RIP Roy Hempley

[rockford]

Hello everyone,
Those of you interested in Bach trumpet history will know Roy Hempley, at least by name. Roy passed on a few days ago at age 80 and will be interred at the Military cemetery in Quantico, VA.
FYI- His website Vincentbachsworld.com is still up as of this writing so those of you interested in Bach History should retrieve what you want fairly quickly. His collection of Bach trumpets and materials will be sold by Steve Dillion at some time in the future. Look to Dillionmusic.com for more info as the family will not be handling any of those items or details.
Roy did a lot for the trumpet community by helping us understand VB and his industry defining instruments. Many of us have benefited from his research and many of the newer instruments, based off VB’s original designs would not have been possible without his knowledge and attention to details. Thanks Roy and RIP.

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Bill Siegfried
NY/Mt. Vernon Bach trumpets. Yamaha flugelhorn and piccolo A/Bb, Monette and Hammond mouthpieces. Fender and Peavey Cirrus Bass Guitars. Ampeg and Genz-Benz amps. Embraer 170/175/190.

[Dale Proctor]

Sorry to hear that.
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"Brass bands are all very well in their place - outdoors and several miles away ." - Sir Thomas Beecham

[cjl]

Wow, I hate to hear that. What a tremendous contribution he made to our knowledge of V Bach. I really enjoyed his articles and re-read them often.

— Joe

[Ozzbo]

So sad to hear !!!

Roy was a great guy with tons of knowledge on all VB. We shared many emails some 25 yrs ago when he used a '46 Rudy Muck Citation trumpet I owned in a side by side comparison of a similar NY Bach.

Rest In Power Roy !!!!!

Ozzy Cardona

[deleted_user_687c31b]

Sorry to hear that. I'd never heard of hm before today...I'm kinda sorry to I didn't. I wish his family much strength.

[lewis]

Very sorry to hear about Roy's passing. His articles have been a gold mine of information.

HML

[OldSchoolEuph]

The last conversation I had with Roy was one of our rare actual conversations. Those who know me, know I am an email and IM person, but when Roy responded just saying “it’s too hard to deal with the computer, just call me”, I knew things had gotten bad and, of course, switched to the phone.

When he invited me to join him at the Bach plant in late 2017 to look over all of the new investments Paulson was making with Tedd as our host, he was already struggling and the sense of urgency, as if it might be his last time at the plant he loved, told me what he would shortly after, that the situation was indeed not good.

Roy was an immense help to me with my research, website and book - and really to all of us. He was our conduit into Conn-Selmer and the now faceless Bach corporation that with Tedd’s retirement and Roy’s illness and now passing, will simply be less open to the community it depends upon. The debt Conn-Selmer owes to Roy for being their connection to the Bach community all these years is something that no company can possibly hope to repay.

I encourage everyone to read, make notes on, and maybe even save your own cached copy of all of the papers at vincentbachsworld.com. These papers are the history of Bach. If you want to understand Bach, these are the foundation on which to build. Roy’s engineering precision allowed him to develop an understanding of the technical differences that only Vince himself would have been able to match.

So long as Conn-Selmer continues to respond to requests for shop cards, Bach owners will keep benefiting from Roy’s dedication to the art and to Bach. Every shop card you have seen with a black background, that is thanks to Roy. It was Roy who spent the countless hours to scan 30,000 shop cards for Conn-Selmer. With his passing, I don’t know if I will ever buy another vintage Bach – I always went to Roy to find out how it was built before I bid. . . (he had his own copy of the data)

Roy was an engineer – but he was a musician behind that veneer. When the two came together, we all got a music historian with the technical mindset and discipline to both not accept anything as fact without data, and the experience and resources to then go get the data. Roy taught me the three key things every Bach aficionado, and every instrumental historian for that matter, needs to always remember:
1) Bach was a tinkerer and a perfect blend of engineer and blacksmith. He always was looking to see what would happen if . . . . And there are a lot of horns out there manifesting that curiosity.
2) Great playing horns are rarely preserved in original condition. Vintage Bachs more often than not have been significantly altered from the original. You cannot draw any firm line in serials or time for any Bach feature, as both Bach, and owners, constantly tinkered.
3) Should you not fully accept #2, Roy’s great quote I use on my website: “Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, a horn comes along to prove you wrong”.

I was working on trying to better quantify the significant break-points in Bach’s design with Roy’s help. It is far more difficult than you can imagine as there simply are not break points. Roy was cautious for that reason, but generously provided me with tremendous support even while fighting his illness. At a minimum I will have to follow through on my commitment to rewrite the Bach page on Wikipedia to more accurately reflect that approach rather than factory locations defining periods. (just have to get to it). There simply is no-one else who truly understands the mind of Vincent Bach the way Roy did, and for those of us in the field of instrumental history, his loss is immeasurable. Now we will have to figure it out for ourselves. Roy’s dedication of his experience, skills, considerable funds, and most of all so much time, is something I don’t think we will see matched again soon – and so far beyond what even any maker was ever willing to commit to support its loyal customers.

