TromboneLessons.com Video Podcast

***NOTICE: This episode comes right on the heels of Episode #139. Please don’t forget to watch that one, too, OK? Thanks.***

Recent flooding and heartbreaking devastation inspired some of the Southeast’s finest musicians to host a benefit concert in Powder Springs, GA. In this episode, see some clips from the concert and learn how you can help.

Please visit the website for a list of our generous sponsors and the musicians that donated their time and talent to help their neighbors. Thanks to everyone that participated!

www.floodoffriendship.org

To learn more about the fabulous Joe Gransden (who promises to come do an interview with us soon:-), please visit:

joegransden.com

And if you think Wes can’t play any higher, go watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HChvUXMFFBA

Thanks, your support is much appreciated…….order a T-shirt and wear it with pride, eh? All proceeds go to those who need it most. If you prefer, I am accepting donations through my PayPal account, too (tom@trombonelessons.com). All donations to “Flood of Friendship” will be given to Salvation Army and/or CAMP Sweetwater.

Peace. Please remember to keep the victims of the flood in your thoughts and prayers.

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A few highlights from our recent recital! This was our inaugural performance and the first of many more, we hope. Eric, Jay, and I are new to the faculty at Mercer. Jonathan has been teaching trumpet there for a few years, and Doug is the Director of Instrumental Ensembles. We are currently on a REAL recruiting push, so if you are interested in learning more, please visit the website:

music.mercer.edu

The campus is absolutely beautiful, in downtown Macon, GA. Wonderful architecture, peaceful, academic excellence….a wonderful place. It’s also quite close to Atlanta (about 70 miles). A new string conservatory and a new administration are launching this school into a new phase of excellence. As you can see, the brass faculty is superb. These are great players and good guys! I am proud to be a part of it. My goal is to have a conservatory vibe in my studio….now I need to recruit a few terrific students:-)

Graduates and Undergraduates: scholarships and assistantships are available to well-qualified students. Check us out and let me know if you have questions, OK?

***NOTICE: There is a deadline for Graduate Assistantship applications of January 19, 2010***

Thanks! Enjoy the recital……..

PS- Thanks for the email, Seth. Of course I should have put up more program info. My bad. Here is what you hear:

“This Old Man- March” by Robert Nagel

“Beale St. Blues” by W.C. Handy, arranged by Luther Henderson

“Contrapunctus I from the Art of Fugue” by J.S. Bach, arranged by Robert King

“Threepenny Opera Suite” by Kurt Weill, arranged by Karl Kramer

1) Overture

2) The Moritat of Mack the Knife

3) The Instead-of Song

4) Cannon-Song

“Dance” by Wilke Renwick

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Here is Part 2 of the wonderful concert that took place on July 25, 2009 at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. It has become a tradition to close the 5-week festival on the last Saturday night with a Brass Ensemble soiree.

In Part 2, you’ll hear some of my favorite brass works from Brahms, Wagner, Elgar, and Tomasi.

More info, and more music from the concert, are in Episode#135

More about the Festival can be found at their website:

http://www2.sewanee.edu/ssmf

Once again, my congratulations and thanks to all the wonderful musicians in this video! My visit to Sewanee was a highlight of my Summer.

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Sorry for the delay, my Sewanee friends……but here it is! This brass ensemble concert, ladies and gents, took place on campus at The University of the South in Sewanee, TN, on July 25, 2009. It was the last night of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival 2009, which is a 5-week festival for high school and college musicians. My good friend Mark Babbitt teaches trombone there, and needed someone to fill in for a few weeks this Summer (allegedly so he could perform in the Ring Cycle done by the Seattle Opera………we should do a Podcast about THAT, Mark:-)

I instantly fell in love with the place and the people. (To all the Sewanee Festival ‘bone players: y’all are missed badly already. Thanks for the great hang! I wish you all the very best in your musical adventures; please stay in touch.)

I have mentioned this before, but I really believe that Music students need to get out to these festivals each Summer. At SSMF ‘09, the music-making was exceptional in every way. The faculty, staff, and students were the best! I had a fantastic visit.

The schedule was rigorous for these players, and I can only imagine how tired their chops were when this concert rolled around.(But hey, that’s what Summer festivals are all about: play, play, play, right!?) Still, these talented brass players mustered the physical and mental energy to pull off this spectacular performance in the splendor of All Saints Chapel. Under the baton of Mr. David Brockett (and myself on a few works) and organized by Mr. Eric Bubacz, this was a really fun night of brass music! On the bill are a few classics, a few new arrangements, and a fantastic original composition by Ross Wixon, a trumpet player at the Festival and a 2009 Young Artist award recipient. Ross, it was one of my favorite pieces on the program! I look forward to playing a lot more of your music.

