bigaggietrumpet

Ok, here's an interesting little thing that's been bugging me. I went to ITG for a day, and played literally, everything (my lips were throbbing). I was very excited at the thought of playing the legendary Schilkes. I'd heard that they were excellent horns and some said that they were also very open. I had my Bach 3C (standard, not megatone) for playing as that's my usual mouthpiece.

Then I picked up a bunch. I tried the B6, and that one felt stuffier than an attic. I tried and S22 and an S32- slightly better, but still incredibly stuffy. I then picked up an X4. THAT was even stuffy. The valves and everything were great, beautiful horns, but the blow was stuffy, and the tone sounded stuffy as well.

Has this happened to anyone else? It's just really kinda weird that I felt that way on pretty much the whole line.

__________________
Michael Smith
Hullabaloo: The official band of Texas A&M Basketball
Kanstul 1537/ Schilke 14
LA Olds Studio

davidjohnson

michael:

it's never happened to me, but i usually sound stuffy on conns. i don't think i sound good on getzens, either. i quit wondering how all that works.

dj

pangaea

Hmmm...although I've never really known what people mean by stuffy (too much resistance? lack of response?) I really doubt that most of those Schilkes were anything but very open. Any ML Schilke will feel very open, regardless of bell...w/ the large bell, an ML (this, a B1) is a fantastically open horn. Compared to that, the B6 (M body, ML bell) COULD feel less open, w/ more resistance. But I don't know if most would call it stuffy...and the Schilkes are famously responsive, another characteristic that militates against the label "stuffy"...

Could it have been a mp issue? A small piece (or more accurately, one w/ a small throat and backbore) could make the B6 feel pretty tight. Or maybe the piece you were using provided a gap that was all wrong for a Schilke. But you said you were using a 3C

This is a mystery...the only horn I've ever played that felt more open than my B1 was a WT. (I've never played an X Schilke).

The only advice I can offer is if you get a chance to blow a bunch of 'em again, try some different mouthpieces. I have a GR 65MX that makes my B1 so open I can't always handle the air demands.

nowave

I'd agree that there's most likely some other factor coming into play for you... maybe a mouthpiece issue? "Stuffy" is the last word I'd ever associate with Schilkes! They tend to blow more open than their bore sizes indicate.

Tootsall

Having played a 180ML37 for a couple of years, I had a chance to test new X3, B1, B5 and S32 "side-by-side" using my own mouthpiece(s). I also had my Bach with me for comparison. I found ALL of the Schilkes so much more open that it forced me to change my embouchure (for the better) right on the spot. I loved the openness so much that I never played the Bach again and eventually sold it to a bandmate.

I can't imagine you finding a Schilke "stuffy" unless you'd been used to playing something far more open...... like maybe a tuba!

dcstep

Remember, he was trying horn after horn. What he played immediately before the Schilkes could greatly impact the "feel." If he came from the Wild Thing or Selmer table, or played a large bore Calicchio, then things could feel odd.

I once tried a bunch of V1s and Jupiters when my main horn was a Yamaha Z. All the V1s and Jupiters required more air than the Z. I'd started by playing my Z, then spent an hour or so trying out about six horns. Toward the end, I came back to my Z and could hardly play it. With the same air as the others it felt stuffy and I was overshooting notes right and left. I still kept my Z, but it was an eye-opening experience.

When auditioning horns at a trade show or TrumpetFest, you need to allow times for your lips to rest and re-set. If you're not connecting easily with a horn, buzz the leadpipe a little to feel just how much air makes it resonate, then put the slide back in and try playing.

Dave

__________________
Schilke '60 B1
Selmer Paris -- '57 #20 K-Modified/
'03 Concept TT w/ GR66.8B2.8
'94 Lawler TL cornet w/ Sparx 2B
Conn Vintage One flugel - GR66FD
www.pitpops.com www.ucm-inc.com
Rocky Mountain Trumpet Fest

Tootsall

Great point, Dave. I was going to comment on the "trumpet just before" aspect but thought I'd make a bit of a joke with the Tuba reference. But you are sooo right. Our chops have a strong tendency towards "short-term memory".

bigaggietrumpet

First, lemme clarify-

Stuffy-basically I'm referring to too much resistance in the leadpipe, although I didn't think the tone was very resonant. I'm willing to believe that it might have been a mouthpiece issue, but then how does that account for my Omega feeling more open on the same piece?

Second, as best as I can recall, I played the horns in this order, Kanstul ZKT1500, 1500TW, and then the Schilkes, pretty much in the order I described earlier.

It's a shame ITG is going to Bangkok, I'd love to go back and see if maybe it was just my chops that day.

__________________
Michael Smith
Hullabaloo: The official band of Texas A&M Basketball
Kanstul 1537/ Schilke 14
LA Olds Studio

dcstep

Start planniing on the DFW TrumpetFest on 10/23 (do the Aggies have a game that Sat?). If you can make it, we'll have a wide selection of Stomvis, Chicago Brass Works, Calicchio, Selmer, Bach, Conn, Getzen, etc. and a handful of Schilkes.

Clean out that 3C and "come on down." (Up really).

Dave

__________________
Schilke '60 B1
Selmer Paris -- '57 #20 K-Modified/
'03 Concept TT w/ GR66.8B2.8
'94 Lawler TL cornet w/ Sparx 2B
Conn Vintage One flugel - GR66FD
www.pitpops.com www.ucm-inc.com
Rocky Mountain Trumpet Fest

bigaggietrumpet

Well, we do, but seeing as I'm not in the band I don't have to be there. I think I was planning on being up that weekend to see my old high school marching band anyway, so I might just make it.

__________________
Michael Smith
Hullabaloo: The official band of Texas A&M Basketball
Kanstul 1537/ Schilke 14
LA Olds Studio