]

's Hertogenbosch (gotta love Dutch town names that start with an apostrophe!) is a cute town! Hope you get enough free time to visit a bit if you've never been!

What's the chamber stuff?
</QUOTE>

Thanks for the heads up. Late afternoon and evening Sunday is off, so we will have a good look around. :good:

Chris

RoscoTrombone · by **RoscoTrombone** » 2018-11-11 3:23 p.m.

Had the final Tchaikovsky series concert in Edinburgh last night with the Canongait Orchestra.

Manfred Symphony,Nutcracker Suite and Marche Slave - some great stuff there to play.

I managed 4 out of 6 concerts since March and played Symphony no 1,2,3 & 5 as well. There's one thing noticeable about Tchaikovsky and that is he likes his trombones to be loud!!

That's me done with my serious playing for the year with only two trombone group meetings left to do which is always good fun.

Ross

blast · by **blast** » 2018-11-11 3:54 p.m.

[quote="blast"]<QUOTE author="LeTromboniste" post_id="70642" time="1541240936" user_id="3038">

's Hertogenbosch (gotta love Dutch town names that start with an apostrophe!) is a cute town! Hope you get enough free time to visit a bit if you've never been!

What's the chamber stuff?[/quote]

Thanks for the heads up. Late afternoon and evening Sunday is off, so we will have a good look around. :good:

Chris
</QUOTE>

Bit of a 'hit and run'.... there was train breakdown that mean't that we couldn't get to the destination hotel, but wonderful Dutch guy at Utrect station offered to drive the two of us on to our destination... people are great. Late arrival...a little refreshment... Sunday morning rehearsal, two performances in the afternoon, gear back to the hotel, festival organised supper and early morning home flight Monday. How many musicians travel the world but never really see it?? :idk: :idk: Nice gigs though.

Chris

afugate · by **afugate** » 2018-11-12 3:20 p.m.

So, I've been officially unemployed since the end of September. In the interim, I paid the bills with my horn and some gigs that actually paid pretty well. :)

Now I'm probably going to find myself with less playing time since I've been elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives. :good: I'm going to bring a horn up to the capitol to keep in my office. And if any other legislator ever gets annoyed with me, I'll just grab my horn and show them just how annoying I can be... :lol:

--Andy in OKC

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2018-11-13 4:18 p.m.

[quote="afugate"]Now I'm probably going to find myself with less playing time since I've been elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives. :good: I'm going to bring a horn up to the capitol to keep in my office. And if any other legislator ever gets annoyed with me, I'll just grab my horn and show them just how annoying I can be... :lol:
[/quote]

Hey, congratulations! I hope you still have plenty of time to play. Maybe you'll even find someone new to play with.

afugate · by **afugate** » 2018-11-14 7:26 a.m.

[quote="StevenC"]<QUOTE author="afugate" post_id="70997" time="1542054015" user_id="86">
Now I'm probably going to find myself with less playing time since I've been elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives. :good: I'm going to bring a horn up to the capitol to keep in my office. And if any other legislator ever gets annoyed with me, I'll just grab my horn and show them just how annoying I can be... :lol:
[/quote]

Hey, congratulations! I hope you still have plenty of time to play. Maybe you'll even find someone new to play with.
</QUOTE>

Thank you. :)

I'm certain I'll have to skip playing during most of the session (Feb-May). And then work on getting back in playing shape. I've suffered at times during campaigning from too much time away from the horn. I refer to it as my "candidate chops". lol

--Andy in OKC

ExZacLee · by **ExZacLee** » 2018-11-14 3:57 p.m.

Congratulations on the win Andy - and I mean the win for all of us. Glad to have you in the right place at the right time!

afugate · by **afugate** » 2018-11-16 7:50 a.m.

[quote="ExZacLee"]Congratulations on the win Andy - and I mean the win for all of us. Glad to have you in the right place at the right time![/quote]

Thanks, Zac! I appreciate your kind words. BTW, I ran into a guy yesterday who says he's your cousin. It happened during the employee payroll / HR session. I think his name was Mark Pierce? Said he was a sax player, but I didn't hold that against him. :lol:

--Andy

ExZacLee · by **ExZacLee** » 2018-11-23 11:48 a.m.

