Tootsall

THE SOLAR ECLIPSE


1. This trumpet will prove the old adage that “there is beauty in function”. It does not need to be “in your face” to look beautiful but rather it’s appearance will complement it’s MAIN PURPOSE which is always to provide a beautiful sound, in tune, easy to play, and to make the listener think that of celestial beauty. By taking the basic “building block” of the Eclipse design (the tuning bell bow), adding the skill and artistry of Leigh McKinney and the folks at First Class Brass, and adding the custom touches that I have detailed, an instrument which is uniquely beautifully, beautifully functional, and functionally unique will be the result. Like a Solar Eclipse, it will be perfect, completing the circle “to the beginning”.

2. The theme (quite obviously) is “Solar Eclipse”. It will outshine (both aurally and visually) anything else that is available to trumpet players today. My “dream trumpet” will:

a) Have a solid core to the sound which will allow it to be used in situations where it will be capable of playing a 3rd part and “float the rest of the section along on top of its solid sound”, play 2nd parts where it will need to blend but still provide those “highlights and counter melodies” that 2nd trumpets are often asked for, or play 1st parts where it provides its unique, effortless sound under which the rest of the section follows. It will be able to “lead” a whole band of 50 to 60 people when asked to do so. Most of all it will be EFFICIENT, allowing that harmonic resonance with a minimum of energy while still projecting its voice into the performance venue.
b) It’s solo characteristics can be as mellow as a cornet or flugelhorn or as bright as a flute but not piercingly so, negating the need to carry a “box full of axes” onstage. Push it and it’ll soar, sting it for some ‘zap’, or back off and just let it blend with the group.
c) The impedance (or resistance if you prefer) will be medium-low. It will feel much like an un-braced, lightweight horn with reverse tuning slide. (Yeah, you know the one I mean without mentioning the “S” name here.)
d) With the belief that there is beauty in function, it will not be ostentatiously glitzy. The finish will speak volumes and complement the sound. Bead blasted outer bell, leadpipe, and valve block finished in gold plate. Slides, inner bell, top & bottom caps, Amado water keys, all other “removable” components and the mouthpiece receiver to be bright gold plate. This finish combination will both hide fingermarks, and allow the core sound to project out from the medium red-brass bell. Naturally the leadpipe will also be red brass to help reduce the chances of red-rot. The viewer will think “smooth as silk” when they see OR hear it.
e) The 1st slide will have a thumb ring (location and mounting angle provided when needed for assembly). Both 1st and 3rd slide rings to be the “traditional” Eclipse design. The leadpipe hook is to have a shape that reminds one of the “Eclipse” crescent graphic in the Eclipse Logo. It will be made by taking one of the “coil” finger rings used on the “Vortex” and opening up the “front” of the coil, then tapering so that it is fairly thick at the back and thinner towards the front ends.
f) Opposed Amado water keys on both 3rd and main. “Function”, remember? One hand operation.
g) Leadpipe and tuning (bell) bow braces will be slender, crescent shaped "solid" braces with a cutout of a miniature eclipse approaching totality in the leadpipe brace only.
h) A custom GR66*** mouthpiece will go used with this horn. The mouthpiece to be satin gold plate on the outside of the rim and cup, bright gold plate on the outside of the shank, but silver plate on the rim and inside of the cup (I prefer Silver to Gold on my chops…better grip…it’s all about form following function, remember?). This will keep the appearance of the horn “as one” with the mouthpiece flowing “into” the trumpet.
i) The "innovation"? Simple. Since most (many?) trumpeters are gearheads obsessed with things like "venturi", bore diameter, and end gap, let's help them out a little. A small "scale" etched on the outside of the mouthpiece receiver, beginning PRECISELY at the end of the leadpipe and with marks every 0.02" will allow the owner to simple insert their mouthpiece, hold their thumbnail right at the juncture between the receiver and mouthpiece shank, remove the mouthpiece and hold it along the outside of the receiver to know what their end gap is. This will simplify the search for mouthpieces, eliminate the need to be sticking bits of wire, etc. down inside the receiver to "find" the end of the leadpipe, and give them something blame their playing problems on! The scale should be etched or engraved on the left side of the receiver rather than the outside (or 2nd valve slide side) so that the etched words "SOLAR ECLIPSE" will be clearly visible on the receiver and to make it easier for the owner can "read the scale" from left to right.

