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wardsd · 01-16-2004, 04:47 PM

1. Tell us how you would improve a trumpet with a new feature or design.

Let me start by saying this trumpet, if I were to win, would not be for me. I feel a friend has a much bigger need than I, especially since I just ordered a new Eclipse

. That friend is the director of the community band I play in, a band he created to mimic the village community bands you would find in Germany. His passion is music, and he even quit his well-paying job as a sales manager to go to school and major in Music Education.

The problem is, he is handicapped, and was born with only a pinky and thumb on his right hand. So, he is forced to play left-handed. The real difficulty is throwing the first or third slides to adjust intonation. To do this, the trumpet must be fully supported with his left hand which slows his finger movement. The Eclipse is the perfect trumpet for him to use, given that it already has better intonation than other trumpets. This should significantly reduce his difficulty playing.

So, my new design features are as follows:
A) A lefthanded trumpet. It does not have to be a true left-handed trumpet, just needs to be modified for left-handed playing. He needs a pinky ring (not hook) on the bell instead of the leadpipe so he can confidently hold it and support the weight with his left hand.
B) The most critical thing is the third valve slide. His hold causes his pinky to be quite high on the valve cluster. I would like a fully adjustable third valve slide ring. It needs to be able to move in all three axis, X,Y, and Z. The Z axis (movement from left side to right side of trumpet) could be semi-moveable. Possibly this could be accomplished with a dovetail mount. The fit would be snug, but could be moved if needed. This would be similar to a front sight on a gun. Also, the ring would be smaller diameter to better fit his pinky without slack, because he doesn't have much movement (his hand is already stretched wide just gripping the valve cluster.
C) The trumpet needs to be as light as possible, but with a big sound, so the bell will be the Large Yellow.
D) To reduce the need for him to have to move the third slide at all, I would like the end of the third slide to be a separate part capable of being pulled out to a "set" tuning position. For some pieces, this will be all that is needed, and he can then hold the trumpet with his right hand allowing freedom from supporting the trumpet with his left hand.
E) First valve slide should also be a ring to match the bell ring and third slide ring. There needs to be a slide stop on the first slide, because he typically is not capable of operating both first and third slides, so he can adjust the slide stop to keep the slide from moving.

2. Give us a theme for a trumpet!

The trumpet will be called the Southpaw!

Southpaw, of course, is slang for a lefthander in baseball. So, most of the theme is derived from it being a lefthanded trumpet. This trumpet is mostly about function, not cosmetics. However, I would like the finish to be Silver plate. The bell braces and the two pinky rings will have little dog paw prints carved into them. As stated above, the bell is a large yellow.

3. Write a short story using each of the following at least once.
A. A TYPE OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENT - Baritone
B. A COUNTRY OR CITY - Munich
C. A FORM OF TRANSPORT - Plane
D. AN ITEM OF CLOTHING - Tie
E. A FOOD - Candy

I arrived in Munich 2 hrs late. The plane had left Dresden on time, but heavy fog caused us to to circle the airport endlessly. I am not sure what we were waiting for - it was still foggy when we landed. I was in Munich purely for pleasure - to meet a trumpet collector I had email discussions with many times after I outbid him on a compensating Besson on Ebay. I seem to meet many interesting people that way. It took awhile to find him at the gate, as all I knew was he would be wearing a tie with a Baritone on it. After finding him, we made small talk as we made our way to the parking lot. As we drove, we started discussing in greater detail trumpet collecting, and some of our more memorable purchases. As we talked, my excitement grew. I was quick to realize his 30 year collection greatly outnumbered mine in both quantity and quality. We arrived at his house, and I was speachless as we entered the house. There were instruments everywhere - on walls, in display cases, on shelves, and in every room! Most of these instruments I had never seen before or even knew existed. We started opening display cases and pulling out his favorites. I played several of them, and although most didn't play well due to age and condition (most were pre-1900 and had leaky valves), I was really enjoying trying out these pieces of history. His collecting theme was valve styles, and he had multiple examples from keyed bugles, to rotary valves, to TARV's and SARV's, to Berliner and Viennese valves. In addition, he had several examples of compensating cornets and Echo cornets. As we looked at them, I took many digital pictures as eye candy for when I returned home. He ended up selling me one of his Echo cornets. I managed to shoehorn it into my carry-on. I even considered leaving some ballast (clothes) behind, but managed to fit it all in. Most impressive of all, I didn't pay for that horn until I returned home and wired money back to him a week later.

This is now my most memorable horn purchase...

4. Apart from your brilliant answers to the above, please tell us just why you feel that you should win this contest.

When I first heard about the contest, I, like everyone else, got excited about the thought of winning such an expensive, high quality trumpet. As I developed my design idea, it became clear to me that I was wanting to win purely for bragging rights, and the greed associated with it. Athough I really WANT this trumpet, I simply don't NEED this trumpet. That is mostly due to my playing ability not being where I can get the most out of it, but I just ordered an Eclipse as well and I don't need two when so many others don't have any. As I thought about it more, a conversation with my band director came to mind, where he was telling me how difficult it is for him to support the trumpet wth his left hand and finger at the same time, because he needed to activate the slides with his right hand (see handicap description above). Being that the Eclipse has much better intonation than other trumpets, this would make his ability to play this trumpet much easier, and therefore, he has a much better need for this trumpet than I do. In addition, this contest is being promoted on a trumpet discussion forum. The purpose for this and other forum's is for trumpet players to give and receive help and advice to other trumpet players. I believe my submission captures the essence of the trumpetmaster forum by trying to provide help for a fellow trumpet player with a NEED for this trumpet.

