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rowuk · 06-28-2007, 04:20 AM

Here is something heretical:
ANY OF YOU could play other great horns than the ones you own and your audiences would not even know the difference! As a rule, if it sounds great, they do not even care. ALL of the great horns change the miserable sounding lip buzz into a sound that can mesmerize our audiences! The tone color perceived by the audience is a combination of the horn, your mouthpiece and YOU! That is why it is impossible to recommend anything to someone that you do not know!
True, some geek could phantasize about the 27th overtone not being harmonically synchronized with his farting rhythmn..............
The bottom line is that we have an INCREDIBLE choice of horns and in most cases, we are not fine enough players to get everything out of the equipment that we own - regardless of the brand. We talked ourselves into the decision that we made, not based on fact, but on feeling. Some of us even phantasize that the pros play what they do after a long search for the perfect ax. That is just BS. Most of them just stick with whatever they started with - that keeps them consistent. Others wait until a sponsor comes - that keeps the bills paid!
There is nothing wrong with making gut level decisions for ourselves, but that is no objective basis for someone else.
I started a thread about "trumpet design, our experiences" specifically with the request to only describe horns that you have played and NOT to compare. Some pretty consistent data is available there!

As far as Phil Smith is concerned, the quote got off track. Like with most symphonic players brilliant does NOT mean bright. Brilliant to a pro means solid core / lots of overtones, bright means lots of overtones, not enough core. Brilliant projects great distances and is required to get that huge symphonic sound to the ears of the listeners. Bright just annoys the people sitting in front of you. In a symphonic setting, the "sound" up close is not as gorgeous as it is 50 feet away - but then again, the audience is what counts - they pay the bills!

06-28-2007, 04:20 AM	#19 (permalink)
rowuk Moderator Fortissimo User Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Germany Posts: 4,572	Re: Choosing a trumpet... (Kanstul?) Here is something heretical: ANY OF YOU could play other great horns than the ones you own and your audiences would not even know the difference! As a rule, if it sounds great, they do not even care. ALL of the great horns change the miserable sounding lip buzz into a sound that can mesmerize our audiences! The tone color perceived by the audience is a combination of the horn, your mouthpiece and YOU! That is why it is impossible to recommend anything to someone that you do not know! True, some geek could phantasize about the 27th overtone not being harmonically synchronized with his farting rhythmn.............. The bottom line is that we have an INCREDIBLE choice of horns and in most cases, we are not fine enough players to get everything out of the equipment that we own - regardless of the brand. We talked ourselves into the decision that we made, not based on fact, but on feeling. Some of us even phantasize that the pros play what they do after a long search for the perfect ax. That is just BS. Most of them just stick with whatever they started with - that keeps them consistent. Others wait until a sponsor comes - that keeps the bills paid! There is nothing wrong with making gut level decisions for ourselves, but that is no objective basis for someone else. I started a thread about "trumpet design, our experiences" specifically with the request to only describe horns that you have played and NOT to compare. Some pretty consistent data is available there! As far as Phil Smith is concerned, the quote got off track. Like with most symphonic players brilliant does NOT mean bright. Brilliant to a pro means solid core / lots of overtones, bright means lots of overtones, not enough core. Brilliant projects great distances and is required to get that huge symphonic sound to the ears of the listeners. Bright just annoys the people sitting in front of you. In a symphonic setting, the "sound" up close is not as gorgeous as it is 50 feet away - but then again, the audience is what counts - they pay the bills! __________________ Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again. Last edited by rowuk; 06-28-2007 at 04:31 AM.