Subject: TROMBONE-L Digest - 5 Oct 2002 to 6 Oct 2002 (#2002-85) There are 7 messages totalling 401 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Now, it's music "plus" one... 2. Something that will REALLY help your trombone playing 3. Performance Anxiety 4. JJ Johnson/Kai Winding Discography 5. Greenhoe Products 6. Evolution (was RE: [TBN-L] Jazz repertory - Society's priorities) (2) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 01:02:57 EDT From: Kavett@AOL.COM Subject: Now, it's music "plus" one... Of potential interest to the many on the List who earn coin with their playalong devices and gigs...and I suppose...everyone else. >From the abcnews.com site, I found this item about a prof who has written code that is supposed to create the ability for a computer to absorb a few run throughs and then craft a living accompaniment in the style of the musician... Just an FYI as I have no connection or interest in this thing... http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/CuttingEdge/cuttingedge021004.html Henry Kavett New Providence, NJ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 11:37:54 +0100 From: Keith Marr Subject: Re: Something that will REALLY help your trombone playing I wholeheartedly endorse Paul's comments about the Gary's products, and his attitude to customers - first class. Following on from Craig's comments about the rest bar, it seems to me that the cause of the problem is that manufacturers have moved the bell brace back. On a number of my older trombones, including the Duo Gravis, you wrap your hand around the bell brace to sit comfortably on the triggers. My question is why do we think the manufacturers have made this change? Is it to let the bell vibrate more freely? There ought to be a good reason when the change is made at the expense of the player's handling comfort. Keith in Bb/F/D ----- Original Message ----- From: "Craig Parmerlee" To: Sent: Sunday, October 06, 2002 5:40 AM Subject: [TBN-L] Something that will REALLY help your trombone playing > At 11:36 PM 10/5/2002 -0400, Paul D. Kemp, Jr. wrote: > >However, when I > >attached it to my gooseneck, and did a small adjustment, I never knew that > >holding a trombone could be so comfortable. I was never uncomfortable > >before. > > Absolutely. It is utterly insane for any bass trombonist to try to hold > the instrument without a support bar. Even if you don't feel stress or > pain (today, and it will catch up with you), there is no doubt in my mind > that every unassisted grip causes the hands to lose flexibility and > quickness operating the triggers. > > I have a Greenhoe bar on one horn, an Edwards bullet brace on an another, > and an Edwards Stegeman bar on a third. If adjusted properly, they all > work well. The Greenhoe one is a little peculiar in that it is sort of a > hook shape, wrapping around a big part of the left hand. It looks strange, > but gives quite a feeling of control. > > These supports ought to be mandatory on all double valve horns. In a few > years, enough trombonists will have discovered this such that anyone making > an instrument without it will run the risk of product liability lawsuits as > older trombonists discover that the instrument has caused nerve damage and > a premature end to their bass trombone career. > > And all of the above goes for 547 horns with a single valve too. While the > risk of joint/nerve damage isn't quite so severe or immediate with those > instruments, the benefits of playing an ergonomically good instrument are > very compelling. > > Cost of a rest bar: $100 > > Cost of wrist surgery: $5000 > > Cost of having to give up playing because your instrument ruined your body: ??? > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 10:30:12 -0400 From: sabutin Subject: Re: Performance Anxiety > > > > --- SteveInside@AOL.COM wrote: >> > > Easy peasy to say all that but the trick is not to think >> > > about it. You CAN >> > > do it, but thinking about it pushes it back to the >> > > learning stage =E2?? which is >> > > where you can't do it. >> > >> > Exactly...so how to go about NOT thinking about it, or, >> > more accurately, being able to think about what you're >> > doing and have your head in the game without being >> > self-conscious? In my experience, the best way is to >> > replace the self-conscious thoughts with something else, in >> > the same way I stress to students that the best way to >> > break a bad habit in playing (or anywhere else for that >> > matter) is to replace it with a good one, right at the >> > level of your daily practicing. >> > >> > Here's a suggestion - what has worked best for me in >> > auditions, where my anxiety is most likely to get in my >> > way: Focus on time and pulse. At my most successful >> > auditions, I've been able to keep a steady pulse going in >> > my head throughout. As soon as I was done with one excerpt >> > and knew what the next one was, I would start thinking the >> > pulse of the next one. Practice that way - start >> > subdividing the basic pulse of the piece in your mind long >> > before you pick up the horn, like the moment