Words of wisdom

As a seasoned, certified, old fart, here is some wisdom I have tried to impart to all of my students. I have not always been successful, but I have tried.

 

1 - Get to rehearsal ahead of time. If a 7:00 rehearsal, get there BEFORE 6:30. DO NOT come strolling in at 5 to 7. “If you are early, you are on time. If you are on time, you are late, if you are late, YOU’RE FIRED!” – Roger Bobo

2 – Take responsibility for your gear and music. It is YOUR responsibility to keep track of your stuff. Is the part muted? You better have one, and ensure it works in your horn for the notes you actually have to play.

         2a – Never EVER tell a conductor you lost your music. As soon as you discover it missing, work with the librarian to get it replaced. Borrow the other guy’s music and get it duplicated IMMEDIATELY, don’t wait a few days to see if it shows up.

3 – ALWAYS wear the right clothes. Look great, don’t worry what the other guys are doing. EVERY concert, look your best. Clothes cleaned and pressed, and shoes polished. Make sure your sox match. If necessary, go buy a new shirt. 

    3a – ALWAYS keep a bow and a long tie in your black jacket pocket. Sometimes they change dress code and you don’t want to be the only guy with the wrong tie; it looks terrible. In the REAL music business, looks matter. If you aren’t sure what the dress code is, ask the conductor for clarification, or the personnel manager.

4 – At rehearsals, warm up and put your horn down. NOTHING is more amateurish than to hear players trying to play excerpts. At rehearsal, or performances you are NOT practicing; you are reinforcing bad habits. Practice at home!

5 – Don’t get involved in politics. Show up, play your horn, go home. "Keep your head down.” In a professional situation, you need to EARN your tenure. Management needs NO EXCUSE to let you go before you get your tenure.

6 – Keep your horn clean and in GREAT working order. A beat-up horn indicates that the musician is sloppy. The way you care for your gear, will be reflected in your playing; it’s a sign of striving for excellence, and it shows respect for our craft. Without fail, when I see a player with a beat up instrument (unless it is done for comic effect), their playing is riddled with flaws.

7 – Don’t talk to a conductor at rehearsal unless it is a real (not imagined) emergency. The MD has a lot more to worry about at rehearsals. Email or call later.

    7a - Don’t ask questions at rehearsal. Figure it out yourself. (read my blog “No Good Questions," on this).

8 – Practice with your mute. Except for the bagpipes, NOTHING sounds worse than a euphonium or tuba player struggling with a mute because they didn’t know if it works properly in the instrument.

9 – ALWAYS have your own set of parts. Even if you know that there will be music at your rehearsal, have your own music. I have shown up MANY times and the librarian didn’t have music, or they expected you to bring your practice parts. If you don’t have the right music, who’s fault is it? YOURS!!! YOU are the one who looks like a knothead because you don’t have music. With all of the online resources, there is NO EXCUSE for not being able to secure the music you need.

And MOST of all:

10 - ALWAYS live up to your commitments. If you tell someone you are going to play for them, play for them. Do not ever go back on your word. The person who asked you, wants YOU involved in their event. Once you earn the reputation of bailing on gigs, you will find yourself NOT being called in the future. An exception here: If you find yourself with a conflict, for the original event, find a sub (who is available for ALL services) who plays BETTER THAN YOU. Before committing that person, call the person who engaged you (personnel manager, conductor, contractor, etc) and say this, "I am so sorry, but I have found myself with a conflict. I have found <so and so> to substitute for me? They can play all the services for which I was engaged. Would it be ok if I sent him/her?" If they hesitate at all, say, "Thank you. I will send my sub to the other gig. I will be at all services for which you originally engaged me."

I am certain there are others, but with my current state of CRS disease, I may have left one or 2 out.

As always, I encourage and welcome your input below.