Yeah that's my cuz! Heck of a player too...

NuhJuhKuh · by **NuhJuhKuh** » 2018-11-24 2:12 a.m.

Playing with the “Irish Film and Pops Orchestra” next weekend - rehearsals all weekend, the concert at Artane School of Music on Sunday, 7:30pm GMT (I believe there’s to be a livestream if you have Facebook, but I don’t!). Should be fun - same section as last year, and playing some of my favorite movie themes e.g. Superman March, Jurassic Park and Lord of the Rings. Wish me luck!

Neil

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2018-11-28 10:38 p.m.

Playing in 4 bands now. The latest being a jazz/rock dance band that will use a vocalist for almost all the work (when we find one). It's pretty small with 3 trumpets, 2 bones and 4 saxes and rhythm section. With this band most of the playing I do now is tenor work with the exception of tuba in one of the bands. I'd rather be doing all bass work but whatever, it is what it is. I'm glad to be playing and its all fun and challenging.

Since I'm spending more time on the tenor I'd really like to get rid of my old King 3B and find something a little bigger with an F attachment. Maybe a Conn 88H or a Bach 42 or equivalent. Keeping my eyes peeled for a good deal somewhere out in my neck of the woods.

Cheers,

Robert

VJOFan · by **VJOFan** » 2018-11-29 8:01 a.m.

I hardly play these days because home life takes precedent for some very good reasons. (And I don't need to hustle gigs for money)

But a buddy messaged me looking for a sub and I ended up playing my first orchestral show in about 3 years last week. I forgot the kind of concentration needed to do that kind of work. The first rehearsal was a little frantic. In the end though, it was a beautiful experience playing a mostly Rutter (Magnificat and a few other smaller works) program with a fantastic choir and a top notch soprano.

Tonight will be a far less stressful meet up to fulfill a long planned idea of playing some quartets. Then... the horn will go back in the basement for a while. So it goes.

VJOFan · by **VJOFan** » 2018-11-29 10:48 a.m.

[quote="NuhJuhKuh"]Playing with the “Irish Film and Pops Orchestra” next weekend - rehearsals all weekend, the concert at Artane School of Music on Sunday, 7:30pm GMT (I believe there’s to be a livestream if you have Facebook, but I don’t!). Should be fun - same section as last year, and playing some of my favorite movie themes e.g. Superman March, Jurassic Park and Lord of the Rings. Wish me luck!

Neil[/quote]

Movie themes and the "live" movie looks to be becoming a huge part of the future of orchestral music shows. Sounds fun!

henrikbe · by **henrikbe** » 2018-12-06 3:39 a.m.

I don't get to perform very often, but today I'm participating at a concert in the local church for elderly people. Dress rehearsal right now. Me, a group of five female singers, a tenor singer and a couple of trumpets. Traditional Christmas stuff. I'm playing solo on Bach's version of In dulce jubilo at the very beginning, and When you wish upon a star near the end, and some playing along with the others. Wish me luck, I'll probably get nervous as I always do. But playing for elderly people will probably be a bit less frightening than other audiences.

AndrewMeronek · by **AndrewMeronek** » 2018-12-09 7:09 p.m.

Just finished a brief run of the Boar's Head Festival Orchestra in Groose Ile, Michigan. It turned out to be a pretty darned good orchestra to play in. My bone-battery mate was Don Bilger.

NuhJuhKuh · by **NuhJuhKuh** » 2018-12-15 3:30 a.m.

<YOUTUBE id="tXVuJF9x8Kk">https://youtu.be/tXVuJF9x8Kk</YOUTUBE>

This just popped up on my YouTube feed! Hopefully some of the other pieces will eventually emerge too. The saxophonist was excellent- not bad on clarinet either (he spent the rest of the concert in the woodwind section, which I have to say, were probably the best in the orchestra two years running).