you start >> > preparing to practice - while you're brushing your teeth, >> > pouring yourself a glass of water, taking the horn out of >> > the case, putting the music on the stand, etc. > > > > > > And once you have done this for a while, you will find that > > > the subdivisions don't keep you from thinking about longer > > > lines - in fact, they will make the longer lines and phrase >> > shapes even more clear and well-defined. In rehearsal, >> > having practiced with an intense focus on subdividing the >> > basic pulse of the piece, and having that pulse going all >> > the time, will help you communicate your rubato clearly to >> > the conductor and the rest of the ensemble. A rubato that's >> > based on smaller subdivisions rather than vague big beats >> > is always easier to follow and more logical and organic >> > sounding. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D This is the absolute essence of Carmine Caruso's approach to time. T-I-M-E solves all problems. It helps you to combine and internalize your 1001 techniques, your 100,001 muscles, your 1,000,001 neurons, your 1,000,000,001 thoughts and fears and dreams and hopes (always the hardest part, really...), into 1 (that's O-N-E) discrete action at a time. (That's T-I-M_E time.) It acts as a unifying force; it acts as a distraction from thoughts of failure and success; it even acts to stop you from thinking too much about the music....you have enough leftover brain power to think when necessary ("Where is that coda sign? Remember, you need to keep the tongue down through that passage." Etc.), but not so much that you think yourself into corners. It's magic, a magical panacea, really. Except...and here's the kicker...PEOPLE DON'T DO IT!!! (Still haven't quite figured that one out...it doesn't take any special talent; it's not "difficult"... EUREKA !!! That's why people don't do it !!! It's too EASY !!! Well, duh.) Count dammit. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D >---snip--- =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D > > > One last thought that has also helped me in anxious >> > situations: you've worked too hard to do anything but enjoy >> > playing these solos, so before you go on, walk, talk and >> > breathe joyfully. If you don't feel it, pretend to feel it >> > and it will start to come. >> > >> > Stream-of-consciousness side note: I heard a story on >> > Public Radio a few weeks ago about a Laughing Club in a >> > city in India. A doctor there was researching the health >> > benefits of laughing, so he gathered a bunch of people and >> > had them force laughter, practicing different kinds of >> > laughs. He discovered that forced laughter has the same >> > health benefits as spontaneaous laughter - good for the >> > heart, lungs, blood pressure and general mental health and > > > sense of well-being - so he established a club. People get >> > together in a public park and simply laugh together. They >> > love it. Acting happy is a big step toward actually being >> > happy. >> > > > > Gabe =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D This is actually an ancient teaching technique, used by life teachers of many stripes...try it. No matter what you are "feeling", try assuming the physical characteristics of another emotional/physical state, It makes no difference what...fear, joy, fatigue, lust...and watch what happens. if you have the eyes to see, this can be a very interesting practice. For that matter, here's some graduate work. Do you want to know how to "mindread" to some degree? Look at a person...any person, on the bus, at home, in a restaurant, on the sreet...and assume the same posture and/or facial expression that they are presenting. OOOOOOHHH, SPOOKY !!! (W/a doctorate in this, you can just do it by making your mouth position resemble theirs. Very useful when dealing w/business hustlers. Only the greatest of them really understand the poker face.) Later... S. P.S. Don't do this while practicing, of course. That smile embouchure just doesn't work... ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 11:26:02 -0600 From: "Roger L. Karren" Subject: JJ Johnson/Kai Winding Discography Please don't shoot me, but I think the guilty conscience has gotten the best of me... I have a cassette tape that I copied from an LP a number of years ago that I would like to replace with an original CD or even an LP. But... when I made the copy, I neglected to copy the important information such as playlist, publisher, etc. If anyone could help me identify the album, all I know is: "Jay + Kai Sextet" and one of the tracks is called "Four plus Four". I've been unable to find it listed in any discographies. The only thing I can think of is that it's either not been listed or "Four + Four" was recorded under another name or it was renamed when the sheet music was published. I have an original "JJ and Kai + 6" LP so I know it's not that one. Thank you in advance. Roger ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 18:12:02 GMT From: John Reifel Subject: Greenhoe Products Mr. Kemp could not have put it any better. I second