The Energon Pub

[Burn]

nah

[-Soundwave-]

Makes sense then why Trombone was harder.

I took a lot of Harmony and Musicianship in college. That helped. But Bass clef still isn't my strong point.

[First-Aid]

That is why, if your want to learn any musical instrument at all, you start with piano. You get to learn both primary clefs right off the bat. Now, I am excluding other clefs used like C clef, but once you get the basics, you are good to go.

Just for fun...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clef

[-Soundwave-]

I don't think Piano is a priority, specially if you're doing it for fun. E-flat instruments can play the bass cleft without changing the notes. All you have to do is remember your own key signature.

[First-Aid]

I don't think Piano is a priority, specially if you're doing it for fun. E-flat instruments can play the bass cleft without changing the notes. All you have to do is remember your own key signature.

Yeah, I had to do that in middle school. We didn't have enough books for everyone so I got to play from the trombone book while on my alto sax. Now I can just instantly transpose. Pretty easy anymore.

[Moosey]

Figured I'd revive one of my fav threads after a hiatus of me being on the site. My high school had their fall jazz concert last Thursday. The school's got this class you can take where you meet every other day before school and play in a jazz combo, it's pretty fun even if the combos are a little bigger than traditional combos. My group played Killer Joe and Mr. PC, did decent on both.

[Whifflefire]

I Joined our school's marching band for the first time this year. We did pretty well, broke our own record at our final competition.
My first experience playing in a group, took me out of my comfort zone a little. But I ended up really liking it though, glad I got the experience. I play a guitar, stood with the pit. Unfortunately, I was the only guitarist who was on guitar the whole time, only other guitarist was marching during section 1(of two)so I was kinda on my own for most of it.

I'd like to play in a band, but none of my friends know how to play any instruments

[-Soundwave-]

Most of my friends couldn't read music. Took forever to learn a song because they had to hear it over and over.

[Whifflefire]

I can barely read music. I know F-A-C-E and E-G-B-D-F, and quarter notes and half notes and etc., but then I have to find the notes on the guitar, and by the time I've done all that I've forgotten what I've just played. But if I hear the note, I can match the sound, and figure out what I'm supposed to play much more quickly, and far less stressfully. So I end up playing by ear or being shown where to put my fingers without being shown what notes I'm playing. If I want to learn a song, I need to know how it sounds. Which is easy when I play songs I'm familiar with, but not when I'm given sheet music.

[-Soundwave-]

The biggest thing with that is, you can write it out for others once you learn to read well. That and you don't have to memorize it constantly. When I began to play I learned how to read first before picking up the instrument.

[Whifflefire]

I wish I'd have learned to read better before I started playing, I wouldn't have thought about it then, I started playing when I was pretty young and my thoughts consisted mostly of variations of 'YAY GUITAR YAY I WANNA PLAY IT NOW'. I was taught how to read, but I can't sight read...I can kinda read tab since it just tells you where to put your fingers instead of showing circles that must be translated to letters that must be translated to where I put my fingers on the guitar. Or I listen to the sound and match it. I never realized the relevance of the skill until I could play pretty well without using it at all.

[Burn]

It's that time of the year again! Time to annoy the locals with Christmas carols!

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I just wish we were able to play something more modern, but no, we have to play out of those stupid little traditional booklets. *sigh*

[First-Aid]

It's that time of the year again! Time to annoy the locals with Christmas carols!

12313746_1121676927866826_6809057787921238604_n.jpg

I just wish we were able to play something more modern, but no, we have to play out of those stupid little traditional booklets. *sigh*

Tuba FTW

[Burn]

So last night before full-blown band practice (and we've picked up a couple of new members, yay!!!) myself, my nephew and my girlfriend had lessons.

I picked up Tenor Sax (regularly play Trumpet)
My nephew did Trumpet (he started playing Trumpet last year and we thought he might like a different teacher before he starts lessons again this year)
Girlfriend picked up Trombone (regularly plays Trumpet)

That Tenor was bloody heavy around the neck. I tried Alto first (had to wait for the band Tenor to be returned) and it just felt too damn small. Plus, as I use to play Euphonium, I pretty much know Tenor Sax parts.

[Burn]

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My newest acquisition (first one in over a year).
A little Jupiter Slide Trumpet (or Soprano Trombone)

So I now have a Trumpet, a Trombone, plus a Slide Trumpet and a Valve Trombone.

[Haohmaru Man]

jackson power v
bc rich warlock
fender amp
guitar chord
dunlop thick black pics
daddiro light gauge strings

next year ill get a takamine or jasmine like shakira has

[First-Aid]

Nice setup. I haven't changed my rig in a long time due to money issues:

Korg Triton LE
Alesis QS 6.1
Roland Juno-G
Roland Vp-7
Roland AX-7
Ensoniq MR-76
Peavey KB-100 amp
Behringer 6 channel mixing board
Yamaha Semipro Alto Saxophone


...and an accordion

[Burn]

...and an accordion

Girlfriend and I found a piano accordion at a garage sale a few months back. He wanted about $200 for it, came with big thick instruction book as well.

