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...

Just what does a brass player do when he's sick? A few days ago, I could tell that something was up: fatigued, not sleeping well, feeling congested upon waking up, headache. It finally caught up to me last night when I got no sleep while dealing with the persistent feeling of a ten-pound weight sitting on my chest. Unfortunately, I've always been susceptible to respiratory illness, and pneumonia nearly killed me when I was age six. As a trumpet player, this kind of thing is really disheartening. I've been making a lot of progress lately with my rehabilitation after not playing for almost two decades. I'm happy with my tone, although I occasionally have my "airy" days, up to A above the staff. My pedal tones have never been better, so that gives me hope that I can stretch my upper register up to E/F above the staff with power (which was my limit in college). I can reach those notes now, but not with what I feel is a good, full tone. Ascending past the A above...