everything he says and encourage anyone who is interested in obtaining absolutely the best possible setup for ANY horn to check out Greenhoe products for themselves. They're worth every penny. John Reifel Paul Kemp wrote: I can say enthusiastically that Gary Greenhoe is a man of the highest possible integrity and he wants to make sure that you're very happy with ANY product that you purchase from him. Putting his name on his valve section and the other instrument components that he sells obviously means an awful lot to him, and I know from personal experience that he will NOT knowingly send out a second rate product. If you're not happy with anything that you purchase from him, then he will do whatever it takes in order to satisfy you or refund your money. I can'tthank him enough for what his products have done for my playing. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 21:47:23 -0400 From: sabutin Subject: Re: Evolution (was RE: [TBN-L] Jazz repertory - Society's priorities) > > I really don't know about the relative advisability of such >> things. I'm a staunch Darwinist...social, cultural, political, >> economic...myself. >> >> The system that works the best on all levels...horn design, >> marketing, etc. in the trombone world, cultural content, appeal to >> human beings, marketing in this instance...will always win in direct >> competition w/others. > >Actually, this isn't necessarily the case. There are random factors >in operation that can (and do) establish sub-optimal systems as the >standard. You're probably sitting in front of the canonical example >as you read this. Look at your keyboard: does the third row read >QWERTY? > >It's been known for at least 50 years that the QWERTY arrangement >is not the best way to arrange keys. It relegates some often used >letters (S, D, A) to the weaker (for most of us) left hand. It >places others (R,T, N, E) off the home row. How then, did QWERTY >win? > >It won, because the first touch-typist learned the QWERTY keyboard, >instead of one of the other alternatives. And other alternatives >were around. There were demonstrations of the superiority of >touch typing, but they were mis-interpreted as demonstrating the >superiority of the QWERTY design AND touch typing. Business >schools taught touch typing on the QWERTY layout, so typists >continued to demand QWERTY keyboards. The alternatives died >out. Just try to find a non-QWERTY layout today. "We can order >a Dvorak board for you, sir..." > >"Winning" in an evolutionary sense, requires that something be >good enough, and get a lucky break or two along the way. We >cannot interpret successful as meaning optimal. ============ As I said, the "best on all levels". Including "luck". There is no way to prove that any given adaptation or system would or would not have worked better than any other.. all we can do is deduce FROM WHAT IS ALREADY IN PLACE THAT IT INDEED WON THE COMPETITION. This reminds me of the eternal grousing of losing sports teams...""Ahhh, we was better than you, youse was just lucky!" They won...call it luck, fate, skill...they proved to be "better". I call it natural selection. Nature does not necessarily NEED "the best" to win. At least not "the best" as seen from our tiny human perspective. Perhaps in a given ecosystem a certain species of bird develops a beak that allows it to get to the seeds of a given tree in a radically better manner over a period of many generations. That bird changes that ecosystem, possibly for the worse. The tree species dies out; the other species that comprised that ecological balance are negatively affected, and a wholesale extinction takes place. i got your "best" right here... Same w/Beta and VCR videotape systems. "Beta's better" they all say. But VCR won. Why? Maybe if Beta had won, we'd all be even worse media addicts than we are now... Darwin did not say "Survival of the best", he said "Survival of the fittest". A subtle distinction...but so important. S, ========== ---snip--- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 22:54:12 -0400 From: Roger Hecht Subject: Re: Evolution (was RE: [TBN-L] Jazz repertory - Society's priorities) >>> The system that works the best on all levels...horn design, >>> marketing, etc. in the trombone world, cultural content, appeal to >>> human beings, marketing in this instance...will always win in direct >>> competition w/others. >> >>Actually, this isn't necessarily the case. A good example is the triumph of VHS over the superior Beta. Marketing often overcomes quality. It's been known for at least 50 years that the QWERTY arrangement >>is not the best way to arrange keys. It relegates some often used >>letters (S, D, A) to the weaker (for most of us) left hand. It >>places others (R,T, N, E) off the home row. This was not an accident. The original typewriters jammed if the typist was too fast. The odd arrangement was designed to slow down fast typists and prevent jamming. Roger Hecht ------------------------------ End of TROMBONE-L Digest - 5 Oct 2002 to 6 Oct 2002 (#2002-85) **************************************************************