Can’t wait until next year!

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2018-12-16 11:08 p.m.

Our orchestra's all Czech program is tomorrow evening. Dvorak, Suk, Smetana. I'm really looking forward to it.

Mikebmiller · by **Mikebmiller** » 2018-12-30 9:49 a.m.

I played 4 Christmas concerts including one where I got to solo on euphonium with the local symphony brass choir for a crowd of about 500 people. That was excellent fun, especially as all the other members of the group are regular members of the orchestra and I am just an occasional sub. I don't get to play with real pros that often, so this was a big thrill for me.

I am playing A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum for a couple of weeks in January. It looks like a fun show. The book is only about half as long as the last show I did - Guys and Dolls. Then my quintet is doing a recital at the art museum on Super Bowl Sunday.

imsevimse · by **imsevimse** » 2019-01-13 10:43 a.m.

January is a month where there often is less to do musically (for me). It has been the same since I began to write down every gig I do (since 2011). So to fill this month I have signed for 1st trombone with a symphony orchestra project. It is a real good community orchestra named "Filialen Symphony Orchestra". It is probably the best amateur orchestra in Stockholm with a lot of music teachers and retired musicians as well as good amateurs. Most have a higher musical degree exam but for some reason have changed carer, just like myself.

We have had three rehearsals and things begin to sound really good. We will do R.Vaughan Williams "London" Symphony", a violin concerto by Fredric Delius and a transcription of "The Pit and the Pudilum" by Josef Holbrooke for Symphony Orchestra. The conductor is an Canadian named Glenn Mossop who teaches conducting at the Royal Academy of music in Stockholm and also has been conducting professional orchestras. The concert is 27/1. A lot to do for the trombone section :-)

After this it will be a busy spring with the "Johan Stengard Jazz Big Band" every monday at the "Olympia Theatre" at Odenplan in Stockholm. If you happen to be in town come and say hello.

/Tom

MrHCinDE · by **MrHCinDE** » 2019-01-18 4:25 a.m.

We've started rehearsals on Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 for the next concert with yet another new combination for the low brass section. All four of us have played with the orchestra before but never all in the same project.

Most of the 4th movement is ff or fff which could easily become a clichéd blastathon if we're not careful. In general the low brass were quite sensible but at one point (and we though following the body language of the conductor) we really opened up and got "the hand". If it had been from the conductor that would have been fine but on this occassion it was the oboist. It seems he was so outraged that he felt the need to stop playing his part and assume the role of embedded conductor. I've never experienced that before.

I know it's an easy trap to fall into and get a bit carried away, especially when something's written fff in a comfortable range and the trumpets are really belting out their parts, but this has to be something for the conductor to decide. If it happens again, I'll have a friendly word with the oboist and ask him nicely to direct his suggestions to the conductor, who, if in agreement, can pass them on to us.

timothy42b · by **timothy42b** » 2019-01-18 9:29 a.m.

Volume is an issue for the community band I play with most. It's an extremely live room and those few who blast away are a real problem. However I wouldn't dream of being the enforcer (though I've made some gentle suggestions to the director.) That oboist has incredibly bad manners - he probably gets away with it because there are so few of them around.

Mikebmiller · by **Mikebmiller** » 2019-01-18 10:04 a.m.

I am finishing up Forum this weekend with 4 shows, including the dreaded double show Saturday. We have a very fine band for a local production. I would venture to say that we could put our band in a Broadway pit and most folks wouldn't notice the difference. The lead trumpet player is great and we have 3 real pros on the reed parts. That said, I would say that Forum is one of the least interesting shows from a trombone players point of view that I have ever done. The book is only 55 pages and after get get past the first half hour, all the interesting tunes are done. It is a very funny show, though, and the cast is killing it.

LeTromboniste · by **LeTromboniste** » 2019-01-18 8:04 p.m.

