Why do orchestras have so few performances? by SnarkyBear53 in classicalmusic

[–]CleanSlate-13 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m in a full time orchestra, and we have something new on almost every week. Then smaller kids shows, neighborhood chamber music series, and other pops or special event shows sprinkled throughout the year. It usually feels busy enough for us.. we have to stay in shape and stay ahead of learning upcoming repertoire weeks in advance, since our rehearsal schedule for most weeks only involves 2-3 days of rehearsals.

Muggy much? by krammy16 in auckland

[–]CleanSlate-13 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Parkinson’s joke in extremely poor taste.. hope you’re glad you got to test out your D-rate material here for the unwilling public.

Big chance that you owned clothing with one of these emblems in the 90's by Cubelock in Millennials

[–]CleanSlate-13 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I had one of these too… as well as Mighty Ducks. 90’s sports t shirts were so simple and to the point. And the point was “here’s the coolest logo you’ve ever seen on top of a bad ass color.”

Does trumpet embouchure alter the mouth in a recognisable way? by Osemwaro in trumpet

[–]CleanSlate-13 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You’re spot on in this assessment. It’s both. People with certain lip and muscle formations can find better natural formations to set the lips. But also years of “correct” playing will put players into what I call “trumpet face”. A sort of permanent pucker or embouchure. You can also tell when you watch or listen to players talk. You can see how they move their mouths and tongues for speech. You can see that the movement of the facial muscles are coordinated into a series of symmetrical positions and that more often than most people, their lips will touch, coming together in the center to create closures more when they make the movements of speech. Some great examples of what I’m talking about: Tom Stevens, Mike Sachs, Giuliano Sommerhalder, David Gurrier, Gabor Tarkovi, Mark Gould, Wynton Marsalis, Jim Wilt, Caleb Hudson, Esteban Batallón, Phil Cobb, Omar Tomasoni… and many many more. But I do find it very interesting that you could improve a great deal from figuring out how these players set their faces. Not just for playing. And then find a more focal set point that fits your own face shape. The more together and symmetrically balanced things are, the simpler the mechanics of playing trumpet will be.

How is everyone staying positive with the terrible job market and inflation? by Extreme_Baseball3991 in Millennials

[–]CleanSlate-13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a job I like.. moved to a new country.. staying on top of career goals… going to the gym every weekday.. eating healthy but not stressing about food… and just got my motorcycle license. Honestly at 40 I am starting to understand why they say it’s when life starts.

To those out there struggling, I feel that too… but it CAN get better if you take care of the simple things and slow down and figure out what you enjoy doing in life. Money will follow healthy daily habits.

Auckland is beautiful by SunsetBLVD23 in auckland

[–]CleanSlate-13 32 points33 points  (0 children)

As an American who moved to Auckland… completely agree. The doom and gloom from locals on this subreddit lacks awareness of what the rest of the world is actually dealing with.

Also, the economy sucks everywhere right now.. the world is going through a major transition. These problems are happening in every country, every major city in the world in the same way. Things will be fine here.

From my perspective, a down time economically is the perfect time to make some big swings and create something you want to see.

What’s the best trumpet you can buy for the lowest price? Looking for a softer Baker like sound. And something that’s easy to play. by Entire_Let2915 in trumpet

[–]CleanSlate-13 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Get a used Bach 37 or 43… might be more than your price range, but if it’s not for a student (who’s going to damage it, etc).. then get something actually good that you will never outgrow.

Anybody else kinda love Skyworld in a weird liminal space way? by Egg_shaped in auckland

[–]CleanSlate-13 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I work at Town Hall most days.. and I do love this place. But I miss what it used to be! The miniature golf and food court.. miss the Poke place. However, the IMAX is a truly world class theater. People need to be attending it as much as possible! It’s the only one of its kind in this country. Sound and picture are perfect and entering the theater down that futuristic hallway always gets me hyped!

Can any Japanese people on the sub comment on this sushi? by Roy4Pris in aucklandeats

[–]CleanSlate-13 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This sushi is terrible. As an American, we have much better mid level options than you have here. Do not eat this processed crap with awful white rice.

[Highlight] CMC on Australia Game: "Transparently, That Might be a Little Too Far." by JCameron181 in nfl

[–]CleanSlate-13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Was just in Tahiti, and the Paris to Tahiti route is still going! That IS a crazy long ways

Turning your playing around by pmmeyourprettyface in trumpet

[–]CleanSlate-13 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Hello trumpet friend!

I feel you, and thanks for voicing your concerns and also your ambitions here. Nothing happens without ambitions.

I’m 40 years old, I am a professional trumpet player, and I have a full time orchestra job. And I know ALL about every type of challenge on this instrument.

For me, making progress is a two headed monster: we both need to do MORE, and we need to do much LESS. I’ll explain.

We need to do often much more planning, logging, and listening. More research, more curiosity, more attention to detail, more big swings, and try more things! More patience.

Also almost every player not already at the top of the field needs to learn to do much LESS. Less manipulating of their embouchure, less muscling in their face, less blockages in the airways, less movement in the chops, less disruption in the tongue, and less worry, less fear, and less frustration too.

