Most playing (and gigging) opportunities around here involve joining or helping out a "Trachtenkapelle". A "Tracht" probably is the epitome of formal attire and shall not be confused with Lederhosen and Dindl, aka "octoberfest uniform". These are individually taylor-mad...

I´ll root for Helikons rather than Sousaphones. Especially for a variant with small bell flare and wide throat. - easier to carry on your way from locker room to stage (SLIGHTLY smaller risk of creased/folded bell flares) - Most already come with 4th valve and stuff - just as easy to carry around on...

Thank You so much for this example, Andy. I think it perfectly demonstrates what THE REAL THING is all about. - the individual instruments´ sound concept is unique and WILL NOT be resembled by OTHER instruments of the same bugle length: No, the "High F Side" of an Alex triple french horn w...

The playing experience with different rim materials WILL depend upon one´s skin type, individual distribution of nerve cells, and the last couple of meals one had. Similar to the way some people (including myself) just can´t stand dry shaving and prefer the use of real shaving soap and brush rather ...

According to this, the interviews of Clavenger, Herseth, Kleinhammer and Jacobs that are all over Youtube celebrating how they set out to come up with "that Chicago Brass Sound" (insert any dream team and orchestra of Your personal choice) are just out there to keep "the sheep" m...

I´ll second that "play melodies and accompaniment" suggestion. Works with folk songs as well as pop music that may be part of the "Great American Songbook" In case that second person happens to be a pianist: "Kunstlieder" by Schubert, Schumann, Wolff, Brahms etc. Most o...

Recently I treated my Melton 46S to a full-scale overhaul and it came back in perfect condition. In the process, I had an additional set of 5th and 6th valve slides made: - one set provides the same length as an F-tuba´s 2nd and 1st valve, respectively. This setup is what I´m used to and has been wi...

What Bloke is describing has been my "Go-To"- habit with stuff I play without sheet music in front of me. It never occurred to me to extend that to written music... That being said, there is a cool variant to that habit: - play any memorized tune that has several phrases and a nice melody....

Hello all WILLSON rotary tuba owners / repair persons, Willson is using this strange / elaborate system of ball joints, where a headless set screw is used as socket for the ball of the joint. Supposedly, the idea is to tighten that screw (using a 2mm Allen key) if the ball shows wear over time, with...

A very important part of that sucess seems to be the consequence of Your granddaughter actively seeking / choosing / TAKING THE INITIATIVE. SHE wants to play in Jazz Band. So SHE chooses an instrument to make it happen, and SHE is looking up that solo transcript. That "taking the initiative&quo...

Scheduled in community band too often: Jupiter Hymn (arrangement taken from G.Holst´s "Planets", somewhat scaled down to make it manageable by us hobbyist band musicians) Never scheduled: any of the other movements of the same work. I´m not qualified to answer the original question due to ...

Oval tenor horns and baritones are a frequent subject of community band politics. One group of people insists on their use, the other just hates them and want to replace them with euphs and euphs only. The former tends to concentrate on traditional Bohemian-Moravian band culture, the latter will put...

How ´bout Mr. Alexander "Alex" Mainz ?

Super-heavy-LOOKING valve caps with interesting stuffing come to my mind. Won´t even look suspicious on a trumpet... Or maybe that ultra-fancy big fat mouthpiece a.k.a door stop offers some space within it. Better still: many tubists in community band use only valves 1 through 3. That 4th valve tubu...

Music: 50 Years (if operating a record player at age 2, wearing down a "Deutsche Grammophon"-recording of Prokofiew´s "Peter and the Wolf" counts) If this doesn´t count: Music: 44 years (started singing in choir) Brass: 40 years (quit singing and started on flugelhorn) Tuba: 33 y...

Depends on what ideas You want to convey, I guess. - YT is full of all kinds of cool stuff with different objectives. - Educational content will most likely lack in coolness factor. The intricacies of a well-played warm-up routine will not be accessible to many who haven´t been practosing music yet....

You might want to check out the "Supergroup Thomas Gansch". There are several videos on YouTube. https://ganschathome.com/projekt/blasmusik-supergroup Definitely NOT Mnozil Brass. But a profound nod towards the cultural roots shared by many of the musicians in our professional ensembles: L...

A few posts ago Bloke expressed hope for suitable German Composita. I´d suggest "Studentenhupe", abbreviated to SH. Very fitting command... The association being the ball horn that was installed on John-Boy Walton´s Ford. Google tells me the british english translation to "Hupe" ...

What bloke wrote rhymes with the effects of the two interchangeable leadpipes that come with the ADAMS Ftuba.
The "solo"-one provides clarity, flexibility and effortless high range.
The big one makes it somewhat harder to play high, but offers an even more solid bottom.

At this time I´m practising how to breathe in a way less stressful to my expanding "Linea Alba". Especiallly as this expansion has reached the sternum. This involves letting go of inclinations to try and drown the band in sound. Maybe it´s time for OTHERS to indulge fantasies of omnipotenc...