Just finished my group's application for a major international competition, fingers crossed! Had big rehearsals the last couple days and still need to practice over the weekend for a concert next week playing early 16th century music with a loud band of 2 cornetts, 1 bombard, 3 trombones. There's one piece in particular where I play slide trumpet and it's a killer. Amazing piece of music, but real hard on the chops and quite demanding technically for that awkward instrument I'm only starting to feel somewhat comfortable on. But it's a fun challenge and a concert I'm very much excited about. Meanwhile lots of office work to do, finishing up a massive edition project over the next month (collection of 100 early 17th century motets for solo voice).

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2019-01-19 3:35 p.m.

Christmas/winter break is over and the music community here in my town is back into full swing. I'm in four bands now so my practice schedule is booked. My endurance has to improve with the amount of time I'm spending on the horn. I almost decided to 'opt out' of the junior college concert band I'm in because I feel a little shakey about my ability to get all this music 'down pat' by concert time. I still don't know if I'll be playing tuba or tbone for this band. We also have a singer and keyboardist for the jazz/dance band now and our gig schedule is set up for an indefinite amount of time. The band is starting to sound good and the charts are very challenging.

Cheer,

Robert

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2019-01-19 6:20 p.m.

[quote="timothy42b"]That oboist has incredibly bad manners - he probably gets away with it because there are so few of them around.[/quote]

Not only are there few oboe players, the difference between good and bad oboe players is huge. I have played with good oboe players, but I have also played with painful oboe players.

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2019-01-19 6:24 p.m.

[quote="Bassbonechandler"]. Also trying to decide when to have my junior recital.[/quote]

What will you be playing at your recital?

Bassbonechandler · by **Bassbonechandler** » 2019-01-19 10:56 p.m.

[quote="StevenC"]<QUOTE author="Bassbonechandler" post_id="69486" time="1539697957" user_id="3504">
. Also trying to decide when to have my junior recital.[/quote]

What will you be playing at your recital?
</QUOTE>

Ewazen ballade, gregson tuba concerto, new kid by Anna baadsvik and handel violin sonata in F major transcribed by Douglas yeo. Plus a brubeck stereogram.

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2019-01-20 11:34 p.m.

[quote="Bassbonechandler"]

Ewazen ballade, gregson tuba concerto, new kid by Anna baadsvik and handel violin sonata in F major transcribed by Douglas yeo. Plus a brubeck stereogram.[/quote]

You'll be playing both tuba and bass trombone on your recital?

Bassbonechandler · by **Bassbonechandler** » 2019-01-21 8:57 a.m.

[quote="StevenC"]<QUOTE author="Bassbonechandler" post_id="75856" time="1547956573" user_id="3504">

Ewazen ballade, gregson tuba concerto, new kid by Anna baadsvik and handel violin sonata in F major transcribed by Douglas yeo. Plus a brubeck stereogram.[/quote]

You'll be playing both tuba and bass trombone on your recital?
</QUOTE>

No I'm gonna play the tuba concerto on bass trombone. It's in a great register for the instrument.

LeTromboniste · by **LeTromboniste** » 2019-01-22 2:38 p.m.

Concert today went quite well! Had some trouble with too much water collecting too fast in the slide trumpet (it's a long piece with no rests long enough to empty the instrument - and it doesn't have a water key) which for some reason was worse today than usual. It was also my first concert playing a completely historical mouthpiece on sackbut, which I'm trying to adopt for most of my playing. Three-part construction with a lathe-turned top (rim and cup) and a reverse conical backbore made of rolled and seamed sheet brass (which means a sudden increase in bore right after the throat and then the bore tapering down, opposite from usual), with a turned sleeve at the joint.

Seen here side-by-side with my modern Ferguson mouthpiece and my usual tenor sackbut mouthpiece (historical flat rim and sharp throat, but modern one-piece construction with conical backbore) - both are by Egger :

Bach5G · by **Bach5G** » 2019-01-22 2:48 p.m.

Very cool Maximilien.

shider · by **shider** » 2019-01-24 2:55 a.m.

