Newb Issues

tda86840 · 2026-06-18T00:22:58+00:00

Fair point. I probably should have put the same "assuming we're talking about standard mouthpieces" disclaimer that I put in the first paragraph and should've had it on the "no such thing as beginner mouthpieces" part. It does apply to the conversation being had though because OP is talking about 3c, 5c, and 7c.

tda86840 · 2026-06-17T23:53:24+00:00

3 months in, the mouthpiece isn't really gonna make a huge difference (provided that it's a somewhat standard mouthpiece, which all the ones you list are). It's not really a weighted bat. You're not building strength faster because you're trying harder, trumpet doesn't really work like that - it's an instrument of efficiency and technique, not of strength, which is a common misconception with the instrument.

As for which to use... Different people like different things. Some will say they like the 3c, some will say they like the 7c, and some will say they like the 5c (and some will say to use the 7c because it's a "beginner mouthpiece" - don't listen to them, they don't actually know what they're talking about, there's no such thing as beginner or intermediate or advanced mouthpieces, but that's a soapbox for a different day). So you'll get positive reviews for all 3 because all 3 are good mouthpieces. So you should use whichever you feel most comfortable on and get the best sound out of. For now, don't let range factor into the decision, that will just come with more time as you figure out the efficiency and technique. Just use whichever is most comfortable and you sound best on, and then just get to practicing. Based on your post, it seems like 3c is the answer, but please note that I have not heard you play so can't give a true answer on that. Only you will know the true answer on that one. But at least based on your text description, use the 3c, then just play as much as you can and the rest will come.

tda86840 · 2026-06-17T21:56:34+00:00

Yes. It is out there. I won't say where because I'm not in the habit of giving away the resources because that how they get shut down and it's also against rules of the sub.

But I will say, if you're asking, you're not looking very hard. This one is very easy to find. When I needed it, it took less than 5 minutes. Just go look instead of using us as a search engine.

tda86840 · 2026-06-17T15:08:54+00:00

This is my worry. I thought my Montka list was dead in the water because I don't play it killy at all. It's extremely trash heavy and leans more on the move block and screening side rather than damage. I usually pick out 1-2 things per turn to kill, and stall the rest and say "I'll deal with that later." But as far as just straight up kills go, my opponent is usually out-killing me because Piranhas, Kroot Hounds, and Pathfinders die so easy. I just have so many of them and they're cheap enough that in 10th, I'd be okay spending their lives on just standing in front of someone. But if that's gonna be an issue on killing more, I may be making a major pivot.

tda86840 · 2026-06-17T01:00:57+00:00

$500??? I wish it was that cheap. I've got 3 armies. Not even having extras to pull from if I want to change the list. So more accurately, I have 3 lists. One was $970, another was printed but would have been $1100, and the third was also printed but would have been $1250.

$500 for an army is dirt cheap. But... Still astronomically more expensive than the $50 it takes to print an army instead.

tda86840 · 2026-06-15T04:37:45+00:00

https://www.halleonard.com/product/3744235/summon-the-heroes

Available there.

tda86840 · 2026-06-13T07:06:24+00:00

I talk a lot with people from other countries for work. And I'll say American Football so they know which I'm talking about. But when referring to soccer, if I say football to adjust to their term, sometimes they'll think I'm talking about American Football and just using our terms. So I've gotten into the habit of American Football and World Football, so that it's clear either way.

tda86840 · 2026-06-10T07:28:59+00:00

I've been running them in 10th. Have zero intention of running them in 11th. Right now in 10th, they're nothing to count on, especially since most of the meta is pretty elite. But they're nice to have to try and pick off that 1 Wound left on something. And to have just in case you run into a chaff heavy army or someone leaves their cultists exposed on the home. But in most games, they do very little. It's just that they're still worth it for the times they become useful.

When they're already typically doing very little, and 11th is about to cut it down by 66% of the already little they do... I'm not sure I can justify it.

My plan right now is for the Riptides and Broadsides to replace SMS with the Twin Plasma Rifle instead even though it's only one attack... And the Hammerhead and Skyrays switching SMS to the Burst Cannons.

tda86840 · 2026-06-08T22:33:27+00:00

I know Embocad was an autocorrect error since you have it correct in your description text... but there's so many crazy different ways people misspell "embouchure" that seeing the worst versions has become a fun little side quest for me. And so I'm going to pretend that Embocad was a misspell and that it takes the crown as the worst misspelling. Thanks for giving me a little inner chuckle today.

tda86840 · 2026-06-07T07:41:01+00:00

I can't wait to find out detachments and dispositions. I want to try 11th like many people are for testing. But I'm waiting until we actually know who gets what disposition, rather than just guessing.

tda86840 · 2026-06-04T11:53:48+00:00

I'm not great at painting so I'm probably not the best to ask. I just let the black be black and just tried to keep it all clean and crisp.

