Flugel or Cornet?

[bamajazzlady]

Which one should I buy with attention to which one will be played most, least or not at all?
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2011 Getzen 907 Proteus Bb
Denis Wick Classic 4B

[TrentAustin]

[veery715]

Since you are just beginning it is a good idea to just play trumpet and not add layers of complexity. Flugel is fun, but presents different intonation challenges and may make matters more confusing. And both flug and cornet blow differently and one needs to adopt a different concept than trumpet. Since your trumpet concept is not yet gelled, it is better to just stick to trumpet while you get your playing feet on the ground, pardon the weird metaphor.
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veery715

Music is what feelings sound like.

[plp]

Very good advice. I get too caught up in N+1 and find the constant switching back and forth to hinder development although for me it does not affect maintenance.

I can play a b natural scale just as badly on pretty much anything.....


I'd say if you had to do one or the other, flugel is typically more expensive (although from reviews here the ACB flugel is a great bargain) and for me requires daily practice along with trumpet to deal with the different blow and intonation, basically the same thing said above.

I'm the #1 cornet fanboy, and for me the challenge is going from cornet to trumpet without sounding thin and reedy on trumpet.
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Since all other motives—fame, money, power, even honor—are thrown out the window the moment I pick up that instrument..... I play because I love doing it, even when the results are disappointing. In short, I do it to do it.” Wayne Booth

[tommy t.]

Veery714 makes a good point but if your goals are just to play around and have fun with your horns, the flugel is a nice addition. In fact, my experience is that the flugel requires a little more attention to intonation and that it responds a lot more than a trumpet to changes in the air flow. So, if you are listenting to what comes out of the horn, playing flugel just for fun may increase your sensitivity to those two important issues.

And . . .

If you are sitting at home with some friends and they ask how you are doing with your trumpet playing and push you to get it out play something for them, you'll probably wow them with a quiet "Funny Valentine" in the low range on flugel -- as opposed to driving them out of the house with an attempt at the opening of Mahler's 5th on trumpet.

I only play cornet in public when a specific occasion calls for it but flugel is my go to horn for everything from livingroom demonstrations to playing in coffee houses or for cocktail hours.

Tommy T.
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Actually, I hate music. I just do this for the money.

[irith]

Flugel definitely has a lot more use for anyone not living in the UK. Flugel is used in jazz extensively and in more classical than you'd expect. Plus it's much more different from the trumpet than the cornet is, making it more unique and useful from a pure tone color standpoint. You can get darn close to matching a cornet sound on trumpet with the right mouthpiece, but you only ever really get halfway to flugel, IMO, even with a Curry TF or similar. I'd pick flugel every time. Cornets are fun but you kind of have to invent your own uses for them.
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Trumpets.
Mouthpieces.
I have some.

[VetPsychWars]

I sold all of my cornets and bought a flugel... not because I needed a flugel, mind, but the cornets, while different from my trumpets, weren't sufficiently different to pour money into for restorations (and I would have, I restore every horn I keep). I just didn't have anywhere to play where playing a cornet was a desirable thing.

[connicalman]

Cornets and Flugelhorns can be played in the same manner of a trumpet, however, they are capable of more and different. Your ear will let you know.

Just opposite of the way a trumpet can play a jarring 'Reveille', a cornet can play a gentler 'Taps'. A flugelhorn, to continue this analogy, might sound too diffuse for opening or closing the opposite ends of the day but does a great job of "Colors" at sunrise and sunset, as it need not take center stage but instead can hold its own while leaving elbowroom for other events of a milieu, for instance, a flag raising or lowering, the bass line in a combo, horizons of imagination in a listener's ear, etc.

Used cornets can be had for short money, and seeing as you have a Wick 4B already, you are used to the rim 'bite' of that line. The cornet version of the Wick 4B mpc will bring out a lot of the best that a cornet has to offer. As well, that mpc is a good introduction to the deeper more V-shaped and less round-bowl mouthpieces, just as a cornet is a good first step towards the subtle but certain differences between the heraldic and the etheric, the individual capacities of the trumpet and flugelhorn, respectively.

If you're in line for just one more case filled with brass tubing at this time, go with the flugelhorn. I say that because Getzen describes your trumpet as a great all-around instrument, as opposed to being designed as a slicing and dicing lead/solo specialty horn. So with a deeper bowl mpc you can experiment with the mellower end of your trumpet for the cost of a used mpc, or a cornet piece with an adapter shank.

Good luck!
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kochaavim, csillaagkep, αστερρισμός, konnstelacji, connstellation... ...a.k.a. 28A

[laurent]

Sound wise, trumpet and cornet are in my opinion quite close together.
So if you want something really different, better go for a flugel!

A flugel is easier to make sound than a trumpet, but it's also "heavier" to play, because it requieres more air support. That's why I personally believe that the playing flugel is excellent in order to play trumpet better, and I usually warm up on flugel!
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Bb Trumpets: Courtois Évolution IV, Stomvi Forte,
Buescher T-120, HT3.
Mpcs: Monette B2s3, Kanstul M-B2.
Flugel: H.Bagué (Yam 631 clone in red brass).
Mpcs: Curry FL & FLD.

[tommy t.]

[bamajazzlady]

[Robert Rowe]