As I say, the students in this ensemble were some of the most studious, talented, and fun people I have had the pleasure of knowing. Their attitudes were terrific. Perhaps that has a small bit to do with their teachers at the festival:

Mark Babbitt inspired the trombones like nobody can. Mr. Brockett, in addition to being the Maestro herein, is the horn teacher par excellence. My good friend, colleague, and fellow Atlantan, Eric Bubacz taught the tuba players. And the inimitable, one-of-a-kind Russ DeVuyst cultivated the sound of this most astounding group of trumpet artists. (I would like to give Congrats to Mr. Logan Anderson and Miss Kyra Sims, who were finalists in the SSMF Solo Competition, just 2 nights before this brass ensemble concert. Logan performed a jaw-dropping Arutunian “Trumpet Concerto” and Kyra sang in a beautifully polished Mozart Horn Concerto. Nicely done, both of you!)

I hope you all enjoy viewing Part 1. More to come in Part 2. To those seen in the video………Bravo! You should be very proud of yourselves and I hope you refer to this video when you need a shot of inspiration. Love you all.

For info about the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, please visit their website:

http://www2.sewanee.edu/ssmf

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***REMINDER: please take a moment to view Episode 132 and contact Mr. Fulton Stone with inquiries/bids. Thanks, all!***

A new project happening in Atlanta, Il Brasso Magnifico is the brainchild of our friend Mark Williamson.

What makes this group unique is the fact that all the literature performed is public domain. Plus, all recordings, performances, and sheet music will be FREE to the general public. Wow! Thanks, Mark:-)

And, let’s be honest…..the guy is a MONSTER E-flat horn player!

Please visit the website and tell your friends:

www.ilbrassomagnifico.org

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More with Harry!

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Recently, Colin and Brad put the call out to do some rehearsing/filming for the Podcasts. Fun stuff. Challenging stuff.

We rehearsed once for each of the 2 sessions in this Episode, then rolled camera.  Some of Brad’s students were in the audience, but that’s it. YOU were our intended audience and this performance is for all of our viewers. Thanks for all the love and support you give to us. We hope you enjoy these impromptu “hangs”. Our goal is to do more and more of these. Getting together with friends and “pushing the envelope” with challenging music is a great way to spend an afternoon! (If you have suggestions for future repertoire, or if you write for trombone ensemble, please let us know.)

I would personally like to thank all the performers in this Episode:

Colin Williams, Bill Thomas, Brad Palmer, George Curran, Mark McConnell, Jim Cumiskey, and Jeff Koonce.

You guys rock my face off:-)

Special thanks to Colin and Brad for organizing everyone’s schedule. Thanks, too, to Columbus State University, for allowing us access to the magnificent Legacy Hall.

We hope you enjoy these, ladies and gentlemen, and perhaps gain from them. There is within this episode a nice variety of musical styles. There are no edits (whose got that kind of time?). Is there a note or 2 we’d like to have back….sure. But that ain’t what this is about. This is a “live” performance as best we could manage. I can tell you discussions were had about phrasing, articulations, balance, timbre, tempi, etc. Chamber music really makes you listen and “fit in”. To the students among us: there are some MASTERS at work here, I hope you are paying attention!

Perhaps you could really learn by watching this with friends (they needn’t be trombonists) and discussing/debating/dissecting our performance…..what do you notice? What do you hear? What do you like? What do you hate? Send us questions if they arise. We really are inviting feedback, have I mentioned that? Your feedback will help us on the next go-around. May it be soon!

PS- Know what? We don’t even have a name for our group yet!?

Any suggestions???????

Thanks, everybody……

Peace:-)

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This visit was a real treat and I have Stanford Thompson to thank for it! He was recently back in his home town of Atlanta and he brought some friends from The Curtis Institute……

Philos Brass!

I think you’ll love ‘em.

Thanks for the hang, guys. I really enjoyed meeting you. Sorry about the Eagles. But GO STEELERS!!!!!

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(NOTE: click on the title of this episode to see updated comments)

Just an audio clip here, ladies and gents, in mp3 format. A chance for you to really stretch those ears and show your listening prowess:-)

Who IS this trombone artist? A prize for the first one to correctly identify this beautiful sound. (Not sure what the prize is just yet, but it will be radically cool and you’ll want to win it.)

I’ll leave the “Comments” open on this one (God help us all!) so you can readily venture a guess. You can always email me, too, with a guess or comments:

tom@trombonelessons.com

Very soon, this artist will be coming on to sit and chat with us about his adventurous and fun-filled life with the trombone… and lucky for us, he has a lot more tracks to share.

Please Enjoy:

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Merry Christmas, everybody!

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Marty Mikles is one talented guy….and he shares his talents selflessly. He is a very active soldier in the Salvation Army, an organization for which I have developed an immense admiration.

I’ve heard him tell people that I was his teacher. The truth is, I have learned more from him than I ever could impart to any student. He inspires me (and everyone around him) and I’m glad to make the introduction for you. Please enjoy meeting him, then stop by his website to say “Hello”. One quick glimpse at his Guestbook and you can see quite clearly that his influence is widespread and often profound. His website is here:

www.martymikles.com

In this Episode, I was honored to join Marty and his friends in the studio to record a new song, “Stand Up”. (Darryl, Robert, Bernie, and Lex….you guys rock!) Marty composed it, orchestrated it, sang it, played guitar on it, helped record and produce it. Amazing. His solo album, “Running in Circles” is fabulous, too!

