Jimi Michiel

Ed-

I've recently recieved several new toys to play with during the 2 years I'm going to be down here at TCU as a grad assistant. One is a Schagerl rotary. I really like the different sound, but it's killing my hand. Any tips on getting through a rehearsal on a rotary without giving myself carpel tunnel syndrome?

Thanks!
Jimi

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siarr

The Schagerls have a pretty large span between braces. I recently owned a Rico Kuhn C, which I found to be a very comfortable fit (smaller distance to span). You might experiment using a different finger or fingers to anchor at the bellside brace, and try both 1 and 2 fingers over the top. Also, I had to make myself remember to relax my grip or put the horn down between licks. It's a different animal, but with practice...well, you know the rest!

Good luck!

Chas Reskin
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"Trumpet Outings" Editions Bim and The Brass Press, International Music Publishing

Vulgano Brother

I had a fun conversation with Klaus Wendt, Solo Trompeter in Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland Pfalz. I complained about the grief my Scherzer was causing me holding it, and used the Swabian term “heben” which means “to lift” rather than “halten”, “to hold” in high German. Klaus Wendt teased me about that. Some players have added a brace for the right hand on their piccolos.

As for the bigger Bb instruments, the right thumb should be under the first valve slide (provided it is at a 90 degree angle from the valve section) for tuning the first valve notes, and the left hand position should be comfortable, with no hard--and-fast rule where to hold it. Just don't drop it!

Wherever that place is, have fun!

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www.letsbuildhope.org

ecarroll

Jimi,

The Schagerl C trumpet is worth growing bigger hands for, in my opinion. I love the way that horn sounds after a few weeks of hard practice. It's important to find the right mouthpiece, and in particular the right backbore. JK and Breslmair might be the best places to start.

I still have my Monke Bb, by the way, and sold my good Lechner C a few years ago.

Re holding it -- experiment. I have small hands myself, and usually found three fingers over the bell to work best. Like everything in life, it's just a matter of time until you become comfortable with it.

Best,
EC

Jimi Michiel

Thanks all, for the advice. I don't have huge hands, so it will take some time to get used to. I will say that it is making me much more aware of the pressure that I exert with my arms... I'm hoping that I'll find a combination of good hand position and less pressure that will allow me to relax and just think about the music.

I really like the sound we're getting. I have a great second trumpet player who will follow me anywhere (she's an enabler). We ran through the first movement of Brahms 4 and things started to click right away. Only having one trigger two work the 1st and 3rd slides took some getting used to. Intonation was good, but that's a credit to my second player more than anything else. The one issue I did have was with articulations--it seemed that there's a little more pop on the front of the note than I'm used to, which led to some accidental accents. I've got a mouthpiece with a bigger throat that I might try.

One last question... how do you get the water out of these things? I don't know if they're all the same, but I've got a spit key on the tuning slide (which unfortunately does not double as Vienna key ) and the second slide pops out, but we had as much grief trying to get the water out as we did playing and holding the things. Eventually we just blew it out... we sounded like clarinetists with all that blowing (and no sound)...

Thanks guys,
Jimi

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Sterling

I have a Boehm and Meinl B flat rotary and find that if I tilt the horn so the bell side is higher than the valve paddles my right hand is less fatigued. This also works to a lesser extent on my Schertzer pic. It seem obvious, but just like a piston valved trumpet, hold the horn with your left hand and play it with your right. It took me too long to figure this out on my rotaries!

ecarroll

Jimi,

Keep the bell pointed slightly up and water will gather in the front of the horn (slides/leadpipe) instead of the rear. You can dump what doesn't come out of the leadpipe from the slides like a hornist. Note the math -- there is far more trumpet behind the valve section than on a piston trumpet. This contributes to the characteristic sound of German orchestral trumpets -- more so, in my opinion, than the bore/bell and valve type.

Best,
EC

rowuk

A colleague of mine also has a Schagerl. He empties the water like Ed described, through the mouthpiece.

Take immaculate care of the valves. Everyone that I know with a Schagerl has had issues.

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Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

Groggles

One last question... how do you get the water out of these things? I don't know if they're all the same, but I've got a spit key on the tuning slide (which unfortunately does not double as Vienna key

It should double as a vienna key. 1st valve and water key should give you a pretty good high B Flat, D (maybe open and water key is better) and high F.

the best way for emptying i find is to keep the tuning slide pretty greased up and pull it out and then tip the instrument up ( finger keys pointing up) blow through the instrument and push 1st and 2nd valve a few times. slide back in and then empty the third valve.