40cal

Very true

Jimi Michiel

Look's like I'm a little late on the party. Three cheers for being home in Syracuse where broadband internet does not yet exist (at least at my house).

Manny,
Sounds like you had a great time at the shop. Is the new mouthpiece design you and Dave cooked up for Prana instruments exclusively? Hopefully they will have a few in the shop when I go on my little vacation in early January. I see you met Toshi. Did you get to try out the Kosaka mute?

Alex,
Congrats on your exciting news. Making the decision to put a deposit down on a Monette is a big decision. I partially funded my C997 by spending an entire school year living on the couch in my friend's living room and putting the saved rent money in a savings account. It's a big sacrifice no matter what, but I wouldn't trade my horn for anything in the world (except maybe a Prana C997). As I mentioned above, I'm going out to the shop in January to get a few mouthpieces (hooray for starting the year off with a tax write off). I'm really excited, but I know about all the new toys they have and its going to be tough not pulling out the card and signing up for one of the new pranas... Do you think my landlord would understand that I can't pay rent because I just ordered a new Prana C? Maybe I could show him the video of Manny...

And, as for dealing with the differences between a Monette C and a Bach Bb... Let's just say I learned to transpose real quick. Switching between such different horns just doesn't seem worth it to me. I think I sound better and I know I'm more comfortable with my Monette C, so for the most part the B-flat stays in the closet.

If I don't post again for another few days (very likely), everyone have a safe and happy holidays!
-Jimi

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loudog

I'll say that I really don't play much B-Flat trumpet...period. I do almost everything on C...solo lit, quintet, orchestra stuff (of course), and even our wind ensemble...myself and the other grad student here at Penn State have the whole section playing C's in wind ensemble, which is awesome. In fact, the only thing I really play on my B-Flat is my initial warmup during the day, just because I like warming up on the bigger horn. I also play it while I teach, and occasionally for solo stuff...like the Hindemith, Halsey Stevens, etc. Actually, I've even decided that the next time I play that stuff, I'm going to try it on C trumpet.

It's not really that I prefer my C because it's a Monette...I just prefer to play C trumpet in general...the fact that it's a Monette is a definite bonus.

I've had several people ask why I don't buy a Monette or Blackburn B-flat, but it's just not worth it to me to invest THAT much money in a horn that I really don't play very much. I suppose someday when Manny retires...and I win the principal job in Minnesota ( ) I'll be able to afford it more, and go ahead and buy one...but right now it's just not worth it. And this B-Flat is a pretty darn good Bach, so I'm not too worried about it.

And as far as transposing goes...there comes a point (back me up on this guys) that you don't even really think about it...you just kind of do it. It's a complete non-issue.

Hope this helps!

Louie

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Louie Eckhardt, MM
Freelance Trumpeter
Performance and Instruction
http://www.LouieEckhardt.com