Talking trumpet
Howard Peirce
van Gulik Sonneveld wrote:
> Hi,
> Can anyone tell me how to let mine trumpet talk I would be very pleased if I
> could understand the technic.
I assume you mean "talking" in the manner of Bubber Miley, Cootie Williams,
Clark Terry, et al. First of all, listen to a lot of recordings. I recommend
old Duke Ellington records, especially those with Bubber Miley (late '20s -
early '30s)--check the original recording of East St. Louis Toodle-oo. It's
basically a matter of listening, experimenting, and imitating. You have to
coordinate the mute you're using with your fingers and articulation.
Mutes: Rubber sink plunger (plumber's helper) is standard. I often use my hand.
Oh, and I find 12-oz Heineken bottles effective (which should be pretty easy to
find where you live) to get a real Bubber Miley sound (he used a 10-oz Coke
bottle). I've also seen a guy use the top cut off of a 2-liter plastic bottle.
There's also a kind of tiny straight mute that fits inside the bell; you use
this with a rubber plunger--I don't know what it's called. With a rubber
plunger, remember that you can squeeze the plunger as well as "wah-wah" with
it.
The mute is going to change your intonation *a lot*. You need to practice with
the mute you're going to use so you get used to the intonation change and use
it to your advantage. For example, if the mute makes you sharp, you might want
to finger the note a half-step below and then lip up.
Use lots of half-valve. Rhythmically, you want to imitate the rhythm of
speech--this will depend on your native language, of course!
Articulation: the mute gives you vowels, and also an "m" sound. Use tongueing
to get the other consonants--you'll have to make do with t's and d's ;-).
You can use flutter tongue to get a growl, but there's a growl some guys get in
the back of their throat that's more effective (I haven't mastered it yet).
These are all things I learned by listening and experimenting. You'll probably
find your own techniques. It's great fun to practice, by the way.
Howard
JHarryCook
I think what you're referring to here is called a "Pixie." I seem to recall
seeing it in prduct literature in the Stone-Lined series.
Jamie Cook
Richard Hurwitz
Hi, Sonneveld,
The way "talking" is done by the greats like Clark Terry is this: Use a
plunger, an ordinary rubber plunger (for a stopped sink) and co-ordinate the
mouth, playing notes that aren't exactly notes, and the plunger to "talk". It
takes a little practice, but by moving the plunger in and out, and playing the
"words", you can do it. You might start by trying to say "hello". Anger and
surprise are expressed with higher notes, and softer notes can mean almost
anything. Eventually, you can get the trumpet to say a lot of great swear
words.
For example, Clark Terry can get the trumpet to say, " Why, you ^&*(*&^%
moronic %^(*($$, I'm gonna kick your %^^&&*)".
Good luck,
Richard
WRPEWRUJHZ
Do plungers sctratch your trumpet?
I was using one and now I have a lot of scratches on my trumpet.
Top Dawg
1st Trumpet Concert Marching Band
1st Jazz Band
Burt Codispoti
> Look around for a very "soft" feeling plunger, and replace it( or use it
> elsewhere...) when it begins to stiffen up. This could be months, or years
> depending on who made it, what they made it out of, and the environment it's
> been exposed to.
The classic set-up for the old Ellington guys (Cootie, Tricky Sam
etc.) was the pixie/trixie combination. The pixie is a sawed-off straight
mute (so it doesn't protrude too far from the bell; DON'T do this
yourself, both are available from Humes/Berg Stonelined) and the trixie is
a deluxe, soft-plastic plunger-type mute and the two are used together
to produce a truly startling effect.
The reason one would want soft plunger is so that it my be mutated
into a variety of shapes to give varying tonal colors. A trick to take
the backbone out of a stiff, old plunger: use a razor blade or
exacto-knife to remove the flat (sealing) lip from the plunger's bottom
(opposite the handle end) and note how pliability is increased.
The best tip I saw so far was: LISTEN and imitate!
Burt
JFDonaldsn
>Do plungers scratch your trumpet?
Get the red rubber ones from the hardware store.
I find that the rhinestone encrusted H & B ones (the one with the silhoutte of
Elvis on the side) do sometimes scratch if you are not *really* careful.
Jim Donaldson
Denver, Colorado
JFDon...@aol.com
TrebleHorn
In article <199806172207...@ladder03.news.aol.com>,
wrpew...@aol.com (WRPEWRUJHZ) writes:
>Do plungers sctratch your trumpet?
> I was using one and now I have a lot of scratches on my trumpet.
Assuming yours was not used to begin with...... :-0
Seriously, most recent plungers ( last 10 yrs or so) are made from flexible
(plasticized) PVC. Natural rubber, or even synthetics can't compete anymore it
seems. The plasticizer in the PVC will leach out over time, and leave the
harder base material. Very much the same phenom as a new car dashboard getting
hard over time. ( that's what provides the new car smell BTW)
Look around for a very "soft" feeling plunger, and replace it( or use it
elsewhere...) when it begins to stiffen up. This could be months, or years
depending on who made it, what they made it out of, and the environment it's
been exposed to.
A good quality, soft surface plunger should be fine on a bell unless abused.
My $0.02
Alan Larsen
Howard Peirce
Burt Codispoti wrote:
> The reason one would want soft plunger is so that it my be mutated
> into a variety of shapes to give varying tonal colors. A trick to take
> the backbone out of a stiff, old plunger: use a razor blade or
> exacto-knife to remove the flat (sealing) lip from the plunger's bottom
> (opposite the handle end) and note how pliability is increased.
Another effective way to mutilate a plunger is to cut out the center of the
plunger so you have a hole going straight through at the threaded end. You can
leave it open, so you can close the plunger all the way in tight and get almost a
"rubber Harmon" effect, or--and this astounded me when a friend showed me
this--plug up the hole you just made with a nickel. That small, reflective
surface at the base of the plunger adds a significant edge to your plunger sound.
HP