Why I hate the 24AW tuba mouthpiece

Over the years, I have had more than a few conversations about the 24AW mouthpiece. Maker (brand) doesn’t matter; Bach, Faxx, Blessing, Jupiter, who EVER. This is the WORST tuba mouthpiece. Under NO circumstances should anyone ever play on this thing. A little history first:

 

In the Vincent Bach catalog, originally printed in the 1950s (I think) listed their 24AW mouthpiece as “a good beginner mouthpiece.” So all the mouthpiece makers saw this and decided to make one of their own (cheaper, too!). WRONGO!  Here’s why:

 

1 – The rim inner diameter: is WAY too small for any application. This would be good for a bass tuba or a solo mouthpiece IF:

 

2 – The cup is WAY too deep. To make up for the constricted sound that is accomplished by the small inner rim diameter, they designed the cup depth to compensate for this being a too small mouthpiece.

 

3 – The rim is too wide. Wide cushioned rims, while may be comfortable for playing, they inhibit lip flexibility. All well designed mouthpieces are a balance between a wide rim and a narrow rim. As a ‘beginner’ mouthpiece, (assuming for a smaller person or a child) they fill up their whole face!! Too wide. And lastly:

 

4 – The throat is HUGE! Again, to make up for the narrow diameter, to get the air through the darned thing, they make the throat too big. Check it out, you can drop a pencil through it! For a beginner, it sucks the wind right out of them.

 

4 strikes – YER OUT!!!

 

Anyone who comes to my place for lesson with one of these, I confiscate and they get to choose one out of my collection (with a recommendation, of course).

 

Feel free to disagree in comments below.

So, What do YOU listen to?

Recently, I was having a conversation with an adult student of mine. Eventually, the discussion came around to listening to music for entertainment &/or enjoyment. The student assumed that I listened to the classics: Mozart, Mahler, Milhaud. He was surprised when I told him I never listen to classical for entertainment. Because when I am at work, I am surrounded by the wonderful classics to which I am exposed on a weekly basis, when I sit down to listen, my tastes go elsewhere. So, what kind of music DO I listen to? I went to my phone, and opening the music app, I hit “Recently Played.” Here’s what I found:

Smashing Pumpkins: Rotten Apples. Coming late to the party, I really love the Pumpkins.

Blood, Sweat & Tears: Live and Improvised. Dave Bargeron’s tuba solo on “One Room Country Shack,” is tuba history.

Taj Mahal: The Real Thing. With 4 tubas on this album, is it any wonder?

Dave Brubeck: Take 5. With the huge Jazz deficiency in my music education, it is a small wonder I am ALWAYS fascinated by the DB Quartet.

Billboard’s Greatest Hits of the 1960s. I am drawn to music from 1965-1972. No question, this is MY music! Sirius Channel 73, too!

Chase: Ennea. The greatest trumpeters EVER!

Iron Butterfly: Inna-gadda-da-vida. Ron Bushy is my hero, but I love the B side, too!

Cream: Wheels of Fire. One word – CLAPTON. And who DOESN’T love 16'16" of Ginger Baker’s best?

Led Zepplin III – Need I say more?

Bobo: Gravity is Light today. I NEVER tire of Yellow Bird.

Jim Self: Tricky Lix. Ya gotta ask?

Classical indulgences:

Anthony Newman & Friends: The Brandenburg Concertos. Take a listen.

LA Phil, Mehta: The Planets. Know why? Saturn.

Tomita: Pictures at an Exhibition

Wendy (Walter) Carlos: The Well-tempered Synthesizer

Pat Sheridan: Lollipops. Ya gotta ask?

Enjoy!!

As always, comments are welcome and encouraged.