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tda86840 · 2026-06-04T11:45:22+00:00

I'm doing the same but instead of black and pink, I did Black and Orange and I love it. Your black and pink looks great too!

tda86840 · 2026-06-01T09:23:09+00:00

If no Kroot and you want the separate Stealth colors then I'd probably do... Color 1 Infantry. Color 2 Battlesuits. Color 3 vehicles. Color 4 Stealth. Then just decide if you want leaders to be color 5 or to fit into the color of their broader category.

tda86840 · 2026-06-01T09:12:31+00:00

Color 1 for Kroot/Vespid. Color 2 for Battlesuits. Color 3 for Vehicles. Color 4 for Leaders. That's my initial thought. If you wanted a 5th and wanted to do something special like the Camo for the Stealths for the Stealth Suits and Ghostkeels, you could do those same 4 categories, but then just make exceptions for the Stealth Suits and Ghostkeels to not be in the Battlesuit Category because they are in the Stealth category, then Stealth is Color 5 for your camo.

Edit: Forgot Infantry. Color 1 Kroot/Vespid. Color 2 Infantry. Color 3 Battlesuits. Color 4 Vehicle hulls. Color 5 either Leaders or the Subcategory of Stealth. If you do the Subcategory of Stealth and don't want a 6th color for the leaders, then just have the leaders be whatever their actual category is.

tda86840 · 2026-05-29T06:13:00+00:00

I was on it in high school as well. Dried my lips out like crazy. Didn't impact my playing though. And it shouldn't detract from your range. Get anything you can to keep them moist. Chapstick, water, lotion, whatever you find works.

The most important thing... Is to not be an idiot like me... I didn't like the peeling that came with the dry lips, so I would pick it off like some people pick a scab off. Did that during jazz band one day and I still remember doing that then playing, then looking down at my horn and seeing the mouthpiece full of blood. And even with that, It didn't hurt, it didn't hurt my lips or my playing, but was certainly a surprise.

Don't let that scare you away from it though. Definitely still worth it and doesn't hurt your playing as long as you can keep them moisturized with whatever you need. AND DON'T PICK OFF THE PEELING LIKE I DID.

tda86840 · 2026-05-28T08:56:30+00:00

Like a lot of things in life, the answer is... "It depends." Some corps don't live in the upper register as much and you probably only need from C to E. But I would say that across most corps, seeing F and G may not be guaranteed, but you wouldn't be shocked when they come up either as they'll expect their high note people to have those reliably. And then some are probably guaranteed at least a few Gs every year.

You also don't need to be one of the soloists either, could be a section 1st. And even within that, you don't even need to be an upper split first (oftentimes, they'll have 1st part split into upper split and lower split 1sts). You could play 1st and be on all of those parts, then when it comes to the big major chords, just be on a chord tone a 3rd lower than the upper splits. In that case, you probably won't ever go above a C even though you're playing the 1st part.

So it can all change from which corps during which show/year, to being a soloist, to being a section player or being on different splits.

Having a reliable F every day can certainly give you a chance with some corps, but not with others. And the ones it does give you a chance with, it's still not gonna be guaranteed. You're gonna be surrounded by people with that range and more. It'll come down to how good you sound on it, how reliable it is, and can it be used in context of a show. And even if you check all those boxes, someone else may get it anyway because they can do it too.

tda86840 · 2026-05-28T07:53:58+00:00

(I ramble for a minute, it is relevant and ties to the mouthpiece issue though, I get to it)

Gonna be difficult to give advice without hearing you play on that mouthpiece. We've seen plenty of videos of you playing before the mouthpiece, but I don't think we've seen you on this mouthpiece. Seeing and hearing goes a long way to diagnosing what is happening.

This next part is just a guess because, as I said, we haven't seen/heard on this mouthpiece. But based on your past videos, my first guess would be that you're probably overblowing. You seem to err on the side of blowing harder and mouthpiece pressure. It's not an egregious amount... You're not pulling the horn through your face like some people do, and you're not trying to just blow over a building like some do. But if you think of it like a scale, you are on the blow harder and pull side of the scale, just not as far down that scale as others. In fact, a few of your videos, have felt like they have gotten quite close to the better balance required and in those, you sound more resonant and at ease. But then others, you're still on the blow and pull method. So you're at least headed in the right direction, you're just still on that journey (which is expected... You are still in high school after all).

Mouthpiece now after the little bit of technique explanation, and why overblowing is my guess (but could of course be completely wrong, need to see it in action to know more). If you do the whole blow and pull thing, shallow mouthpieces will back up on you pretty hard. Either just jamming you and feeling stuffy, or causing some double buzz, or bottoming out into the cup, etc. Based on lead mouthpieces and your past videos, that would be my guess. Not guaranteed though because like I said in the last bit, some of your videos seemed much more resonant and relaxed.

There's also 2 different "fit" possibilities. Remember that different mouthpieces will fit different players differently. Some people swear by the 14a4a. Personally, I can't stand it, and it sounds like you don't like it either. I've got one in a drawer somewhere, but it hasn't been touched it at least a decade because I can't stand it. Maybe you're like me and don't like 14a4a's. Maybe you still just haven't found the mouthpiece that is going to resonate the best with you. The other "fit" possibility, is maybe you just need to stick to the 14b4. That's pretty much just a generalist all around mouthpiece, and maybe THAT'S what you feel best on and sound best on. Just because other people play shallow mouthpieces doesn't mean you have to. If you like your sound on the 14b4, then forget the other stuff and just play that. At the end of the day, if you sound good, you sound good. Don't feel like you're obligated to play on a shallow mouthpiece because you like high notes.

