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The Buzz: Winter 2018 Edition - Part 2 of 2

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 partitioned into thirds by a 1" thick shock-absorbing "Flexoskeleton". The walls have side impact reinforcement panels. The exterior is made of "ballistic quadraweave" which means everyone else in your band is going to be trying to duck behind your trumpet case the next time a firefight breaks out. Seriously though, the exterior is extremely durable, double stitched, and reinforced in all the high-wear areas. The handle is a puffy pleasure to hold and it also comes with a shoulder strap. The mouth on this this is huge and makes access easy. I did see one complaint from someone that said they had difficulty removing the back trumpet without hitting the zipper, but I don't seem to have that issue with mine. I would have liked to have seen some additional dividers and more than just a thin pocket on the outside and an even thinner, smaller one on the inside, but I am extremely happy with it overall. Typical street price is about $185, but I was able to snag mine for $150 and it has been well worth it.

I may have mentioned before that one of my favorite sources for trumpet material is qPress. Timothy Quinlan, founder of this Canadian company, has found a unique niche of identifying current and past classic titles (over 800!) in trumpet literature and selling them in what is essentially a "remastered" digital format with some even made available in on-demand print. Some people may balk at some of the prices, but that is the publishing business in this day and age, and I don't see anything exorbitant with the pricing and you are getting extremely high quality here in terms of the text and graphics which, like I said, are sometimes even remade from scratch.

One of those classic pieces of trumpet literature that has been available from qPress, as well as many other sources, for a long time is Charlier's Thirty-Six Transcendental Studies. Just about everyone is familiar with this wonderful work. I suspect those of us that watch and listen to videos on YouTube have checked out someone playing Charlier #2 at some point in time. [Did you know that Charlier #2 was actually #5 in the original 1926 edition? That edition is also available at qPress as well, of course.] The thing about this work, though, is there are a lot of suggestions made by Charlier about related studies from other composers for each of these pieces. Up until this point in time, most of us that don't know French probably just ignored this or didn't bother to dig up the recommended material. Enter Charlier's Thirty Six Plus.

I'm just going to quote this from the qPress page for this title:
You know those little footnotes at the bottom of each Charlier study? Many people don’t know this, but they are actually recommended exercises that a player should practice to help them prepare for the etude they are associated with. By taking all of those recommended supplemental studies, and with the help of editor Lou Ranger (ABQ, NY Phil, Aspen & UVic Professor Emeritus), translator Kelsey Anderson, and engraver John Laverty, qPress has compiled an epic and monumental 277 page Grand Method based on the studies of Théo Charlier. People were so excited about the project that everyone wanted to get involved, so this book also includes essays from the leading professional trumpeters along side a complete modern translation of Charlier’s original text.
Folks, if there is one piece of literature you invest in this year, even if you have a previous copy of this particular work, this is one you simply must buy. Having the additional study integrated into Charlier's work is a time-saving stroke of genius and it is clearly a labor of love. I paid for the upgrade to print which takes about 10 business days for shipping and is spiral bound. Everyone associated with this project is to be commended, and I hope to see more like this coming from qPress in the future.

And that's it for the 2018 Winter Edition of The Buzz. And as always, please feel free to ask questions about any of these products or companies and I will do my best to answer.

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