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Need for new equipment



 
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amuk
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Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 148

PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 8:04 am    Post subject: Need for new equipment Reply with quote

I live right next to the eighth tee at a golf course. A lot of golfers tee off within listening distance of my deck. There are two tee off points--one for experts and one for the less powerful. I sit and listen often and watch the many erratic shots.
It's amazing how similar the conversations are with golfers vs trumpet players.
THe standard conversation entails how the person needs a new golf club to help him play better or how the new club is fabulous---and then I see the golf ball fly off into the rough.
This is not meant as a put-down because I sometimes blame my trumpet or mouthpiece too, but I'm glad to have the humorous opportunity to hear, see, and compare the equipment blues and bravado that we humans all seem to share.
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cbtj51
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Joined: 24 Nov 2015
Posts: 722
Location: SE US

PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 9:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

amuk, you have struck a chord with me.

After taking a leave from trumpet altogether for 14 years, I fell into the "new equipment might help me fix my problems" trap when I came back in late 2014. I guess I should have known better, but honestly, getting new "stuff" after much intense research does, at least for me, offer a certain thrill, albeit temporary. Much new trumpet equipment and many horns have helped me to capitalize on at least one aspect of the experience.

Getting new trumpet related accessories has, for the most part worked out well. Some better than others; cases (some good and some disappointing), books (never a bad one and never enough), horns (all good to great after a couple getting PVA tweaking and blueprinting, getting one in a trade and another one as a gift) and thankfully, no need for mouthpiece safaris (I really am pleased with what I have been playing for 5 decades). Getting a new, or new to me, horn seems to inject a renewed desire to practice more frequently and regularly, if for no other reason than the nuanced experience of each of the horn differences. Truth is, the "honeymoon" does come to an end very much too soon and then I'm back in the "thinking about a faster whirl or cooler thrill" when I get to dreaming a little, though I know that no matter what, I am still me with many of the same limitations that were there before the "new stuff".

For the last few years though, I have made it a regular practice to rotate through my small but great to me collection of horns on a regular basis. This has helped me to recapture much of that initial enthusiasm often on a daily or at least weekly basis. You know, accentuate the positive, minimize the negative as much as you can, keeping the "new" alive over and over.

I am truly blessed to have some very great or near great trumpets at hand everyday to assist in putting that "new stuff" craving to rest at least for me.

Your experience may be a little different, but always hoping for a positive outcome for all,

Mike
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Last edited by cbtj51 on Mon Jun 21, 2021 1:34 pm; edited 1 time in total
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HERMOKIWI
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Joined: 24 Dec 2008
Posts: 2578

PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 9:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There's an expression that goes like this: "Glory has 1,000 fathers but responsibility is an orphan."

When we're playing great we take the position that it's because of us. When things go wrong there's a tendency to blame it on our equipment.

A superstar will sound like a superstar on any decent trumpet in good working condition and the superstar still won't play the horn up to it's ultimate capability.
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Croquethed
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Joined: 19 Dec 2013
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Location: Oakville, CT

PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 10:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wonder if there is a master's thesis in comparing the sort of person who buys a driver with too liitle loft and a person who buys a screaming shallow mouthpiece because that's what the pros play.
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zaferis
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Joined: 03 Nov 2011
Posts: 2310
Location: Beavercreek, OH

PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 10:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

As a golfer and a trumpeter, I absolutely agree with many parallels.

Golf has helped my trumpet playing and for sure all the years of practice on the trumpet relate directly to how to practice golf.
"Mouthpiece" and "Club" are interchangeable in most conversations.


"It's the Indian not the arrow" applies to both
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Jaw04
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Joined: 31 Dec 2015
Posts: 898
Location: California

PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is true that it's "the indian and not the arrow". When I was studying music in college, I didn't buy any mouthpieces or gear unless my teacher told me I needed to. I didn't have money to waste.

But now that I'm an adult and I make decent money, I enjoy spending my money on mouthpieces! It's really fun to try different equipment. And you can always sell them back used online and only have lost a little bit of cash for the opportunity to play them.
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Subtropical and Subpar
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Joined: 22 May 2020
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 1:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Croquethed wrote:
I wonder if there is a master's thesis in comparing the sort of person who buys a driver with too liitle loft and a person who buys a screaming shallow mouthpiece because that's what the pros play.


Given that the United States produced 833,706 master's degrees in 2018-19, there's probably an entire shelf of them.
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omelet
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Joined: 08 Nov 2007
Posts: 245

PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 6:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

While I am far from what could be considered spendthrift, I think it is fun to try different mouthpieces. It is relatively cheap way to have a dramatic effect on playing trumpet.

What I think is unfair is this kind of judgment by doing so. If I were to have a different mouthpiece from time to time, do you think it's okay for you to look at it and immediately think I am buying into some hype or doing that instead of practicing?

Just the fact that there are so many mouthpieces in Bach blank speaks less to the absolute pinnacle of design that the blank is, but rather to how prevalent and toxic that kind of judgement is.

There are so many other ways to waste your money other than trumpet gear. People tend to spend in the areas of their interests. Consumerist culture pervades our society.
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