yes i'm still alive

Sorry for lack of posting (as if anyone cares). Been a bit busy for months and months on a big TV project. I understand that I will get an 'Additional Music' credit on this one which is very exciting for me! Though it will probably be on screen for about 0.2 of a second. Don't want to jump the gun in talking about the show so I'll remain enigmatic for now.

At the moment I'm keeping fairly busy (but not too much to be honest!) MDing the big band, teaching a bit, and just practicing quite a lot.

Also, my big plan is to learn trombone! Our big band is always short of bones, so often I play 1st or 2nd on trumpet - then it occurred to me that if I could sort out the embouchure (perhaps no small task) then I could play valve trombone! Only problem is that there's virtually no second hand market for valve trombones, and I'm reluctant to fork out lots of money on a new one and then perhaps find that I can't get to grips with it. So the current plan is to borrow a slide trombone from my lovely, talented and beautiful friend, hopefully develop a reasonable sound on it, then get a valve bone. Having said that, I'm told by another lovely, talented and beautiful friend that slides are much sexier, so perhaps I'll stick with that. Anyway I've gone out and bought Tune A Day for trombone and hopefully will have the instrument in my hands tomorrow! Oh my poor neighbours.

Today I'm off to First Class Brass in Luton to retrieve my lovely Eclipse trumpet which I asked Leigh to do a couple tweaks to. Also he's been sorting out my Yamaha flugel which had seized up due to lack of use - oops. Must play more in future!!

How to Make a Trumpet - 3

Hooray! Yet another trumpet making video! This one is a bit more detailed about the making of the bell in particular. I believe it's the Getzen factory.

How to Make a Trumpet - 2

Quite a few people who come to this blog have googled "how to make a trumpet" and found my post of December 2006 which linked to a video of a visit to the Benge trumpet factory. Unfortunately, that video has now been taken down from YouTube, so in the interests of giving the people what they want, I've found this video of a visit to the Yamaha trumpet factory in Japan. It's all a bit cheesy, and obviously a huge advert for Yamaha, but anyway, it's pretty nice I s'pose. A bit different from the previous video - the Yamaha factory is all computers and robots.

If the above link doesn't work, try here and look for the Jens Lindemann podcast. I'll not embed it cos it's 71MB.

Eclipse Trumpets Trip

Went on a fun trip to the Eclipse Trumpet Factory the other day with my chum, Jake Painter. Both of us are thinking about buying new trumpets and we thought we'd check these instruments out, which seem to be very popular at the moment.

So we drove up the M1 to an industrial estate in Luton where we were greeted by Leigh McKinney, the owner of the company. We were shown in to the testing room (pictured) where freshly made trumpets featuring the various bell options available were laid out on a long bench. These instruments were unfinished (i.e. uncoated) and slightly rough around the edges - they get completed to your specific requirements when you decide to buy one. After a short introduction by Leigh, we were left to our own devices.

They certainly are beautiful instruments! They blew very easily, and had a beautiful sound. Jake and I both liked the Medium Yellow brass bell best (which I think is their 'standard' instrument, and best seller). However they are a little expensive for rush decisions, and I think I'd like to try out some other brands before I buy anything.

One thing I really appreciated was the large room we had for playing in - so often when you go to try an instrument in a shop, you are shown in to a tiny room, often full of stock, with very little acoustic life in it, but that was not the case here at all. I also liked Leigh's very straightforward and helpful manner - strangely not always the case in all music shops.

So I didn't come away with a lovely new trumpet this time, but did get a free Eclipse towel and T-shirt.

How to Make a Trumpet

Here's a groovy video all about making trumpets in a trumpet factory. Although it's from the American kids' show Mr Rogers' Neighborhood, it takes me back to looking through the Square/Round/Arched window in Play School.



[edit: I'm afraid this video has been taken down from YouTube now - but check out my post of Nov 9th 2007.]

Funny how lots of people like watching stuff being made - the guy who uploaded this video has lots of similar films.

P.S. Merry Christmas!

A New Toy

I bought myself a didgeridoo yesterday. Last year I was messing around on one lent to me by my lovely neighbour. (In fact, she lent it to me at her Christmas soirée of 2004, and I finally returned it at her Christmas soirée of 2005. Sorry about that, Linda.)

I was in Camden anyway and had some time to kill, so I went to Ray Man Ethnic Musical Instruments on Chalk Farm Road. Such an interesting shop! I could have happily spent hours and hours there, shaking, hitting, plucking and blowing things. But I didn't have hours, so I just blew on a few didges, picked one, and went on my way. Happily, I managed to get it home through the Camden crowds without poking anybody in the groin with it.

At the moment, I think I can get a reasonable sound out of it (at least to my ears - probably not to a real didge afficionado), but of course the whole thing of playing the didgeridoo is the circular breathing, which I can't do yet. Maybe I'll post an mp3 when I get the hang of it, but it seems it is going to take me a lot of practice. So don't hold your breath.