If you hear of one, please let me know. Until then, let me show you the best I have ever designed and built. To construct the best of all worlds in these areas is imposable for each requires its own elements. The best recording studio may not have the correct attributes needed for the best rehearsal hall. The very best practice area may not work well as a recording studio but I have been very pleased with the room I call home for most of my work. Some of the strengths were planned and some were accidents. Let me share…
After checking every mute holder on the market today, I decided I could do better than what was available on line and in the stores. If you need your mutes available in a short amount of time, you may be interested in my solution. I got the music for a new musical in town just a few days ago and after looking through the material, I realized that the number of quick mute changes was going to be a problem. No matter how close you get your mutes, it always puts pressure on these quick changes and I don’t enjoy…
So You Want A Career in Music? Part 1 So do tens-of-thousands of other people. Wanting something does not necessarily make it happen. Even with all the “If you want it badly enough, it will happen” believers propagating all their wonderful and deceptive rantings. In order to focus on a career in music, we must first limit and identify our particular area of interest in order to understand what is necessary to accomplish our goal. What are a few areas a musician can be a part of? 1. Performer Becoming a musician is a lot of hard work and few…
What to Expect from Your Teacher When you visit your local physician with an ailment, you expect to leave with a solution to your problem. If you visit your dentist with a tooth ache, you expect to leave his/her office with relief, but too often trumpet students leave a trumpet studio with the idea that they (the student) has been granted a great privilege to be in the company of this almighty guru. Too many students worship their instructor and in a few cases it is justified for helpful teachers are to be revered. When you study an instrument, you…
The first part of this post dealt with issues related to terms and your direction in your musical career. This post will focus on an area that I know well and that would be the study of an instrument (in my case the trumpet). No matter what your area of performance, trumpet, sax. piano, bagpipes or voice, the following information will apply to you. What to Look for in a Teacher The selection of your applied teacher is more important than the selection of a school. This may sound odd but when you consider that you will have more personal…
Many are currently considering a career in music and wondering which school would be best to attend. This is a very important decision and choosing the best school to attend will affect your life in many ways. After more than fifty years teaching and attending colleges and universities around the country, I feel well qualified to post my opinions on this topic. I have attended great schools and bad. I have taught at great schools and less than great schools and I will share whatever knowledge I have in hopes that this information will be helpful in making your decision.…
As most of you know, Branson is possibly the most dedicated city in the nation to honor of our service men and women. This week has been designated as Veterans Week and every store, show and business has welcomed thousands of our veterans to Branson to give recognition for their dedication to the protection of our country. This evening I have the privilege of performing Taps at the formal Marine Corps. dinner and in their honor and for that reason, I thought it would be appropriate to dedicate this post to the preparation going into this performance. The history- The…
Click image to enlarge 1 – BELL & FERRULE (SILVER-PTD) 1-1 – BELL FERRULE 2 – FRONT BELL BRACE 3 – REAR BELL BRACE 4 – VALVE CASING ASS’Y BUFFING 5 – 1ST VALVE OUTSIDE SLIDE 6 – 1ST VALVE I/S SL. & FER. 7 – 2ND VALVE O/S. SLIDE. BUFFING 8 – 3RD VALVE I/S SL. & FER. 9 – 3RD VALVE OUTSIDE SLIDE 10 – MOUTHPIPE ASS’Y BUFFING 11 – FINGER HOOK 12 – O/S.TUNING SLIDE LOWER 13 – BRACE, V.C.= BELL 14 – BRACE, V.C.= M’PIPE 15 – D BRACE (3) BELL TO 1ST O/S. SL. 16…
If you have read my first post on reasons for hearing loss, you may be interested in some information I have collected which could help you to select some tools to help prolong your current hearing condition. Are earplugs the solution to attacks on your hearing? The use of ear plugs have saved untold numbers of people who are faced with the constant barrage of high volume noises in their daily work. Factory workers, sheet metal shop owners as well as rock musicians are all face with the same dilemma- the need to protect ones hearing in a very inhospitable…
Warning- The Following Information May Change Your Life! We spend a great amount of money on equipment which we feel is necessary to become fine musicians and there is little doubt that good equipment can help us reach that goal. But how much concern do we have for preserving an essential element which we already possess? And that essential element would be our hearing. As performers, we are expected to have what they call in the recording industry, “big ears”. This term has nothing to do with the size or shape of our ears. It has to do with how…