|
Als je de reclame over de XO van Jupiter wegdenkt, zitten er best leuke, leerzame dingen in voor mensen die nog niet zo heel ervaren zijn wat het uitproberen van instrumenten betreft.
Ik heb dit schaamteloos van facebook geplukt.
Veel leesplezier
"The 2013 ITG, the XO Brass 1600i, and My Thoughts on Play-testing Brass Instruments"
by Roger Ingram
My wife and I just returned home after spending three days working with Jupiter/XO Brass at the 2013 International Trumpet Guild conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was a fun event, and we enjoyed catching up with a lot of old friends. The constant stream of trumpet players who visited us at the booth during the course of the three days was almost overwhelming. Even more impressive was the reaction these musicians had to the XO Brass 1600i Bb trumpet of my design; they loved it and couldn't stop talking about how easily the horn performed for them. I couldn't be prouder!
What started out in 2009 as a project dedicated to satisfying my specific playing needs has ended up touching thousands of trumpet players the world over. It doesn't get much better than that!
In 2009, I was very fortunate that Jupiter/XO Brass offered me the chance to design my own trumpet; not everyone gets that opportunity! With the help of the Jupiter/XO Brass design team, I set out to create a horn tailored for my specific playing needs. I wasn't trying to build a trumpet for everyone else; I was just trying to build the perfect horn for me, and it happened! Here I am, this road musician who's been sleeping in hotel rooms, on tour buses, and in backstage areas for over 35 years and whose every meal had been from a restaurant. Jupiter/XO Brass actually embraced me and asked me to design a commercial Bb trumpet! They knew I had ideas regarding an initial horn design and asked me to take it one step further. I'm still amazed with the final result and I couldn't be happier.
I’ve been playing the Jupiter/XO Brass 1600i Roger Ingram model trumpet for several years now. Without a doubt, it’s the best trumpet I've ever played; it's the best trumpet for me! Throughout my career, I've owned many trumpets and have used quite a few of them in a professional capacity. I've owned, and/or played-tested just about every make and model of trumpet manufactured under the sun. For me, at the end of the day, there is no better trumpet than the Jupiter/XO Brass 1600i. No other Bb trumpet even comes close.
With regard to play-testing a new horn: I always suggest looking for two crucial characteristics. Those would be sound and ease of playing. Every player should have some sort of idea of how a horn should sound and what it should feel like.
Regarding ease of playing: sometimes a person trying a horn will enjoy the sound a particular trumpet gives them but may feel they have to physically exert themselves too much to attain that sound. Often times, a player needs to make compromises. They may have to decide whether they want to sacrifice a bit of sound to have a horn that plays easier or vice-versa. When all is said and done however, the instrument doesn’t give the sound; the player gives the sound.
Obviously, the sound factor is very important: a player should always ask themselves if the horn they are play-testing fits their personal needs. What kind of playing do they do? For example, a classical trumpet player will most likely seek a different sound than say a lead/commercial type of player would. A person looking for a new/different trumpet needs to be honest with themselves and ask this question.
Due to the many years I've been teaching, I have come to realize that many times, players will often blame their equipment when struggling with sound and the ease with which they're able to perform. In reality, they may have a few deficiencies with regard to their playing mechanics and how they incorporate them into their physical approach to playing the instrument. Those particular players would do well to get checked out by a good teacher to make sure they are breathing correctly, developing their embouchure muscles correctly etc. But, when choosing a horn, sound and ease of response should be the primary determining factors when deciding whether a horn is right for them. Those two ingredients have always been foremost for me when selecting my horns and mouthpieces through the years.
There is a right way and many wrong ways to play-test a trumpet. At the trade shows and conventions I attend on behalf of Jupiter/XO Brass, I am constantly reminded of just how little many trumpet players know with regard to play-testing an instrument and I am made painfully aware of this fact during the days I attend. This is one of the reasons earplugs are so popular and necessary at these events! (One of my colleagues even had a decibel meter with him!)
The best way to find out where a trumpet is coming from is to confine most of the testing proceedures to the middle register at a medium volume. Play material/excerpts that you know well and feel comfortable with. When doing an A/B test with two different horns, use the same mouthpiece and play the exact same material on both horns at the same volume. This will tell you almost everything you need to know about a trumpet. Listen for sound and look for ease in playability. Use false fingerings to help reach a determination as to how well a trumpet plays in tune with itself. Incorporate a variety of material you feel comfortable with which employs tonguing, lip slurs and chromatic runs. Play some be-bop, play a ballad you may be familiar with, play some standard exercises. Do the same thing on both horns, at least twice. Be methodical with your approach to play-testing a new/different instrument. Yes, playing in the "normal" register of the trumpet can actually pay off from time-to-time!
Trying to see how high and loud you can play on a different trumpet will tell you next to nothing with regard to its merits (or lack thereof) and its design qualities. If a player has developed easy access to the upper and extreme upper registers of a trumpet, chances are they can do that little trick with just about any horn. Confining your testing proceedure to just the upper register at a loud volume does nothing to help determine where you may be spending your money in the near future. If a horn plays well and in tune in the lower and middle registers, most likely it will respond favorably in the upper register (if you have previously developed the ability to access that register). No horn is going to give you an upper register if you have not yet developed it.
However, differences in various trumpet designs do offer a variety of parameters with which to perform in the upper register. For those all-around players who have developed a workable upper register and for those who often perform regularly as lead trumpet players, play-testing briefly in the upper register in conjunction with all the aforementioned testing proceedures is okay to do and is necessary to a degree. But, how a trumpet performs in the upper register at loud volumes should not be the sole determining factor with which to select a new instrument.
In the research and development stages of creating the 1600i with the Jupiter design team, I learned much more about physics and acoustics than I had previously known. From the new information I gathered, I even made a few of my own discoveries which contributed to the final design of the 1600i. Much to my surprise, the 1600i has appealed to a wide variety of trumpet players and is thus far one of the best selling professional Bb trumpets on the market today.
I'm very proud of the 1600i and my association with all the folks at the parent company for Jupiter/XO Brass, KHS America. It's a great organization and they're good people. Everyone at KHS America is dedicated to music education and the goal of creating the finest musical instruments available today. We're all very fortunate that such a company still exists in today's world. Here's to KHS and XO Brass!
Roger
|
Registreren
Gebruikerspaneel
Leden
Zoeken
Help
Inloggen
