greetings!

[umum_cypher]

Hi there

Greetings from London (where I’m from), and, I guess, greetings also from Switzerland (where I spend a lot of my time these days). Been lurking here for over a year, and enjoying it greatly.

Yet another comeback player I’m afraid: very, very serious as a teenager (jazz / improvisation), but I fell out of love with it in my early-mid 20s.

I have always worked in music, so I haven’t ever stopped thinking about what we do – actually, once every few months I used to dream I was playing in public, and unlike those dreams where you suddenly have to take an exam in advanced algebra or something, it always went really well!

I didn’t pick it up again until last year, after a gap of around a decade and a half. When my wife and I kind-of-moved to Switzerland for work 18 months ago, I really needed to find something for myself. So I got the trumpet down from the attic. First practice session I thought: why did I ever stop this, it’s great!

I’ve been ardent since that point. It’s going well. There’s plenty I haven’t got back yet – ears and fingers mostly – but things like range seem to better than they ever were.

I stopped playing just at the point that people’s internet use exploded. If I had had access to all the knowledge contained in this forum, on YouTube etc in those days, I would have been a different player. I had a couple of great teachers, and played with a lot of great players, but given the unfortunately low level of understanding that is pervasive in brass playing – ‘just give it more air’ – there were things I never quite cracked that I am much closer to now, thanks to what I’ve found here and elsewhere.

Still largely playing on my Kanstul Meha and a Shilke 14. It’s a combination I absolutely love. A few months after restarting I thought I needed a bit more help than the Meha could give, i.e. something that is actually in tune. So I bought a second hand Xeno, very smart, very nice thick sound, much better slotting up top. And yet … it still doesn’t quite speak back to me in particularly loving terms. And now I can play in tune again, the Meha’s idiosyncrasies are not really a worry, and the sound it gives just seems so much more intimate, honest, characterful. Difficult to explain.

There we go, that’s me. Happy hooting!

UC

[pianowillbebach]

Cheers to the internet teaching us new things!

[Brad361]

Welcome back!

One thought regarding the internet in general: I agree that the information available can be very useful, but I also think we need to use a “filter”, ie, pretty much anyone can post anything, and there are self appointed “experts” on line who in reality....aren’t. There was an infamous poster here on TH (his screen name was a famous William Shatner tv series character) who talked a LOT without much real knowledge to back it up. Sort of like what my father told me many years ago, don’t believe everything you read.

Again, welcome back!

Brad
_________________
When asked if he always sounds great:
"I always try, but not always, because the horn is merciless, unpredictable and traitorous." - Arturo Sandoval

[Comeback]

Welcome to TH! Interesting comeback story, too.