Advice for buying and selling tubas (and other brass instruments)

Friends,

I have been buying and selling tubas for over 40 years. Here are some tips for you to get the most for your instrument, and to make it more marketable:

1 - Clean the darned thing! Once, I bought a tuba that smelled SO bad, I threw it in my pool and let it sit there for an hour. I still had to have it cleaned. Please, a good sonic cleaning will do your sale a WORLD of good!
2 - Get the dents taken out. A dented up tuba means you have not taken very good care of your instrument. I wouldn't even CONSIDER tuba that is dented up for my playing needs; unless I was planning on making it into a fountain, or flower pot.
3 - Get the valves ported. You cannot IMAGINE the difference this makes in it's playability. I have played many tubas that played badly, UNTIL I ported the valves.
4 - If you are not going to do a THOROUGH cleaning (see #1 above), at LEAST clean out the lead pipe and all the valve and tuning slides. PLEASE.
5 - If you are including a case (which does not increase the instrument's value, really), please make sure it is clean, inside and out. If your pet has made its home (nest) in it, just burn the sucker, and don't bother trying to pass it along.
6 - Including a mouthpiece does not really make the instrument more desirable; we all have our favorite mouthpiece. If you DO include a mouthpiece, for gosh sake, clean it out! NO ONE wants to see a year's worth of lunches in the throat. And round the shank, too.
7 - Be willing to negotiate, and take trades. This will make your instrument more desirable. We all love our tubas. Many times we (and I include myself here), over value what our tuba is worth. Buyers might not think as highly of that particular instrument. And as far as trades, who knows, the trade-in might really suit your needs. OR you might be able to sell it (the trade) for more than you took in trade (think of an automobile trade-in).
8 - Be willing to travel. I met a guy in Colorado once to get a tuba; he was from Ohio. We met 1/2 way.

My 2¢ worth; I hope this helps.

As always, your comments are welcome and encouraged.

Want to get better? Do this ....

Over my 41+ years of teaching in San Jose, I have been asked many many times, "What can I do to get better?" Well, here is my simple answer. I call it my 

Daily Routine for Sustained Improvement

 

1 – Long Tone Routine

2 – Lip Slur Routine

3 – 3- (or 5-) note patterns

4 – Scales

      Major 3 octaves

      Minor (2 octaves)

            Relative

            Harmonic

            Melodic

5 – Legato study (i.e. Bordogni, Rochut, anything legato)

            Normal tuba register

            Octave lower

6 – Kopprasch 

7 – Tyrell

8 – Blazevich

9 – Music for auditions

            Solos

            Excerpts

Try it, IT WORKS!

Enjoy!

Train Blog, December 21, 2021

Aboard the California Zephyr, Train #6

As you all know, I LOVE train travel. If I hit the lotto, I am going to buy a personal train car and live on the train. Some people retire, and live aboard a cruise ship; not me. It’s on the train, Brother. In these new normal times, things aboard are bit different. Not only is everyone masked, but train service is different than it was. The whole crew seems to be on edge. There is no real feeling that they WANT you to have an enjoyable journey. I felt like I was putting the crew out get salad dressing, or my bed made up. They seemed to have trouble getting me a DIET Coke. Staying in the “H” room (look it up), I hit the attendant call button, and the guy NEVER showed up. Lunch is first come, first served. By the time I made my way to the dining car, there was 28 people ahead of me; I ate at 1:20. The next day, I showed up at the appointed hour (noon), and rudely was told to wait outside. When I sat in an empty bedroom waiting for the diner to open, the conductor chewed me out. Normally, for dinner, they come by your room to get your reservation; the person who did that never showed up. I had to ask my car attendant (Chris, I always get their name) to bring me my dinner. One of the things I love about train travel is meeting people over a leisurely dinner. I missed out on that.

The last trip I took (March 2021), all of the food, while tasty, was pre-packaged and microwaved. It was nice to see they had chefs on board and they are cooking meals fresh again. BACK on the menu is the perennial “crappy side salad.” Even though I have changed my eating regime, the portions are small; I’ll have to bring snacks next time. One odd thing: the menu had no prices on it. When I asked, I was told, “Only sleeping car passengers eat in the dining car.” I guess, since meals are included, no prices are needed. However, if you are in coach, your only meal choice is to get something (microwaved) from the café car. Imagine vending machine food, or food you can get in a gas station freezer; prepackaged chips, cookies, baked goods and the like. You get the idea.

