rowuk

Hi Folks,
I am new to trumpetmaster, but not so new to the "historical instrument" scene. I play a self made long natural trumpet(only one hole for F and A) and a Munkwitz short three hole model. I practice mostly without the holes. It demands more control from my face, but makes my sense of intonation much more accurate on all of my other instruments. In concert, I always use the holes. The modern listener doesn't generally appreciate the pre "well tempered" pitch. Lipping everything up and down for modern pitch/intervals in a concert changes the sound as much as using the holes does, so I prefer the security.
Any advice that I would give to people just starting:
1) do not use a modern type mouthpiece, get a copy of an original with a sharp rim
2) do not take on jobs for the first 6 months
3) practice alot of slurs and lip trills, then tongued intervals
4) do not play more loudly than mf for the first 6 months
5) just like modern trumpet, start slowly - accuracy develops the correct memory patterns that will benefit you in the future. In the beginning, you have NOTHING to prove!
easy pieces for the beginner - there is a whole collection of short sonatas by Fantini

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rowuk

somehow this landed where it doesn't belong. I must have done something wrong - thought that I clicked on post reply.................

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Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

gtromble

Welcome to TM! That sounds like great advice for people starting out on natural trumpet. I've been interested in trying it for some time, but have stuck with the unnatural trumpet so far.

Galen

Liad Bar-EL

Please explain......why does Natural trumpet playing have to be so different than modern trumpet playing?

Liad Bar-EL

camelbrass

Liad,

I had the privilege of spending a week in August with Micheal Laird (Acadamy of St Martin's in the Field, English Chamber Orchestra etc etc etc) and got my first taste of playing the natural trumpet.

rowuk's points pretty much mirror Micheal's, although he doesn't seem to mind using modern mouthpieces.

The feel of the natural is quite different than the modern trumpet. You haven't got the security provided by the resistance created by the valves, wrap etc. I found that I had to concentrate very hard on pitching the note in my head before I made any entry. Note production was also very critical, lots of split notes...the instrument is somewhat unforgiving in my very inexpert hands. Above the staff requires very solid technique..there is just nowhere to hide.

The sound, by the way, in the hands of an expert is wonderful and I'm trying to line up the money to get one!!


Hope this helps.

Regards,


Trevor

Liad Bar-EL

Thanks for you comments Trevor.

I guess that I need to hear some it. Any sites that you know of wherein I can tape into to listen?

Do you have a certain N Trumpet in mind to buy and if so what and why that one? How much are they?

Thanks,

Liad Bar-EL

Vulgano Brother

Two tricks for the natural trumpet:
1. Don't overblow -- don't forget that the bell is a lot farther away
from your ears.
2. Don't move your chops around too much -- saves on missed notes.

"Schade dass Ringo seigen wollte dass er Naturtrompete spielen kann."

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rowuk

Liad,
the baroque/natural trumpet is almost as long as a trombone. Its bore being cylindrical and playing on the high partials is a completely different feeling. The fact that in the beginning playing resonantly centered (our goal with modern trumpets!!) means playing out of tune is disconcerting to all.
It takes a while to get our chops and brain sensitive to these differences. It is much easier when playing with an orchestra that doesn't play "well tempered"(on purpose.......... ).
The best thing to do is get one and be aware that the first six months are difficult. It is worth the effort!

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Hags888

Liad,

You can check out the recordings of Niklaus Eklund. He's got a multi-volume CD set of Natural Trumpet repertoire released on Naxos. Naxos has a free audio streaming service on their website (you have to register on the site I think). His playing is some of the best I've heard. You can also check out recordings of Crispin Steele-Perkins (England). Barry Baugess (American) gave a nice lecture recital on natural trumpet at ITG this past summer as well.

Google "Natural Trumpet" and you're sure to find even more resources.

Scott

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camelbrass

Liad,

Try this link to Matthew Parker

http://www.matthewparkertrumpets.com/record.htm

There is a small collection of examples.

If you're so inclined you could probably make a very simple example yourself..Mike laird had some very simple holeless ones rigged in C using old Bb bells for his students to use. They worked fine and really gave the right 'feel'. I'm not that dextrous and probably have too much money so I'll probably look at either a Steve Keavey or Matthew Parker 4 hole.

Why those? Well I think they're quite reasonably priced providing you keep it simple (these things can get really tarted up using siklver garlands etc etc)..if I remember about $1500 but stand to be corrected. They are also used by some very good players.


Regards,

Trevor