Coming back after a 24-year layoff

[BreakFromTheHerd]

I've been playing almost every day for 6 1/2 weeks. The first few weeks, it was ugly. But, this week, things have really improved. My tone, my endurance, my lip flexibilities, and, to some extent, my range, have all taken a leap.

I'm mostly playing Art Farmer and Chet Baker stuff, and lots of scales and flexibility slurs to build range. Some long tones, too. It's lots of fun.

[trickg]

Just keep after it and remember that Rome wasn't built in a day - it took years, brick by brick.

One of the things I always cautioned comeback players with is to be patient. Even with a disciplined work ethic and steady practice, there's no shortcut to the refinement that can only take place over time no matter what you do.

I'm glad it's going well though - welcome back to the dark side!
_________________
Patrick Gleason
- Jupiter 1600i, ACB 3C, Warburton 4SVW/Titmus RT2
- Brasspire Unicorn C
- ACB Doubler

"95% of the average 'weekend warrior's' problems will be solved by an additional 30 minutes of insightful practice." - PLP

[Dayton]

Welcome back to trumpet playing! Take some lessons if you can. That will help you get off to a good start. Have fun!

[cgaiii]

Agree with the above. Most of all have fun.
_________________
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

[JensenW]

From one comeback player to another, welcome to the forum.
_________________
Wade
Yamaha YTR 737

The goal is to be a better trumpeter today than I was yesterday.

[GeorgeB]

I was a comeback player 6 years ago and brother I've come a long way. Take Patrick's advice. He is right on.

But most important of all is to just have fun.

George
_________________
GeorgeB
1960s King Super 20 Silversonic
2016 Manchester Brass Custom
1938-39 Olds Recording
1942 Buescher 400 Bb trumpet
1952 Selmer Paris 21 B
1999 Conn Vintage One B flat trumpet
2020 Getzen 490 Bb
1962 Conn Victor 5A cornet

[trickg]

Yep - I agree with the other guys - HAVE FUN! The whole reason I'm still active as a musician and never really stopped is because it's fun. Otherwise, why do it at all, right?
_________________
Patrick Gleason
- Jupiter 1600i, ACB 3C, Warburton 4SVW/Titmus RT2
- Brasspire Unicorn C
- ACB Doubler

"95% of the average 'weekend warrior's' problems will be solved by an additional 30 minutes of insightful practice." - PLP

[JWG]

Congrats and Welcome to TH!

I also took a quarter century off playing.

Coming back, here are my $0.02 of advice:

1. Regarding equipment: If you have some money to invest in a new horn or in refurbishing your an old horn that you really like, do it. For myself, I never knew how much I would like large and extra large bore horns until I tried them. I never smoked; so, my lungs remained relatively healthy and could handle the extra effort of a low resistance horn and large-throat mouthpieces. On mouthpieces, I would settle on a rim size that fits your lip size and never change rim sizes after that. One can easily adapt to change in cup, throat, and backbore to get particular sound characteristics (bright, dark, etc.), but jumping rim sizes can really mess your embouchure up.

2. Regarding stamina: I use a Warburton P.E.T.E. to help with my stamina. Getting one's skills back proves far easier than getting one's stamina back. If you have not retired and have a busy life away from the trumpet, using a P.E.T.E. for 30 minutes during the day, 8 or 12 hours before your practice time, can bring stamina benefits. The other trick I use to build stamina is practicing with my largest throat mouthpiece which, like the P.E.T.E., forces me to use more muscle power to contain the size of the aperture.

Anyway, happy practicing! I hope you join a local band that plays your preferred genre of music soon to make your comeback complete.
_________________
Flip Oakes Wild Thing Bb and C with 1.5 TCC, XT, C, C-O, O, & L mouthpieces
Bach 183S (undersprung valves & straight taper pipe) with 1.5 Flip Oakes XF

[gwood66]

Good luck with your comeback! Expect it to be a rollercoaster ride for a while.
_________________
Gary Wood (comeback player with no street cred)

GR 66M/66MS/66**
Bach Strad 37
Getzen 3052
Yamaha 6345

[BreakFromTheHerd]

Many thanks for the encouragement, everyone! I just purchased a flugelhorn also.

Nasty intonation on the flugelhorn. I have to use alternate fingerings to play it in tune.

[JWG]

Regarding nasty intonation on flugelhorns:

1. Do you have a mouthpiece with the proper taper? There exist three possible tapers for flugelhorn mouth pipes: Small Morse (Bach), Large Morse (Yamaha), and Straight (AKA "French" used on Couseson and others in the french tradition). Using the wrong taper of mouthpiece shank can make intonation more difficult.

2. What style of bell do you have on your flugelhorn? A large bell can make intonation difficult also. If I recall correctly, Benge's largest bell— the 6?, while very dark, played terribly out of tune. Even when ordering the flugelhorns back in the day, most people would recommend that you get the 3 bell as the most in-tune. If your flugelhorn has a similarly large bell, make sure you practice with at tuner to get a good sense of how much up or down correction you need on each fingering in each partial so that you can subconsciously adapt better when playing in an ensemble.
_________________
Flip Oakes Wild Thing Bb and C with 1.5 TCC, XT, C, C-O, O, & L mouthpieces
Bach 183S (undersprung valves & straight taper pipe) with 1.5 Flip Oakes XF

[trickg]

[BreakFromTheHerd]

I am using the right mouthpiece taper, but I still have to use 1-3 for the D on the 4th line and --3 for the E on the 1st line. That E is hideous when played 12-

It has a 6-inch bell.

[trickg]

What's the flugel? Some are better than others. Although they are better now, when I was shopping for a flugel around the 2003ish timeframe, the Jupiter 846 that I tried was pretty bad - it was bad enough that I never even put it in the running amongst the things I tried.

Something to consider - I adjust my 1st valve slide on mine a bit by pulling it out a 1/4" or so. That seems to be pretty common with the flugels I've had, and that might help to bring the D down on yours. Is it safe to say that both of those notes are sharp?
_________________
Patrick Gleason
- Jupiter 1600i, ACB 3C, Warburton 4SVW/Titmus RT2
- Brasspire Unicorn C
- ACB Doubler

"95% of the average 'weekend warrior's' problems will be solved by an additional 30 minutes of insightful practice." - PLP

[BreakFromTheHerd]

[cheiden]

For what it's worth, playing flugel takes a very different approach than playing the Bb. I frankly wouldn't mess with any flugel until you get more established on the Bb. Doing it sooner is bound to be frustrating and could hinder your development.
_________________
"I'm an engineer, which means I think I know a whole bunch of stuff I really don't."
Charles J Heiden/So Cal
Bach Strad 180ML43*/43 Bb/Yamaha 731 Flugel/Benge 1X C/Kanstul 920 Picc/Conn 80A Cornet
Bach 3C rim on 1.5C underpart

[BreakFromTheHerd]

[cheiden]

Once you get established on the Bb I hazard that it won't be a difficult transition to the flugel. In some ways I think the flugel is more forgiving than the Bb. But you do have to approach it differently or it will fight back and give you all sorts of frustrating intonation problems.
_________________
"I'm an engineer, which means I think I know a whole bunch of stuff I really don't."
Charles J Heiden/So Cal
Bach Strad 180ML43*/43 Bb/Yamaha 731 Flugel/Benge 1X C/Kanstul 920 Picc/Conn 80A Cornet
Bach 3C rim on 1.5C underpart

[BreakFromTheHerd]

[cheiden]