talcito

Hi Tony:

You sounded just great playing the flugel at last years trumpet festival.

I have started to incorporate more flugelhorn playing,especially on my latin jazz gigs, to add another dimension to my playing.

Just wondering how you include the flugelhorn as part of your daily practice. Do you do traditional trumpet studies on it like long tones and slurs or do you just play it musically in the style the music calls for?

Do you use the same brand of mouthpiece for your flugel and your trumpet?

Thanks,

Oscar

talcito

Hi Tony:

I placed this post last week, but it does not seem to appear in your forum for some reason.......I even posted it twice.

Is it the forum, my computer or should I just lay off the Caruso studies for a while.LOL

kadleck

Hi Oscar -

Sorry for the delayed response. I'm in the process of moving & things are hectic.

Although many trumpeters don't like to play the flugelhorn, I LOVE playing it. It can really add another dimension to many gigs, especially if you are the only wind instrument on the job.

However, I almost never practice on it. I'm not really sure why. I will say that I generally try very hard to make it sound as little like a trumpet as possible. I prefer the puffy, warm (almost trombone-like) sound. Shameless plug: I would also like to mention that my current flugel (Stage 1 Classic) is one of the prettiest sounding horns I've ever played.

Mouthpieces: I used to play a Bach 3, which did not fit properly into the Stage 1, so Felix (of NYTC) turned me on to a GR (forgot the model #), which is similar to the 3 and fits in nicely. It has little to do (in any way) with my trumpet piece.

Thanks -
Tony

Ray Vega

Oscar,
I occasionally will play through Concone Lyrical Studies on flugel just to get the air flowing.....I aim for a sound that is warmer then the trumpet.
Peace-RV

Harold Zinno

I play a Tony Scodwell Flugel that is just gorgeous. I rarely practice on it but concur with Tony and Ray that my approach is to produce a beautiful mellow sound totally apart from the trumpet. I use a custom Schilke 14FL4 that was made for me 30 years ago at Schilke. I had the throat opened up more to give me assistance in developing that dark flugel sound.

BergeronWannabe

Ok, if you don't mind I have a question. If you use a Bach for legit, Monette for lead, and GR for flugel- how do you feel about matching the pieces from one company? Is it a big deal to get the same rim (feel) or just a close size?
Thanks Tony,
-Andrew

kadleck

Andrew -

I guess I could have a "matching set" made, but I really don't feel that it matters much. I'm sure that Dean (at Dave Monette's shop) could easily duplicate my Bach & GR, but I just feel like, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Plus, he's a busy guy and he probably has better things to do than recreating a stock Bach mouthpiece.

Tony

talcito

Thanks for the responses!

Ray, your idea came at the right time. Today I picked up a great book "Bel Canto Studies" by Korak published by Balquhidder. It was really different to play the flugel with that type of sound concept.

Now the secret is to keep that sound concept on the gig when the percussion starts to heat it up.......next thing you know my flugel starts to sound like a bugle!

Thanks again,

Oscar

Ray Vega

Oscar,
At this point, I only use the flugel in situations where I'm not going to be overblowing.
If I'm on a Latin gig, I only play the flugel if there is a solo section on a bolero or a musical passage that can benifit from the flugel sound. There is nothing worst then trying to play flugel in a loud situation.
BTW, I just got back from Europe----I played with Frankie Morales and Yomo Toro. While there I hooked up a several gigs with Cachao y sus Estrellas. I'm still floating in the clouds after this tour. Yomo (75) and Cachao (88), both took me to school every night. Their ability to push the envelope of creativity night after night was awe inspiring.
No, I didn't have me Cousnon with me.
RV

BergeronWannabe

Hi Tony,
I have a question that kinda goes along with this older thread. I just asked Ingrid what her practice routine is. I feel a little overwhelmed with all the things there are to do on trumpet. Fundamentals, range, improv, (flugel), transcribing, etc.
I don't want to get discouraged, but sometimes I feel like I just can't get to it all with school, work, and TONS to practice.
What did you do to get it all together?
thanks,
andrew