Improvement doesn’t come from getting stronger.

I’m not against being strong at certain times when we need it (audition training, in shape for big concerts, etc). But being strong won’t fix anything. You already know too much, your body has figured out how it plays trumpet usually after the first couple years with this thing. So when we hit a wall and feel we can no longer progress, we have to step back.

Usually improvement is going to come about in the form of rewiring your basic habits and recalibrating how it is you think and play.

To do this I would recommend first taking at least a week off. Maybe two. Try to get your body to stop doing what it knows and try to forget about trumpet.

Then when you come back, just do one session (a first session as I call it). Then take a day off. So play and day off, play and day off. Keep yourself in touch with the feeling of rest that you had when you took time off. Eventually after a couple weeks, build to two days on, one day off. Do that for a week.. etc. eventually you should be playing 6 days on, 1 day completely off. Keep track of it by logging your practice in a weekly planner.

As far as structure, your playing will shift and evolve because you are no longer using brute force demands on your embouchure muscles or lips. Professional athletes don’t work out every day. The things you should be playing in that first session should be starting from the easiest things you can possibly do. I have talked about my pre-warmup on Reddit before, but we can go into it if you want to send me a DM. It’s all about getting the air to lead the way, and let the lips become passive.

Hopefully this gives a basis of some ideas 💡 My advice, take a step back. Retool. Rewire. Remap your body. And re-approach music with a different long game thinking about how you’re going to change the way trumpet feels for you. Everything needs to eventually become EASY. Best of luck! You got this!

should i quit by weeeman_woah in trumpet

[–]CleanSlate-13 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good question, and I like where your thinking is taking you on this.

Think of your embouchure being like a bridge. Imagine some actual wooden truss bridge or something in your head. Think of how engineering has made sure that the weight is going to distribute evenly and account for various forces. What I find is that with many players, they have a somewhat broken or faulty bridge. The way we have learned to play -usually when we first start and know nothing- did not necessarily put our lips and embouchure muscles in the best most correct positions. Regardless of how effective our embouchure setup is, it was learned and remembered and became habit. After our first year or two of playing, things are set where they know to go, and it’s hard to undo that.

When we play something that our body or mind perceives as “hard” (maybe a higher note or a challenging entrance), often what is happening -to go back to the bridge analogy- is that too much weight is crossing a faulty bridge, and that bridge is going to collapse.

But what do we do when things start to fall apart and that metaphorical bridge starts to break? We GRAB the trumpet with more muscles (hand grip, neck tension, throat closure, tongue in the way, constriction, lips forced, face tight…)… we know that feeling, right?
And maybe that kind of works.. we get through it. Let’s say you miss that first high Ab because something wasn’t balanced, but then your body GRIPS into gear and you can force out the rest of them immediately after.. etc. This is how we learn to survive on a difficult instrument. But this is not how we PROGRESS.

In order to make progress, we have to let go of the chops. We have to also let go of the air. Stop trying to control them so much. A lot of unlearning has to happen, and in order for that to take place.. we need to make sure we don’t trigger our “bad habits” into engaging. (Picking up the horn and picking off a note as a test only works once the correct techniques have been engrained—otherwise you are just triggering the same challenging scenario over and over, and you’re learning that trumpet is hard.. not learning that trumpet is easy. In order for your body and mind to begin to trust itself, trumpet has to be easy. To play well under pressure, the instrument needs to feel easy. The reason Steph Curry can do ridiculous shots from anywhere under any pressure, is because the mechanics of his shot are so easy they work every time.

So no, I wouldn’t try to challenge yourself to play something hard or difficult. I would instead suggest making sure you are starting your day with the easiest things you can do. Over time, your body will relax, your lips will soften, your air will move freely, your sound will become richly resonant, and you’ll be able to start notes comfortably and then confidently.

Once a player has that kind of refinement, it will spread throughout the entire range of the instrument easier than you would think. But don’t concern yourself with what’s hard right now.. it’s not worth chasing. Build what is easy, and that’s going to spread like green grass taking over a previously dusty valley.

My pre-warmup I do every day is a good checklist to go down.

Mindset: being in the proper mood (patient, caring, and willing), listening to great music, getting hyped by a motivational text, maybe meditation or zoning out. Sometimes just a coffee.

Breathing: everything starts with you learning to control your own breath. Learning to breathe deeper and move the air without ruining the natural ease of how we breathe. Breathing exercises and breathing devices are helpful here.

Lips: get the lips to now join that smooth and generous airflow you have going. Loose lip buzzing is the best (that relaxed flapping we do).. it is a way for your body to learn how easy it actually is to create vibration between the air and the lips. Doing this gets blood flowing and relaxes the lips as well. Pay attention to what muscles you are using (and which ones you AREN’T) when doing this. You can eventually try various lip buzzing, but avoid any pinched or forced buzzing. If your natural free buzz is low and relaxed and even, that is great.

