miles71

Ok, I have been to many trumpet conferences and shows. I constantly see students, adults, and whoever coming into rooms and "trying out" trumpets. After this past weekend of hearing things I have been inspired to ask "how do you try out a trumpet?" My opinion:

The obvious stuff. Check out the appearance of the instrument and how it feels in your hand. Make sure it is what you are looking for. A company who doesnt care about the build of the trumpet will probably not have much care in how it plays. Check the valves and how they feel as well as the slides.

Next: dont even think about seeing how high or loud you can play!!!!! It is more difficult to make a horn respond at a low volume, so doesnt it make sense to play easy and quiet to see how sensitive the horn is? Do some easy scale passages or some etude excerpts. Now I know you are all great lead players (sorry for the sarcasm) but dont show off yet. Try to listen for the tone and resonance of the instrument. If it doesnt respond well then why proceed. I think this should take the most time since most of your trumpet playing will be on the staff anyway.

If the trumpet has passed the musicality test and you are still liking it, it is time to see what it will do. If you are a lead guy go ahead and cut loose, but not at anyone. Find a nice hallway or room you can go and not hurt anyone. I know we all like that collective high G in a room, but I know I would rather be polite. If you are a legit guy, same thing applies, find a nice spot to run the excerpts. I mean, how can you hear yourself in a room with everyone else anyway?

I am thinking about having a few rooms for trumpet testing next year at my show just for these reasons. I would much rather be able to hear what I sound like than compete with 80 other guys, even if they are playing quietly. I guess the moral of this story is, if we try out trumpets as musical instruments we can make a better decision on there quality. Again, sorry if I offended anyone and I would like to hear your opinions on this as well.

crash

Yes, I would definitely agree that trying those horns in the Trumpet Fest exhibit room was challenging to say the least. I was there around 8 am and the exhibitor were still setting up. I should've tried the horns then. The next time I went in during a break, as you got near the exhibit room it sounded like someone had let about 100 geese into the room. Very loud geese! At any one time there were between 10 and 30 horns playing. I think the room was only about 40 by 40 feet. I was able to try several trumpets and almost had to go by feel rather than sound. I would play directly at a flat surface to hear myself. I was able to try the two Stage1 Flugels that were there and wow they were nice! I tried the Rimless bell but it was hard to really listen to it. I did try the Lawler Model B, and for some reason was drawn to it. Mainly the feel and response. It really felt right on, when you went for a note it just came out! All of these horns are out of my reach anyway. My only hope was the door prize. Though it is nice to comparison shop.

The clinics on the other hand were absolutely GREAT! Tons of good information and practice techniques that I have already started to incorporate today!
Hat's off to JC and All those involved.
Thanks for giving us a great day.

gchun

Bassist John Patitucci referred to a similar problem with bassists as "NAMM Show chops!"

Garry

bilboinsa

Excellent question and observation. Trying to hear myself when the next Ingram is showing off his shakes can be VERY intimidating; moreso it destroys any chance us mere mortals have at really "hearing" the horn we are playing. Once registered, it would be nice if we were able to leave an ID/credit card and sneak out to a room somewhere to really listen. Ah, but that is what the dealers' showrooms are for, right???

cornetguy

One thing Mr. Schilke suggested was the B major scale

DubbaCTrumpetMSU

bilboinsa...I know what you mean! I wish I would be able to do that at TMEA but I don't think there is anywhere to go off to. I see you are from SA yourself..are you going to TMEA? If so, I'll see you there...I'm looking forward to trying that Stage 1...

Drew

Great observation. I try to get to the PMEA conference each year (it's in Hershey, PA in April this year) and for most of the conference it isn't so bad as the exhibit halls are usually pretty large, but the day we let all the All-State kids in to check things out-WOW! Lots of "I can play higher & louder than you". Of course there are kids trying the horns with more technical playing as well. At least they're getting the chance to get their hands on some different horns that probably play better than that which they are used to. It can give them something to work for!

rowuk

Observance: conferences are the WORST place to try instruments.
No peace and quiet, no useable acoustics, a bunch of jock players that intimidate mere mortals (or think so) and salespeople that influence your mind by telling you what you will hear or experience, before you have actually played.
The differences between "great" instruments are subtle and require time and patience to decipher.
It is cool however to nail some (supposed) beginner to the wall with a killer double C however!

DubbaCTrumpetMSU

No kidding! That's why I'm SO happy Felix is going to send the horn to me unfinished and let me play it for a few weeks in my ensembles. I figured TMEA would be fun, but not the best place to try it out. Maybe if I'm there during the practice times, it'll be a little better, but I doubt it.
Russ

dcstep

At the DFW TrumpetFest (prior to the last two years, at least) and the Rocky Mountain Trumpet Fest, we provided rooms where you could go hear yourself and listen to someone else play the trumpets for you.

You have to be very careful in the exhibitor room not to blow your chops out. The suggestions about playing the B scale, quiet playing. KO, of Reeves, a few years ago, had me play a middle-line G as softly as possible and the cresendo it to the max volume and listen to the intonation. With a good trumpet/mpc match it'll stay consistent. Check the top-space E, second-line D, etc. to see how far the intonation compromises work and then listen for resonance and freedom of stress. The last testing may require you to move to a quiet room, with an assistant to hear the horn on both sides.

BTW, we're very close to setting the date for the next Rocky Mountain Trumpet Fest, to be held at CU in Boulder.

Dave