What the... I Had a Blog?!

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 some of my trumpets (see My Gear) that are not a great fit for me now that I've been able to spend a fair amount of time with each. Don't get me wrong -- there isn't a lemon in the bunch. However some of them do agree with me more than the others. For example, my 1975 L.A. Benge 3x (ML) is a great horn, but my Charlie Melk restored 1976 Getzen Eterna Large Bore Severinsen Model serves a similar purpose and just plain works better for me. My old Sev is still clearly my favorite trumpet, even if I keep trying to find something "better". We trumpet players sometimes suffer from the same psychological disease as guitar players -- GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome).

Anyway, take a look at the descriptions of what I have and let me know if anything interests you. I'll start posting photo albums of each over the coming weeks. Should you want to contact me, please use capredbird (at) hotmail.com which is the address I have designated for selling/trading.

I do have a new trumpet coming in this week, and it's one that I've wanted for quite a long time: a 1954 F.E. Olds and Son R-10 Recording Model. There was a time when I would have preferred the Super Recording Model, but if the Recording was good enough for Maurice Murphy to record all of those classic movie soundtracks (Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Superman: the Movie, Batman, Gladiator, etc.) with the London Symphony Orchestra, then it's certainly more than good enough for me.

I also picked up a few heavily discounted mouthpieces just to see if there is anything new there. I'll have more about those in future posts. That's all for now. Stay healthy, everyone.