So... My local wind orchestra will perform a piece by "Udo Jürgens" (he was a famous Musician in Germany, somewhat similar to Sinatra in his singing and always playing concerts with a full Big Band because he could afford it and loved it. Might be well worth a listen even if you don't understand the german text!)

Our conductor, who is a retired professional Horn player with one of the german army bands did the arrangement with a friend of him who is an amateur trumpet player (pretty good though).

I'm the bass trombone player, aswell as i will be the vice conductor in the future (we always have one)..

And there is the problem: They wrote for 4 trombones, 3 tenors and 1 bass. So far so good, we are 7 trombones in total, 6 tenors and me on bass.

But i'm supposed to conduct the piece since our conductor will do the singing, so i can't play the bass part and the damn part goes sometimes an octave below their tuba part :horror: :shuffle:

Nobody of the other trombone players can do that (we're amateurs after all) and i'm not even sure if i could pull it off ... :idk: But i would love to try, if i wold not have to conduct :weep:

So.. basically i get the chance to conduct, which is awesome, but on the other hand i can't play one of the rare real bass trombone parts we get to play.. My opinions are split :D

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2019-01-24 7:41 a.m.

[quote="shider"]So.. basically i get the chance to conduct, which is awesome, but on the other hand i can't play one of the rare real bass trombone parts we get to play.. My opinions are split :D[/quote]

I guess the question is, does the band have anyone else who can conduct? You want to conduct; you look forward to conducting, but this is one piece the band plays that needs you on bass trombone.

BflatBass · by **BflatBass** » 2019-01-25 7:00 p.m.

Got myself a doozy of a cold the last couple of days so I'm going to give the horns a break for a few days. Hard to breath deep without coughing so....time to rest. My next rehearsal is on Monday. I'll see how I feel then.

Our first concert for the jazz band I'm in got cancelled so we're not performing until March. Good thing as far as I'm concerned. Takes some of the pressure off and gives our new singer some more time to rehearse and get in sync with the band on the charts she's featured on. She's only rehearsed with us two times so we could use more work in that area.

Chears,

Robert

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2019-02-19 11:10 a.m.

As trombone intensive as the fall program for our orchestra was, the spring program is looking to be the opposite. So far, we've got some Beethoven, Overture to "Fidelio" and the Pastoral Symphony. In Fidelio, I sit around for 200 or so measures, then play a totally exposed part. In the Pastoral, I rest for a few movements, then play a bunch of Cs and Ds. A wind concerto and some vocal pieces will be added to the program, so this may be it for trombone. Our bass trombonist graduated, but this program does not need him. Our tuba player had oral surgery, but this program does not need him. I'm missing the mighty Moldau.

StevenC · by **StevenC** » 2019-04-30 8:54 p.m.

The spring concert was last night. The concert went well, and the trombones were well rested. Orchestra management assured me there would be more for me to do in the fall. Objectively, when our tuba player became unavailable, and a trombonist left the program, this was a perfect semester to play Beethoven's sixth. Meanwhile, I think about Mahler festivals and wonder if this region could support such a project.

blast · by **blast** » 2019-05-01 6:07 a.m.

We are in rehearsal for Mozart's 'Magic Flute'. They want 'small bores' (along with nat trumpets and baroque timps but everything else normal !) so I started out with my 1927 Conn 14H,but found that to be the wrong sound at the louder end. I am now on my late 19th C German Piering Bb/F trombone. 130 years old and still earning money... and that's just the trombone !

Chris

afugate · by **afugate** » 2019-05-01 7:39 a.m.

[quote="blast"]We are in rehearsal for Mozart's 'Magic Flute'. They want 'small bores' (along with nat trumpets and baroque timps but everything else normal !) so I started out with my 1927 Conn 14H,but found that to be the wrong sound at the louder end. I am now on my late 19th C German Piering Bb/F trombone. 130 years old and still earning money... and that's just the trombone !

Chris[/quote]

I see what you did there... :lol: :lol:

--Andy in OKC

Quick Links

Instruments

Marketplace

What we're doing