So, apparently I used to be a blogger that wrote about trumpets, accessories, and music/pedagogy material. Who knew? *cough* OK, OK; so I didn't develop a case of amnesia and spend the last two years rediscovering my former identity. I did, however, get sidetracked by life, going through a work change and two relocations. Meanwhile I had to pause progress on my comeback practice, but by the beginning of 2020 things were getting back to normal. Normal... Anyone remember what the hell "normal" means? Beginning with February 2020, this is going to be one of those points in history that everyone recalls for a long, long time. 2020 will no doubt be remembered as a truly horrible confluence of politics, medicine, science, pseudo-science, capitalism, racial strife, and radicalism. And to think I was excited to leave my personal turmoil of 2019 behind! Well, regardless, my practice has resumed and progress is being made. Enough so that I feel comfortable enough to sell or trade s

Time flies, doesn't it? This blog has been sorely neglected over the last few months as I have had numerous changes, events, and responsibilities with which to deal. Primary among these was changing employers and jumping through all of the employment hoops that accompany that sort of thing. Related to that, and my career as a contractor, I also underwent a change of contract and work location. Then there was taxes to deal with, including having to file my father's final taxes. Fun. However, my trumpet playing did not fall off a cliff this time, and I have been working with a specific set of Schlossberg's Daily Drills and Technical Studies which has been prescribed over the years to help people rebuild embouchures. Why did I start doing it? Well... As I was progressing in my comeback, I developed a pronounced problem. I suddenly was having trouble playing from G above the staff up to about B. Oddly, everything above that was still there, so I had what is termed a "

Featuring: Reunion Blues Continental Triple Trumpet Case qPress Charlier's 36 Plus After realizing that I was rapidly running out of real estate when it comes to trumpet cases I decided to do some looking around for a more compact alternative. I needed something that would hold at least two trumpets, but preferably three with good protection and without placing a lot of stress on the instruments. Options are all over the map in terms of size, shape, protection, and the factor that many of us really care about most: cost. A quick search and, like mouthpieces, I'm besieged with manufacturers: Marcus Bonna, Torpedo, WolfPak, Protec, Bags of Spain, Gard, Glenn Cronkhite Eastman, SKB... and arguably the very first manufacturer of professional trumpet gig bags, Reunion Blues. After looking at the offerings from all of the aforementioned, I settled on the Reunion Blues Continental Triple Trumpet Case. The interior is a light blue quilted velvet which is flexibly partit

Featuring: Legends Brass Mouthpieces and Backbores Kelly Mouthpieces I haven't had the opportunity to post lately due to the holidays, but the last few months have been busy from an acquisition perspective so I will be doing this in two parts. I was able to find some fantastically good bargains over the holidays, so I went a little more nuts than usual. I was also able to pick up some trumpets that I've always wanted to try from Ebay at prices that, frankly, made me feel like I stole them from someone. The horns I picked up were a 1974 Benge (L.A.) 3x (ML), a 2016 XO 1600iS, and a 1963 King Super 20 Symphony Balanced Silversonic DB otherwise and more simply known as the "Modified Harry James Model". I'll go into each one of these in separate posts in the future, but for now I will say that I am extremely happy with them all. Now, on to The Buzz... First up, let's talk mouthpieces for a bit. It seems like there are a million manufacturers out there

A few days ago I was perusing eBay when I stumbled across something that caught my eye. Of course, you already know that I am likely talking about a trumpet and you would, of course, be correct in that assumption. Now before I go letting the cat out of the proverbial bag, I should mention that I've never been much of a vintage trumpet kinda guy regardless of the fact that my favorite horn is from the mid-'70s. What I am talking about is something at least 10 years older than me. My fear with a vintage horn is that it might be too vintage: parts that might be difficult to replace, wear that would require installing non-original parts, or a leadpipe that would require an unusual matching mouthpiece configuration. That's probably why when it comes to vintage that I tend to look at mid-20th Century stuff. Post WWII modernization and industry bridged the gap to what we consider contemporary today, so many things are still in great shape and are perfectly compatible with the m

My bacterial respiratory infection started to finally clear up about a week ago but, as is typical when your immune system is compromised, a head cold decided to take up residence on its heels. I had one day of feeling decent and getting some sleep and then it was right back into not being able to breathe for another 4 or 5 days. However, by the time the weekend came around, I felt well enough to head over to Baltimore Brass to see if they had anything of interest in stock. This was my first visit to this particular store and they had roughly 50 or so new and used trumpets on display. In particular, their website indicated they had an Edwards Generation II, a 1963 King Super 20, and an Adams A4L, all of which I was looking forward to trying. I walked in, figured out where the trumpet section was and quickly sized up the display. The first one I tried was the Super 20 and I have to say it made a very favorable impression on me. In fact, I played it the longest of the three. It