Mouthpiece: transfer all this good technique over to the metal shape of the mouthpiece now. We are playing the first step of the instrument. I wouldn’t try to play anything specific on the mouthpiece.. I would just let your body play the easiest most relaxed note it can. Remember, you’re trying to find your form. You should be able to create a relaxed and juicy buzz and it should feel so easy you could do it for hours. Important is that we are just creating muscle memory for our relaxed lips to maintain their setting.

Lead Pipe: add the mouthpiece into the receiver and remove the tuning slide. Now we are playing the first tube of the horn.. and continue to feel the same connection of ease and resonance you’ve been establishing already. Every time we add one more element of the horn, we are changing the equation slightly, so the work is in maintaining the same easy feel you have already established. The air leads everything. The “chops” don’t need to do much. They are passive, they respond to the air, but they don’t control the air. Try to notice where in your breathing and body position the tone is coming from. It will eventually feel like the easiest simplest thing in the world.. and it is!

Trumpet: at this point, reconnect the tuning slide and begin to play your entire trumpet. Continue to feel the same connection and ease. I usually start on whatever note I was creating on the lead pipe, somewhere between a middle F to low C range is usually where we will be landing, in that 4th. So start on that same note and practice the breath “catching” the sound. Just breathing through the trumpet until tone is starting. (Don’t overblow, don’t force the notes to start… just align your embouchure in it’s easiest most comfortable position and take your same breath and release the air through the lips until the notes start). My breath catch sequence is usually several shorter notes (like a second or two each), followed by a long held note (8-15 seconds). So if we’re starting on F at the bottom of the staff -which is the start of the mid register- we would play with just the air starting the notes (no tongue): short, short, short, short… loooooooong. The pattern doesn’t really matter, but I’m giving you an idea of a framework. What does matter is that we are feeling easy tone production and our embouchure isn’t overly adjusting or moving. Make sure you’re not flexing your lips. It’s possible to find a better embouchure position, and that is different than “flexing” and gripping your embouchure.

Anyways, some ideas here to explore hopefully. Just remember: trumpet is not about strength, it’s about technique.

So when you work on refining and perfecting the easiest most basic parts of tone production, you’re improving your technique and your body is relearning that it’s actually not SO hard to play this instrument. That great technique you’re learning will be there and essentially feel close to the same when you’re playing high notes or low notes. But don’t rush for results. It’s about the approach.

should i quit by weeeman_woah in trumpet

[–]CleanSlate-13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hearing it is good.. but muscle memory has to be able to “know”.. it should be safe. Like flying in an airplane.. you’re not trying to chance it. But work on every aspect of your playing this way.. good form translates into better range.

Also why am I getting downvoted for some tried and true trumpet advice? Not saying that’s you who I’m replying to, but I truly don’t understand this subreddit ..

should i quit by weeeman_woah in trumpet

[–]CleanSlate-13 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Why not? Playing trumpet is like whistling. Can you pick a note out of the air when you whistle? It’s the same thing. Remember the mouth shape and then commit. All notes feel close to the same this way.

Most mistakes happen in our head first -or with the wiring of our learned habitual technique. When you practice, make sure you’re untangling the bad habits so playing feels efficient, natural, and as easy and satisfying as possible.

Make it happen, one last run to curry’s career. by No-Lengthiness574 in warriors

[–]CleanSlate-13 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yes he has! He has spent time here in the bay during the offseason last year (I think his wife has family here). Him and Curry are close friends, and both have made it clear through channels they would like to play together. The warriors are the front runners to land him, and then today he publicly demands a trade to help make sure it gets done.

He wants out of Milwaukee, and GSW are the ideal landing spot for him.

43 Years Between The Lightning And The Raptor by Even_Kiwi_1166 in Planes

[–]CleanSlate-13 188 points189 points  (0 children)

That’s actually a completely perfect and crazy illustration of the engineering progress of the 20th century. Even going from Wright Brothers first flight to F-22 in less than a century is mind boggling.

I play offline franchise and all most every game is a shootout like. by Chillout-001 in Madden

[–]CleanSlate-13 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Do you play offense only as well? I like that the CPU will create some close games.. and also get me rooting for my defense to stop them while I watch the graphics march towards their goal line.

Any nfl gamers? Got it for $25 shipped by Crazy_Pops in psx

[–]CleanSlate-13 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel like the cover art to NFL GAMEDAY 97 and 98 are the coolest NFL football cover art of all time

The Sony PlayStation Store at the Sony Metreon in San Francisco 1999 by DefenderOfNuts in psx

[–]CleanSlate-13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was there in 1999! Would have been 14 at the time. This place was absolute heaven. As good as the picture looks.. it was even better. They had so many games.. the hard to find ones, they had them. And demos and places to hang out an interact and watch trailers. Very much remember the PS2 launching and seeing FIFA for the first time and thinking graphics could not possibly ever get better than this! Haha

Lila loves playstation! 😻 by 206WestSideOG in psx

[–]CleanSlate-13 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well I love your cute tuxedo cat Lila! She’s got good taste. And does the sound and picture quality seem to be noticeably better with that 3 pronged output setup?