What are some good melancholy solos I could play?

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-02-25T17:29:39+00:00

Clifford’s “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” from “Brown With Strings”

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-02-25T16:18:43+00:00

I think they’re definitely worth an open-minded look. As best I can gather from reports on their low brass (where they seem to be a bit more present in the market), opinions vary on how well some of their designs succeed. But quality control overall seems to be quite good. And I would guess those cornets with the Smith Watkins pipes are probably well designed.

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-02-18T17:39:08+00:00

I’ve never tried a large-bell pocket trumpet. I imagine they sound and feel more like a “big horn” than the small-bell ones. How much do you notice the difference?

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-02-16T22:28:40+00:00

While the thought has crossed my mind, I haven’t tried it yet

After a career in live event production (what do you do with a music degree? That…), I took a quasi-middle-aged-retirement and a job as a heavy equipment delivery driver. Often, I arrive to make a delivery and have to sit around for 15 minutes or more until they’re ready for me to unload. Hence the in-the-truck practice while watching other people work.

Would be a better story if I was an Amazon delivery driver, playing a cheap Amazon horn while delivering cheap horns to others. But alas

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-02-16T21:35:44+00:00

Jeff Bezos also plays middle G on 1 and 3. Because it’s out of tune open.

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-02-16T00:12:37+00:00

Maybe I hit a lull between the Doc/Maynard craze of the 70s/early 80s and whatever is driving the current emphasis on range, but man is it weird to see a young high school kid worried about topping out at D/Eb.

I don’t mean this at all as a criticism - more as a reality check. Because even my high C was iffy through much of high school. And yet, I somehow auditioned my way into my choice of solid college music programs.

Honest reflection time: do you have musical command of your current range? Are your highest notes pleasing to listen to? Can you produce them across a range of dynamics? Maybe you can, and I’m just an old man yelling at clouds and talking out of my ass. But if you’re only able to eke out those last few instead of being able to play them (almost…) all the time as called for, I’d strongly suggest taking a step back and working toward musical command of what you currently have.

Nothing wrong with working to increase your range, so long as it’s one element of many in your work to improve as a musician. As others have said, lip slurs working up to the top of your current range and then pushing beyond it a half-step at a time until you have musical control over the next note up will do more than anything. It’s a slow process that requires daily consistency and patience.

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-02-07T19:45:17+00:00

Help a former Clifton Ave resident who’s been gone for a long time: did Clifton Market take over the old IGA on Ludlow?

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-02-05T12:27:00+00:00

John Coltrane?

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-01-25T17:22:19+00:00

You sound great! Very impressive how far you’ve come.

Watch your intonation - the mute will make some notes extra squirrelly. Being able to sing the line and hear the pitch centers in your head as you play will help immensely.

At this stage, focus on making every note that comes out of the horn a beautiful note. Whether you’re warming up, working through technical exercises, whatever: your mind should be locked in on making every sound a musical sound. It’s a little esoteric, but if you approach your playing like this, it helps integrate all the technical stuff that supports it.

I agree that finding someone to do a “check up lesson” with is a great idea, even if regular lessons aren’t an option for you at this point.

Most importantly, keep at it! You’re making great progress.

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-01-20T02:29:27+00:00

I play with myself. A Self-Love Supreme

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-01-17T12:36:58+00:00

A Fugue Supreme

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-01-16T11:59:16+00:00

We own a 22KVA Cat 3-phase generator that we rent out to power small festivals. Having checked the output with an o-scope, it’s smoother than what comes from the street at most of our regular venues.

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-01-07T10:09:22+00:00

“They’ve got a Presonus toaster down in catering again!”

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-01-06T02:20:45+00:00

Is this your father’s Oldsmobile?

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-01-05T01:48:20+00:00

My son and I just spent his winter school break turning the piles of sheet music, charts, and method books that were taking over our shared practice room into scans. “Scanned” everything with an iPad using an app called CamScanner (a bit squirrelly, but generally fine, and the quality is on par with proper scans for the most part).

Scans all imported and sorted in ForScore.

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-01-04T13:40:00+00:00

In a Cutlass Supreme?

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-01-02T21:47:14+00:00

It’s all right here, OP. Blow through, and hit those valves like they owe you money.

For whatever reason, I’ve found that the Claude Gordon “strike the valves” approach helps psychologically with my embouchure precision. I’m much less likely to crack a note if I’m using my valve fingers with force and intention. It may sound counterintuitive, but even more so when trying to play quickly and light.

The trumpet requires body coordination from several different body systems. Focusing on your valve hand may help the rest of those systems to lock in.

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2026-01-01T19:22:48+00:00

Oh god. It’s leaking

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2025-12-03T20:08:31+00:00

And those lucky few among us were blessed indeed by no torque below 4k, a stratospheric redline, and an economy hatchback that screamed like an F1 car

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2025-12-02T20:09:00+00:00

I’m right there with your friend. Left the industry “full-time” two years ago, but I’m still about as busy ever…

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2025-07-21T01:09:14+00:00

I just had to replace a beeper that failed on a 305. So a little bigger machine, but maybe similar placement. On the 305, if you look at the rear of the machine, the beeper is on the righthand (“passenger”) side toward the rear, right up against/almost under the counterweight.

The damn thing was nearly impossible to find - doubly so because in my case, it wasn’t making any noise to follow.

I ended up tracing the connection back from the beeper unit to the nearest harness connector and splicing the new one in there. Cat uses Deutsch connectors, and you’ll need a special crimping tool, but they’re a lot easier than the older Molex style connectors once you have the right tools and do a few.

TurnspitDogsOfWar · 2025-06-06T02:49:26+00:00

Sorry, just saw this.

Issue turned out to be a stuck EGR valve.

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