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Post by Zi on Jan 15, 2023 16:37:42 GMT
Please feel free to discuss your interests here. When it becomes clear what kinds of instruments you wish to discuss, we can set up different sections for them.
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Post by Zi on Feb 13, 2023 11:00:25 GMT
Does anyone here play a brass instrument? Or has in the past? Just interested. I've never ever had a 'go' at one and I think I'd really like to. Mr Z learned trombone briefly when he was six - he says he had a couple of lessons but his arms weren't long enough! His father had extremely poor hearing so it was one of the few instruments he could hear - hence he wanted his son to learn it.
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Post by pavane on Feb 13, 2023 11:43:41 GMT
Inasmuch as I've had a try of a didgeridoo, I have technically had a go at a brass instrument. Otherwise, not at all - I don't think I've ever so much as picked one up.
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Post by Zi on Feb 13, 2023 11:53:48 GMT
I haven't either. I haven't tried a didgeridoo though either! I'd love to have a go on the serpent! I'm also seriously tempted by a cornett... they're available in resin and the fingering is similar to a recorder. Mr Z has been showing me how to make trumpet sounds through a clenched hand... The Collie is concerned about him now - she thinks he's 'gone wrong'! I suspect a cornett would make me go all vibrate-y like the clarinet does... And apparently it is not an easy instrument to play but once it was really popular because people thought it was so close to the human voice. The cornett is really interesting. It was made out of a single piece of wood which was cut in half and then hollowed and then bound back together with leather. Hence, some of the cornetts made today are covered in leather. They do the same with the serpent. I imagine brass instruments are quite heavy. I think the clarinet is quite heavy enough for me.  |
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Post by pavane on Feb 13, 2023 13:58:33 GMT
I didn't know that about the cornett - I think native American flutes might be made in a similar way. It makes sense for a time when a lathe would have been a rare and expensive thing. I hadn't thought about the weight of brass instruments. I looked on Yamaha's website and they give the weight of their student model trumpet an "medium", which wasn't quite as helpful as I had hoped. Holding a trumpet up to blow must get quite tiring: either that or you develop fantastic arm muscles. I looked at the EMS website and I see they do a plastic cornett (sorry, a crystal resin cornett) that would be light enough. I probably sound like I'm really mean as I'm always banging on about the price of these things, but I have to say that £395 seems like an awful lot of money for a hollow plastic tube with some holes in. I suppose it's quite a tricky job cutting a piece of crystal resin in half and hollowing it out, and the crystals must add to both the difficulty and expense  But it does sound interesting and the fingering is basically simplified recorder. There must be some trick to getting the bottom couple of notes because according to the chart it's the same fingering for C, C# and D. Interestingly in the light of our earlier chat about D on a recorder, I see both the recorder fingering and the all-fingers-down fingering work for 2nd register D. |
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Post by Zi on Feb 13, 2023 14:35:59 GMT
I've been looking at the crystal resin ones this morning. You can buy directly from Jeremy West and get a hefty discount. I was seriously tempted until I found that if you drop them they shatter and I'm soooo clumsy these days. And apparently they are very difficult to play. I wanted a bright pink one which incidentally (along with the yellow one) has a hefty discount at the moment. Mr Z says I if I want to try brass I should get a second hand cornet (they look a bit heavy to me). But apparently the tenor (alto) horn is easier to play. I think maybe a Nuvo Jhorn is the way forward... I can stick that in the dishwasher. Perfect!  |
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Post by pavane on Feb 13, 2023 15:01:13 GMT
As I have probably said before, I tried a Nuvo flute and I thought it was great - not that I could play it, but it was a full-sized "proper" instrument but lightweight and easy to look after. The Jhorn looks like it would be fun. Alternatively, I've bought most of the instruments I've ever owned 2nd hand, and subsequently sold them again, and it can be a good way of trying things out at leisure for not that much outlay. Ebay probably cheapest but the risks are well known, otherwise lots of good music shops sell 2nd hand and will let you return them after a period of approval if you don't like them. I bought my favourite clarinet that way. Not that you'd probably get a 2nd hand cornett, but you could try something brass. Baby trumpet maybe?? |
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Post by keff on Feb 13, 2023 15:07:45 GMT
Mrs K has just seen me reading this thread. "No,no,no...not until you get a shed at the top of the garden".
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Post by Zi on Feb 13, 2023 15:26:01 GMT
I really like the idea of the jhorn because it looks pretty robust! Some have said it's a bit out of tune though I don't know if that means with other instruments or with itself. If it's the former, it wouldn't bother me and the latter might not depending how bad it is! I may not notice. I don't know I could part with instruments - they kind of attach themselves to me! I think Mrs K is saying you should buy a shed, Keff! Alternately you could buy her some really good ear protectors! Do you fancy playing some brass? Maybe next year we could both pick up brass for the 20 minute challenge but cut it down to 10 minutes to protect our sanity/lives! |
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But it does sound interesting and the fingering is basically simplified recorder. There must be some trick to getting the bottom couple of notes because according to the chart it's the same fingering for C, C# and D. Interestingly in the light of our earlier chat about D on a recorder, I see both the recorder fingering and the all-fingers-down fingering work for 2nd register D.
