Archived under: Random
Random Monday: In the Factory, Dorothy’s Shoes and Barking with the Big Dogs
Navel gazing … ooh look … some lint!
Horn Manufacturing
From Facebook fan page called “Conn Horns” I discovered a neat video on the manufacturing process at the Conn-Selmer factory. Regardless of your instrument preference, this video is fun to watch.
The entire process is shown from beginning to end. It always amazes me how almost brutal it looks when workers bend tubes and hammer out bells.
Sparkling Red Shoes
At Trumpet Matters, Phil Collins extols the virtues of the Herbert L. Clarke Technical Studies for the Cornet
in a cute Wizard of Oz metaphor.
Of course these studies are very productive to practice on the horn. I play them in a cycle of fifths rather than in chromatic order to help keep my wandering attention focused. Since these are written for trumpet, some octave transposing is required to cover the low range.
Also too, these are excellent for finger dexterity drills to keep fingers in shape and in good coordination with the chops — a factor in accuracy.
Salaries for the Top Seven American Orchestras
At Soho the Dog, the salaries for the big dogs are posted. Its focus on the Boston Symphony Orchestra has stimulated a lengthy and heated debate in the comments section.
Coming up this week @ Horndog Blog
Some less cheeky and more informative posts lined up for this week: a review of a site and video that delves into the physics of brass instruments, and a detailed, three-part series on choosing a mouthpiece.
Related to this article
- Holton Factory to Close
The hornlist today was buzzing with the news that Conn-Selmer is closing the Holton factory in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, with production being transferred to Eastlake, OH, where Conn horns are now made. Is it the end of Holton? I doubt that this is the end of the... - Random Monday: Crushed Lead Pipe, Alcoholism and Oogway
Things read over the weekend. From Julia Rose’s story about her crushed lead pipe, a link to a YouTube video of what I can can only guess is a drunk hornist who drops his horn in concert. In spite of this, the show goes on! Along... - Random Monday: Growing Up, Artificial Lips, Jumbotrons and a Difficult Mistress
Reflections on the week that has passed. Artificial Lip Mouthpiece From Will Kimball’s blog comes this oddity. “No embouchure required!” claims the advertisement. It appears to incorporate some kind of artificial, rubber lip that somehow is supposed to do the buzzing. Like Lauren Bacall once said... - Random Monday: Renee Fleming, Mixing Genres and Age Discrimination
Reflecting on items over the past week. At The Horn, there is a review of Renee Fleming’s new book The Inner Voice. I am going to have to pick that one up. I have not kept my adoration for her much of a secret. Conductor Kenneth... - Random Monday
Reflections and navel-gazing. The responses to “Copy, Paste and Steal” have been very helpful. A big thanks to those that took the time to comment and test things out. Announcements on both the Jupiter web site and on the Boston Brass’ (very purple) web site confirm... - Random Monday: Phoenix Symphony, Cannibalism and Miss Mussel
» Mixed messages at the Phoenix Symphony blog A 6/24/09 Phoenix Symphony SoundPost blog notes that Conductor Michael Christie was bestowed an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) award for Programming of Contemporary Music for the PSO’s 2008/09 Season. This is a very nice... - Random Monday
Reflections from the past week. Gunther Schuller From a regional section of the New York Times, I discovered that Gunther Schuller actually did some conducting on Miles Davis’ landmark album Birth of the Cool , in addition to playing horn. Schuller recently adopted some of that...
Over 47,000 Students Taught
Quote from Benjamin Franklin
From the Mailbag: What Kind of Horn Should I Buy For My Kid?