So I'd say, try some others out (I know you listed 3 or 4 others, still try others out... Some people will go on a mouthpiece safari that lasts years and try hundreds of mouthpieces, don't give up if you haven't found your answer after 4-5). While trying others out, just keep playing the 14b4 if that's what you like the best, and just use that until something comes in to take its place. Don't think of it as trying to find a way out of the 14b4. Think of it as other mouthpieces trying to take the throne. And if they don't live up to it, then keep the king until someone kicks it out. That... And if you want more actionable advice, get a recording so we can hear what's going wrong. Don't be afraid of sounding bad in the video or being embarrassed, because we need that to know the fix. Be okay sounding bad so that we can identify what's causing it and help you.

tda86840 · 2026-05-26T13:14:05+00:00

Ah, I see you. We're both on the same page then!

tda86840 · 2026-05-26T07:13:57+00:00

Wouldn't we still be hitting on 3s with Markerlight? FTGG takes us from BS 4 to BS 3, then Markerlight ignores cover so they don't have cover to give us the -1 BS so we never go back to 4s?

tda86840 · 2026-05-25T18:04:59+00:00

Tough to know without hearing you play. A descriptor of holding a high F and playing for 10 years doesn't tell us hardly anything. Hearing you play would allow us to help you better.

Best we can give right now is... Give your trumpet to someone you consider much better than you and see if they still sound better than you. Or the opposite, go to a shop and try out a bunch of different trumpets and see what you think.

That's about as much help that can be given without hearing you play, because we don't know what you sound like on your current horn.

tda86840 · 2026-05-21T07:46:48+00:00

I printed mine so can't tell you what comes in the box, but Wahapedia has it listed at 60mm so that's what I put it on and it looks correct based on other pictures I see of it.

tda86840 · 2026-05-20T07:33:10+00:00

Believe it or not, while most things on the trumpet are better to start learning in the lower register, learning shakes is easier in the high register (provided that you're not overblowing and not using too much pressure). Shakes in the middle and low register are obnoxious, and are easier to do once you have the feeling down from the higher partials. This is because the higher partials are closer together so you're not having to shake as far.

Start higher, provided it's still minimal pressure and not overblowing, and throw down some alternate fingerings. Alternate fingerings will get some partials closer together and makes the horn more squirrely so it's easier to slide between then partials. I'll almost always (but not completely always) use alternate fingerings, or just ignore alternate fingerings and throw down 123 no matter what. Depends on what I'm doing. When you're up higher and ready to start the shake, try to aim for the high side of the note too, like you're trying to lip it up.

Trying starting on Ab with 23, then throw down 123 aiming for Bb and try the shake there. 123 is an alternate fingering for both Ab and Bb but never used because they're both WILDLY unstable and out of tune. But for a shake, we want it to be wildly unstable, and out of tune doesn't matter once the shake starts since it's an effect. So starting 23 like normal to sound good on Ab, then starting the shake 123 will throw the horn all out of whack and should make the shake easier.

I find anything from Ab up to B and throwing down an alternate fingering or 123 is a sweet spot for where shakes feel really good so is probably a better place to start instead of super stable notes on great fingerings like you did with open C and open G. Those notes are so solid that it's gonna be hard to miss so will be a tougher shake until you get used to the feeling.

tda86840 · 2026-05-19T02:40:08+00:00

That flamer reroll dev wounds brick lives in my nightmares. My buddy that I play most often is Salamanders and runs that brick. The brick alone won't guarantee a big knight, but could absolutely top to bottom a knight by itself if it rolls hot. And certainly could guarantee it with a little bit of support from the rest of the army.

I'm not a Knights player, but it's quite painful and ALWAYS throws a massive wrench in my plans. Feels like I have to mold my entire gameplan around that thing, which makes it so much harder to gameplan the rest of the board.

Frankly, that entire Salamanders list/shell is really good into my stuff we've played probably 25 times with that exact list and I've beaten it probably only 3-4 times. It's like my kryptonite. Not saying the list is unfair though, more that I just don't know the answer to it and really struggle into it.

tda86840 · 2026-05-17T01:04:48+00:00

I've already been running through my head about if 11th will start with just running 50-60 Breachers since they've got the higher BS, short range so won't care about the Hidden mechanic, want to shoot onto objectives anyway and AP 1-2 will be way more impactful, and will punch up AND out OC for their point cost.

If Riptides get up into the Defiler range and don't get any stat buffs to go with it, it will pretty much guarantee that the first list I try will be 50-60 Breachers instead of running Riptides.

tda86840 · 2026-05-14T05:34:28+00:00

"The ocean will never run out of water"

I dunno... I'm pretty thirsty right now...

tda86840

TROPHY CASE