Larry Gianni

Bill,

Here's a simple answer, actually opinion, as to the resistance variable and bigger equipment.

The balance of the following items, different resistance in the equipment factors, from rim diameter to the bell final diameter, holds the key to building an efficient set-up. Here’s another thing I’ve learned ( usually the hard way ) the term " back-pressure “ is also a counter-intuitive, slightly over used, trumpet term , because you really displace air that is already in the instrument when playing and the amount of air required to play long passages, is usually no where near the amount of the intake you’ve made. (Probably an other topic for the future).Try this, if you take your trumpet, with the mouthpiece in the receiver, and just blow into it, with your lips encircling the rim. (Like drinking from a glass beer bottle) and you blow into the trumpet with a total lung volume of air. – So after that, and that light headed feeling subsides, do you feel, what has been termed back-pressure. I never do (the highest resistance point would be the smallest diameter opening in the equation which would be the throat of the mouthpiece). So, what’s left in the resistance equation/ variables? , just you. (Generic “you “, this next part applies to everyone, not just Bill ) Your aperture, your tongue height, your jaw/teeth overlap, teeth evenness or chipping, are you and upstream or pivot player, A very natural (actually “well learned”) breath/air intake and release, total muscle coordination, etc.

Ok, after that, no lets talk equipment

Do some trumpets play tight or stuffy - yes

Are some trumpets built with a high resistant equation - yes?

Can you juggle the numbers i.e.: bore, leadpipe,opening, leadpipe dimensions , leadpipe length, bell diameter and alloys along with tuning bell systems, , tuning slide - reg. or reversed or oversized, straight bore or poly-bore design ( by the way, the lightweight V-Raptor is a “ killer” instrument ), plus a host of others - give you a “bigger " blowing feel (not necessarily a freer feeling, , to me it too different experiences) - yet be called and efficient trumpet - yes

Can the cup, throat, backbore, gap offset an un-efficient trumpet play better – only slightly.

Can a player physically overcome a ineffiecent trumpet set -up thur sheer force and will - yes - We used to call that " road chops " –

Going off topic – ROAD CHOPS

Road chops was the concept of: playing 5 or 6 nights and days a week, having to make the " notes " every performance whether you were having a good night or bad night, getting past sub-par equipment or mouthpieces or poor acoustic situations and still making it happen, not being able to give excuses for a lack luster performances or sending a sub because your chops were stiff, not being able to rest or lay-out anytime you wanted, etc. that was termed “ road chops” for what it did to the physical end of the playing equation.

There was a time, many moons ago, that great players performed without the use of heavy bottom caps, valve alignments or cryogenics, reversed leadpipes and amato water keys, tunable bells and 10 thicknesses or alloys to choose from , no internet to choose a vast assortment of mouthpieces or equipment or discussing trumpet issues, talk of gap, screw rims or backbore, digital tuners, digital; metronomes, bell mikes and the vast technology of mikeing and mixing a band properly, etc they played the “ hell “ out of the trumpet both commercially and classically and thought that it was up to them to make it happen not the equipment. Do I long for those days again from an equipment point of view, no, not really?

What these days did have , which was invaluable to playing to your full potential eventually , was a proliferation of playing opportunities both for the pro's and amateurs alike ,in all types of places, in all types of styles musically. Not only a vast array of travellng professional band, but very good rehearsal bands and community orchestras that practiced often and performed regularly, great cover bands and pop bands that used the so called “ Band Instruments “ in their band and in their music, an abundance of excellent performer/teachers teaching with a solid foundation and a mentoring attitude toward the student - I could go on and on, but that's probably left for another topic. Sorry


Anyway - I hope I gave you a brief smidgen of an answer that some others may augment with more concrete terms and ideas adding or disagreeing about efficiency of an instrument. Again, IMHO, what I would describe as “bigger " blowing can be achieved, but yet still be and efficient set-up

Lg