01-16-2004, 04:47 PM	#39 (permalink)
wardsd New Friend Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 15	Contest Entry 1. Tell us how you would improve a trumpet with a new feature or design. Let me start by saying this trumpet, if I were to win, would not be for me. I feel a friend has a much bigger need than I, especially since I just ordered a new Eclipse . That friend is the director of the community band I play in, a band he created to mimic the village community bands you would find in Germany. His passion is music, and he even quit his well-paying job as a sales manager to go to school and major in Music Education. The problem is, he is handicapped, and was born with only a pinky and thumb on his right hand. So, he is forced to play left-handed. The real difficulty is throwing the first or third slides to adjust intonation. To do this, the trumpet must be fully supported with his left hand which slows his finger movement. The Eclipse is the perfect trumpet for him to use, given that it already has better intonation than other trumpets. This should significantly reduce his difficulty playing. So, my new design features are as follows: A) A lefthanded trumpet. It does not have to be a true left-handed trumpet, just needs to be modified for left-handed playing. He needs a pinky ring (not hook) on the bell instead of the leadpipe so he can confidently hold it and support the weight with his left hand. B) The most critical thing is the third valve slide. His hold causes his pinky to be quite high on the valve cluster. I would like a fully adjustable third valve slide ring. It needs to be able to move in all three axis, X,Y, and Z. The Z axis (movement from left side to right side of trumpet) could be semi-moveable. Possibly this could be accomplished with a dovetail mount. The fit would be snug, but could be moved if needed. This would be similar to a front sight on a gun. Also, the ring would be smaller diameter to better fit his pinky without slack, because he doesn't have much movement (his hand is already stretched wide just gripping the valve cluster. C) The trumpet needs to be as light as possible, but with a big sound, so the bell will be the Large Yellow. D) To reduce the need for him to have to move the third slide at all, I would like the end of the third slide to be a separate part capable of being pulled out to a "set" tuning position. For some pieces, this will be all that is needed, and he can then hold the trumpet with his right hand allowing freedom from supporting the trumpet with his left hand. E) First valve slide should also be a ring to match the bell ring and third slide ring. There needs to be a slide stop on the first slide, because he typically is not capable of operating both first and third slides, so he can adjust the slide stop to keep the slide from moving. 2. Give us a theme for a trumpet! The trumpet will be called the Southpaw! Southpaw, of course, is slang for a lefthander in baseball. So, most of the theme is derived from it being a lefthanded trumpet. This trumpet is mostly about function, not cosmetics. However, I would like the finish to be Silver plate. The bell braces and the two pinky rings will have little dog paw prints carved into them. As stated above, the bell is a large yellow. 3. Write a short story using each of the following at least once. A. A TYPE OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENT - Baritone B. A COUNTRY OR CITY - Munich C. A FORM OF TRANSPORT - Plane D. AN ITEM OF CLOTHING - Tie E. A FOOD - Candy I arrived in Munich 2 hrs late. The plane had left Dresden on time, but heavy fog caused us to to circle the airport endlessly. I am not sure what we were waiting for - it was still foggy when we landed. I was in Munich purely for pleasure - to meet a trumpet collector I had email discussions with many times after I outbid him on a compensating Besson on Ebay. I seem to meet many interesting people that way. It took awhile to find him at the gate, as all I knew was he would be wearing a tie with a Baritone on it. After finding him, we made small talk as we made our way to the parking lot. As we drove, we started discussing in greater detail trumpet collecting, and some of our more memorable purchases. As we talked, my excitement grew. I was quick to realize his 30 year collection greatly outnumbered mine in both quantity and quality. We arrived at his house, and I was speachless as we entered the house. There were instruments everywhere - on walls, in display cases, on shelves, and in every room! Most of these instruments I had never seen before or even knew existed. We started opening display cases and pulling out his favorites. I played several of them, and although most didn't play well due to age and condition (most were pre-1900 and had leaky valves), I was really enjoying trying out these pieces of history. His collecting theme was valve styles, and he had multiple examples from keyed bugles, to rotary valves, to TARV's and SARV's, to Berliner and Viennese valves. In addition, he had several examples of compensating cornets and Echo cornets. As we looked at them, I took many digital pictures as eye candy for when I returned home. He ended up selling me one of his Echo cornets. I managed to shoehorn it into my carry-on. I even considered leaving some ballast (clothes) behind, but managed to fit it all in. Most impressive of all, I didn't pay for that horn until I returned home and wired money back to him a week later. This is now my most memorable horn purchase... 4. Apart from your brilliant answers to the above, please tell us just why you feel that you should win this contest. When I first heard about the contest, I, like everyone else, got excited about the thought of winning such an expensive, high quality trumpet. As I developed my design idea, it became clear to me that I was wanting to win purely for bragging rights, and the greed associated with it. Athough I really WANT this trumpet, I simply don't NEED this trumpet. That is mostly due to my playing ability not being where I can get the most out of it, but I just ordered an Eclipse as well and I don't need two when so many others don't have any. As I thought about it more, a conversation with my band director came to mind, where he was telling me how difficult it is for him to support the trumpet wth his left hand and finger at the same time, because he needed to activate the slides with his right hand (see handicap description above). Being that the Eclipse has much better intonation than other trumpets, this would make his ability to play this trumpet much easier, and therefore, he has a much better need for this trumpet than I do. In addition, this contest is being promoted on a trumpet discussion forum. The purpose for this and other forum's is for trumpet players to give and receive help and advice to other trumpet players. I believe my submission captures the essence of the trumpetmaster forum by trying to provide help for a fellow trumpet player with a NEED for this trumpet.