Roy’s only reward for dedicating his post-employment life to the legacy of Vincent Bach, and let’s make no mistake, he gave the majority of his retirement hours right up to his final days to that endeavor, was not in any recognition (sorely lacking) from Conn-Selmer, nor in any form of profit (he spent a fortune), nor even in more than passing recognition by fellow enthusiasts. Roy found his reward for his actions in his personal interactions with, often very young, new trumpet players, often with their first hand-me-down Bach, who found joy in better understanding their instrument, or in his help in discovering one that fit them even better. Roy manifested the exact opposite of the selfishness endemic in the American society he has just left.

Roy was a mentor, a colleague and a friend. I will miss him greatly.
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Ron Berndt
www.trumpet-history.com

2017 Austin Winds Stage 466
1962 Mt. Vernon Bach 43
1954 Holton 49 Stratodyne
1927 Conn 22B
1957 Holton 27 cornet
1985 Yamaha YEP-621
1975 Yamaha YEP-321 Custom
1965 Besson Baritone
1975 Olds Recording R-20

[rcox6918]

Roy was a courteous gentleman and a true avid researcher of Bach. He listened to my queries with an open ear and I am very grateful for his help to this very day.

Rest In Peace, Roy.
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Sure, I've got a few horns...

[Turkle]

Great remembrance, OldSchoolEuph. Thank you for sharing.
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Yamaha 8310Z trumpet
Yamaha 8310Z flugel
Curry 3.

[blbaumgarn]

I agree with other contributors. Men such as Roy had an important vision that often wasn't shared by many others. The history of Bach trumpets is now long and pretty glorious. I don't play Bach but the history interests me because it is about trumpet. Because men like Roy felt that history and information was important those who now play Bach or need to find data can do it more easily. Sounds like he did what he did out of love for it, too!
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"There are two sides to a trumpeter's personality,
there is one that lives to lay waste to woodwinds and strings, leaving them lie blue and lifeless along a swath of destruction that is a
trumpeter's fury-then there is the dark side!" Irving Bush

[bunny]

Mr. Hempley's research into the evolution of the Bach C trumpet is essential to the history of modern American orchestras. As a brass collector I of course found all his work fascinating to say the least but it's significance is profound. All knowledge that might have been lost but for his determination and vision.

[rockford]

The C trumpet articles are great in that they really outline how the C trumpet became the preferred orchestral trumpet of modern times. It goes far deeper than just construction. Essentially it’s Mager-Herseth-everyone else. Anyway, it’s great to see the appreciation here. If Roy wanted something from his work it was just a little thanks once and while. Glad to see it here.
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Bill Siegfried
NY/Mt. Vernon Bach trumpets. Yamaha flugelhorn and piccolo A/Bb, Monette and Hammond mouthpieces. Fender and Peavey Cirrus Bass Guitars. Ampeg and Genz-Benz amps. Embraer 170/175/190.

[rockford]

More details. https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=roy-bernard-hempley&pid=196587293
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Bill Siegfried
NY/Mt. Vernon Bach trumpets. Yamaha flugelhorn and piccolo A/Bb, Monette and Hammond mouthpieces. Fender and Peavey Cirrus Bass Guitars. Ampeg and Genz-Benz amps. Embraer 170/175/190.

[cgaiii]

Sad to see someone that has preserved so much history gone.
My only connection with Bach products is mouthpieces, but I think this history is very important.
I see that that the site is under copyright, so sharing may not be possible at this time. In due time (not now certainly), someone may want to contact the family and ask permission to share the material if interested. Meanwhile, I have downloaded an offline version (242 MB), so it is preserved in case the online version disappears. The offline version appears to function well in Chrome, but not in Firefox.
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Bb: Schilke X3L AS SP, Yamaha YTR-6335S
C: Schilke CXL, Kanstul 1510-2
Picc: Kanstul 920
Bb Bugle: Kanstul
Bb Pocket: Manchester Brass
Flugel: Taylor Standard
Bass Trumpet: BAC Custom
Natural Tr: Custom Haas replica by Nikolai Mänttäri Morales

[dr_trumpet]

I am so sorry to read this. I have found a couple of Bach items along the way that I have sent to Roy because I knew he would appreciate them. Such a kind man and a tremendous loss. Rest in peace, Mr. Hempley.
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Dr. Albert L. Lilly, III DM
Artist/Clinician for Vincent Bach Trumpets (Conn-Selmer)
Principal Trumpet, Hendricks Symphony (Avon, IN)
Arranger/Composer; Lilly Music

[LaTrompeta]

I don't mean to add an disrespect, but you will still be able to access his content even after the sites goes down with archive.org.
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Please join me as well at:
https://trumpetboards.com

[cgaiii]

[Irving]

How can gou download the articles?

[cgaiii]

I use website download software.
Here is a free one:
https://www.httrack.com/
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Bb: Schilke X3L AS SP, Yamaha YTR-6335S
C: Schilke CXL, Kanstul 1510-2
Picc: Kanstul 920
Bb Bugle: Kanstul
Bb Pocket: Manchester Brass
Flugel: Taylor Standard
Bass Trumpet: BAC Custom
Natural Tr: Custom Haas replica by Nikolai Mänttäri Morales

[tptmed]

Sad news. I conversed with Roy occasionally over the years. He was very kind and a wealth of knowledge. I visited his home in Virginia years ago and he let me play anything and everything. A true gentleman. RIP Roy.