Once more, I was glad I had my toolkit aboard. The door on my room was one of those heavy metal sliding things. When the train took a left hand turn, the door slid closed, and SLAMMED on the door jamb; right turn, it slammed open. Thank God for 3M duct tape. While I could not really get my room temperature right, I did NOT (for a change) have to duct tape over the air vents. In fact, at one point in time, I had to remove one of my shirts as it got too hot in my room.

They are really serious about the masking (thankfully), and get right on you if you are unmasked. Last night, a woman was PUT OFF THE TRAIN because she refused to wear a mask. Good for Amtrak!

While I really love train travel, this trip was not so good. Hopefully, the next one will be better.

A story to tell ...

 ... so, years ago (in a galaxy far, far .... nononono), as a student at Cal State Northridge, there came a time when I needed a bass trombone. Most guys were playing Conn 62Hs, or Holton 180s or Bach 50Bs. It was well know that Larry Minick was making GREAT trombones. He put the valves in line, hand hammered the bells and made incredible slides. So I went to his shop to ask (PLEAD) with him to make me a trombone. As he was the master, and extremely busy, he agreed to put me on his (THEE) list. Then came the news of the cost. Now bear in mind, this was the late 1970's and I was making 2 bucks ($2) an hour in the music store. The cost: $1,200 (plus $72 sales tax); do the math (1,272÷2). 612 hrs to pay for this horn. I was freelancing some at the time (35 buck church gigs) and more money than this came in, but it was GOING to be hard. So, I gave him a $500 down payment (after finagling a couple tuba sales). I figured I had time. I saved my money as I could and awaited the arrival of my custom built Minick version of the Conn 62H; gold brass bell, 2 valves in-line as was all the rage. Tuning in the bell. I wondered about that, but no one EVER questioned Larry's designs. Bach and Holton were making bass trombones with 10" bells at the time (maybe they still do?). He once made a 71H with a 12" bell (yes, TWELVE inches). Apparently, he cut the bell off a Conn french horn and crazy glued it (not really) onto a bass trombone. I walked into the shop and asked, "What the heck is that?" Simply, he said, "If bigger is better, mine's the best." I hear JJ Johnson ended up with that horn, but who knows? He once took a 72H and grafted a THIRD valve onto it, in line! It looked cool as hell, but weighed almost as much as my Mirafone 180-5U F tuba! Anyway, the day came and a phone call from Larry, "Clements? Horn's Done." CLICK. (Typical call from Larry). YIKES! I still owed him about $600 and I didn't have the scratch. Sheepishly, I went to his shop with about $37. I said, "Larry, this is all I got." If you need to sell the horn to someone else, go ahead, I understand. I'll get the next one." He said, "Take it and pay me when you can. And if you EVER tell anyone, I'll kick your ass, and take the horn back." I was shocked. I knew under that gruff exterior beat a heart of gold, but *I* never saw it. Here it was. I sent him $5, $17, whatever I had after paying my bills and ONE DAY, I paid it off. IN FULL. I jumped for joy when I got his invoice labelled "PAID IN FULL" in big red letters.

Jump ahead a few years. I was playing SJ Symphony and freelancing all over the bay area and doing some soloing with college bands.  I had a wonderful bright young student who was studying bass trombone with me. There came a time where HE needed an instrument. Remembering the kindness Minick showed me, I sold this trombone to the student for exactly what I paid for it $1,200. He went on to have a terrific career and is a well known personality in the Los Angeles Area. If he lets me, I'll tell his name later.

So, why am I telling you this now? I got asked to play "The Nutcracker" this week (12/9-12), bass trombone. I sold my Shires years ago and got a King Duo Gravis just in CASE I had to play bass bone somewhere. This is NOT a symphonic trombone. In my efforts to find an appropriate instrument, I called around. I got two instruments delivered today, one was a trial and was expected. I had NO idea what the second box could be. Upon opening the box, there was an OLD Conn trombone case. What do you supposed was in the case? Yep. The Minick. 

I wept.