Even if we had the money though we would have left it, while he says he's had it serviced, it was clearly obvious it still required a bit more work before it was fully functional.

Different note ... yesterday was my first official appearance as the local bugler. Played at the Vietnam Veterans Day ceremony.

[Haohmaru Man]

Nice setup. I haven't changed my rig in a long time due to money issues:

Korg Triton LE
Alesis QS 6.1
Roland Juno-G
Roland Vp-7
Roland AX-7
Ensoniq MR-76
Peavey KB-100 amp
Behringer 6 channel mixing board
Yamaha Semipro Alto Saxophone


...and an accordion

thanks

[First-Aid]

...and an accordion

Girlfriend and I found a piano accordion at a garage sale a few months back. He wanted about $200 for it, came with big thick instruction book as well.

Even if we had the money though we would have left it, while he says he's had it serviced, it was clearly obvious it still required a bit more work before it was fully functional.

Different note ... yesterday was my first official appearance as the local bugler. Played at the Vietnam Veterans Day ceremony.

Serious props, dude. Bugle is hard to play.

[Burn]

Serious props, dude. Bugle is hard to play.

It is. I had one woman I know say to me "Oh good, they've finally gotten someone who will be able to play it".

She has no **** clue.

[Whifflefire]

While I was working at a summer camp, one of the other staff members and I discovered that we were both fans of Simon and Garfunkel, and we would spend nights at the staff lounge, myself on my guitar and him on the mandolin, butchering classics with my "singing". But we had a fun time.

During camp we would have Flag Ceremonies which require bugling, and most of us took for granted how well the bugler was, so when he left for a week, we realized how trying the instrument must be.

[Burn]

My plan for the weekend was to basically sit on my arse and do nothing.

Then the girlfriend reminded me that I had to go to the antique store.

I was approached in the supermarket last week by the woman who owns the antique store, she knows I play Trumpet so she asked me to come out and help identify a Trumpet. This is the same woman who previously told me she had another Trumpet ... and produced a Trombone.

So we went out there expecting her to produce a French Horn or something that wasn't a Trumpet. We also intended to put on our poker faces, tell her what she had was rubbish and offer her $50.

Said poker face began to disappear when she produced an old style, but still in quite good condition, case.

She then opened it, at which point the poker face fell away entirely. It was a Trumpet. And boy did it shine. I couldn't get it out of the case quick enough.

Initial look over, a Boosey & Hawkes Imperial 23 Mark IX Trumpet, British made. This was a damn fine instrument.

Condition indicated that it hadn't been used. What we found amazing though was that it came with it's original paper work. It also came with an incredibly old bottle of Yamaha valve oil.

Downside? ALL slides were stuck, which wasn't fun, given that there's a trigger on the third valve slide. Additionally, cap on the second valve had snapped off. I didn't consider any of this to be a major issue.

I was prepared to offer $500 for it. When I asked her what she wanted, she said $300. I was running things through my head trying to work out how I can afford it. My girlfriend though had other ideas and snapped it up herself.

Despite the slides not moving, it plays beautifully. We've compared it to my girlfriends other Trumpet (Yamaha T100) and the B&H is slightly heavier, though it's bell slightly smaller. We compared it to my nephews Yamaha YTR-4320, substantially heavier.

Once we had a chance to do a bit of research we worked out it's a 1957 model and was often used by professionals. I do have permission to use it when I'm doing jazz band, hitting C above the staff was ridiculously easy on it.

So it'll cost hopefully no more than $200 to get serviced and everything moving, at the end of the day, it's a bloody bargain. It took Katy a good 2 hours to stop shaking from the excitement of buying herself a new Trumpet.

[Cobotron]

I like that story.
Made me think of this scene in Blues Brothers. Specifically, Ray's first line.

[Burn]

So we've had the Trumpet back for nearly two weeks now. The repairs went flawlessly, the slides move freely (the tuning slide a little too freely in fact!) and the valves move nicely ... well except for the first valve which is a little sluggish, but Katy has new valve oil on the way that may fix that.

She really cut loose with it at band this week. The best way to describe it is an "untamed beast". It doesn't take much at all to produce power in it. She tried to play quietly but it took control of her and seeing FF's ... well ... the rest of the band certainly heard her. The power got to her and she was adding crescendos where there none.

When it came to the last song of the night we swapped Trumpets and I had a go with it. Yeah, it's got a lot of power to it.

So ... who wants to see it?

Yeah ... that's a nearly 60 year old Trumpet right there. Full FB photo album is here.

I also have another Trumpet on the way for myself. Won this one off E-Bay, all I'll say is, I didn't win it for the Trumpet!