The gold plate will augment the theme of "Solar Eclipse" . Mankind has always thought of the sun’s appearance as that of a “golden orb”. Given that I live in the sunniest city (and one of the windiest) in the country of Canada, which has been favoured by the Creator as the most naturally beautiful country in the world, where the air is so clear that you can see for up to 100 miles (more on a really good day), this trumpet’s appearance will fit in with the surroundings. The prevailing Westerlies will carry its sound for miles across the wide-open spaces, the perfect canvas upon which to display a "Solar Eclipse’s" limitless palette of sounds. It will get played on mountaintops and in river valleys, in dark woods and under the bright lights of the concert stage.

When our ancestors came across the Great Atlantic Ocean in their flimsy sailing ships in a desperate attempt to escape the yoke of British tyranny and the starvation that it gave rise to, little did they know that they would become the forefathers of two great nations. (For historical simplicity we have not included Mexico, which was settled by Spaniards on what could best be described as “looting missions” and who had no real interest in settling down and raising families. By equal token I do not include the militaristic British nor French who were only interested in raping the natural resources of the northern lands and hauling the furs and timbers back to “Merry Olde”. I speak only of the true settlers seeking a better life than what there would have been had living in slave conditions under their monarchistic lords.)

Arriving on the shores of New England wearing what meagre clothing they had been able to bring with them, these hardy individuals were fortunate to be befriended by members of the First Nations peoples who taught them the necessary skills of survival, including trapping which allowed them to make clothing of hides and furs. They made sturdy coats and leggings of hide, eschewing the beaver hats that were the rage of the European nobility. Indeed, highly appropriate at this time of year they were gifted with corn, tobacco, and other crops that were virtually unknown in their native lands. They gave Thanks by knocking the heads off some of the local poultry (which they called “turkey” … no reference to Istanbul) and baking them up. Indeed, they even modified the Scottish tradition of making haggis by using the local produce and stuffing the bird instead of the sheep’s stomach. (Sheep were, after all, needed alive for dead ones don’t produce much wool; Or other sheep).

These Irish and Scottish venturers gradually spread out across the landscape, taking their tin whistles, bagpipes, and other instruments with them. This was a GOOD THING because television reception was “rudimentary” to say the least. (Even had Cablevision been around, “Monday Night Football” and “the Simpsons” had yet to be created.) Crossing the great continent in ox and horse drawn carts they managed to haul pianos all the way to the Pacific Ocean and north to Alaska (but only after a real estate deal with Russia had been satisfactorily completed).

Thus did those early European immigrants settle the great continent of North America. As they moved west they dotted the landscape with their settlements. With these settlements, invariably somebody could be found with a fiddle or a banjo to provide entertainment for social gatherings of all stripes. Soon other instruments followed the simple stringed ones; wind instruments were brought from Europe; the bugle, the tuba, the sackbut and the cornet. Little bands were formed in many of these communities. Those first musicians had no idea that in some cases they were forming groups that are still carrying on the tradition over 100 years later.

Today the land is almost completely tamed and turned to the hand of Man. Very little of “Wild” is left in the West, virtually none in the East. We drive on paved highways in fast, comfortable vehicles that can transport us across distances at speeds unimaginable to those hardy souls who first came west by cart or on foot. We dine on gourmet foods that are imported daily from far off countries. For entertainment we only need flick a switch for our choice of television, radio, or recorded music. A musician of one hundred years ago had to travel or be ‘in person’ to be enjoyed; that of ten years ago had to get recorded to be heard by an audience around the country; today we have but to record our sound clips and post them on the internet to be heard almost instantly world-wide. Our instruments have improved dramatically; today we have custom made trumpets, cornets, flugelhorns. Mouthpieces are built to meet virtually any whim of a customer. Valves have been made that are slick and fast. Even our written music can be easily transposed or rewritten by just a few keystrokes of our computers.

Yes, we’ve “come a long way, baby”. But we have further yet to go. According to one psychologist, mankind has “needs” which are arranged in a pyramidal fashion. At the base are the rudimentary needs of “survival, shelter, security”. As we arrive at the top of the pyramid we come across the need for “self actualization”. We humans NEED to arrive at a point where we do things “because we WANT to”, not because “we HAVE to”. We need to CREATE. We also realize that we NEED to pass along to our children a future in which they, in turn, can find their own self-actualization. They need security, survival, a future. And they will need ART AND MUSIC.

This is why I feel that I should be blessed with the gift of the "Solar Eclipse" As the circle is completed and begins it’s next cycle I would like to feel that I have, in some small way, contributed to the future of my children and my children’s children by giving them the gift of music. My forefathers passed along a gift for music, which I have realized only in midlife. I would like to be able to use my gifts to the enjoyment of my neighbours, friends, and fellow members of our society. And I firmly believe that the "Solar Eclipse" will help me accomplish my goals.