Thanks, Marty, and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone (well, those in the United States….to all else, PEACE:-)

LOOK! Now you can now download The Piedmont Trombone Society’s debut album “Let’s Get Lost” (winner of the ITA’s 2004 Kai Winding Award). Click the button below for details. We thank you for your support! We will use these profits to start our 2nd album. Thanks, everybody.

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Some very interesting feedback on The Drones Episode from our resident physicist, Greg, plus tips from Ron……and Kingsized! The links mentioned herein include:

Tone Generator: http://www.nch.com.au/tonegen/

Audacity (great recording software….and FREE): http://audacity.sourceforge.net

And this we received from Ron:

“You may find these two websites helpful with the supporting calculations you may need to make:

<http://www.birdsoft.demon.co.uk/music/notecalc.htm> is a Frequency to Note calculator.  Put in a frequency and it will provide the nearest note and the offset in cents (440Hz = A4).

<http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/notes.html> goes the other way giving a table for finding the frequency of a given note….While looking for a better tuner, I came across a better source of data for generating drones: Go to the Peterson Tuner website (click here) and click on Tuning Library, then select Cents to Frequency Chart from the pull down menu. A programmable table is generated which gives note to frequency (and vice versa) translations. This includes offsets by a number of cents, which eases building intervals with just temperament, etc. You can also go directly to the page at:

http://www.petersontuners.com/index.cfm?category=15

Peterson Tuners uses Adobe Flash for the display of this table.”

Thanks to Ron, Greg, and all of you for the great feedback. Students, believe me: even a cursory exploration of these resources, I believe, will improve your overall sound production and intonation. It will open your ears, and perhaps the creative mind.

Check out Kingsized HERE Ladies and Gents: www.kingsized.biz

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Larry-Douglas Embury is the resident organist at the Fabulous Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. As such, he has been given custodial care and exclusive performance rights on “Mighty Mo” , the awe-inspiring organ built in 1929 and still functioning beautifully today.

Larry was most kind in giving us a tour of “Mighty Mo” from the helm. While this episode may have precious little to do with trombone…I trust you will find this time well spent. Any musician who loves his instrument like Larry loves his “Mighty Mo” is a delight to witness. I hope you agree! Besides, you ain’t never seen an instrument like “Mo”. If you’ve been fortunate enough to attend a show at The Fox and hear Larry “live”, then you know what I mean.

He does shows throughout the year, with his “Larry, Carols, and Mo” Christmas Concert being among the most popular annual events in town! Tickets are free, but you better get them early each year. More about Larry can be learned at the Fox’ website:

http://www.foxtheatre.org/

You can order his recordings while there, too, and I highly recommend the DVD/CD done in 5.1 Surround Sound. It’s called “Sonic Bloom”. Check it out HERE.

He is also a musical force behind DuoArts, and you can learn more about that HERE.

Hope you enjoy meeting Larry and “Mighty Mo” ladies and gentlemen. Next time you’re in Atlanta and are lucky enough to catch a show at the Fox, stop by the console and say hello! I’m quite sure that Larry would love to meet you.

Thanks for the quality time, Larry! See you at the Holiday Show:-)

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What a nice surprise……Robbie Kleinberg called to say that he’d be passing through Atlanta with his Dad as they were making their way from Boca Raton, FL to Indiana University, where Robbie will be a Sophomore this year. They stopped by last year, too, as they made the annual trek to school. I hope we do it each and every year, Robbie!

Mr. Kleinberg is a very talented young man, as you’ll hear in this episode. I get the sense he works very hard, too, at his music. Inspiring.

We hope you enjoy this one as we play some duets and talk a bit about trombone and other stuff. The duets we play are by Marco Katz and Michael Davis. They both write great stuff for trombonists! Please visit their websites and buy their wares:

Marco Katz’ website: www.marcokatz.com

Michael Davis’ website: www.hip-bonemusic.com

PS- this is a large file, but I think you’ll agree that it looks and sounds better than most previous episodes. Robbie, you see, is also a whiz with computers and brought along his HD camera. He hipped me to some new compression formats and convinced me that a new camera is in order (IE: fund drive may start soon:-)

What can I say, it’s a learning process and I thank Robbie for his technical expertise. And, while I’m at it, I thank ALL of you for the support and advice you are giving. I appreciate it tremendously……..Y’all are smart, Ron:-)

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From the wildly imaginative mind of Erik Kofoed comes a most unique sound……..The Mercury Orkestar.

Sure to put a smile on your face (we hope!), please enjoy meeting some members of this whacked-out, manic, groovin’ band.

They can be visited on the Web at:

www.myspace.com/mercuryseason

Hope to see you at a show!

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It’s a perk that derives from doing these Podcasts…..I sometimes get to “rub elbows” with the most inspiring, fascinating, and impressive musicians. This episode is yet another example!

Oystein Baadsvik, the great Norwegian Tubist, was a special guest at this year’s International Euphonium Institute at Emory University. He was kind enough to grant us this interview and we all enjoyed getting to know him. I am quite sure that you will, too.

You can visit Mr. Baadsvik at his website:

http://www.baadsvik.com

Thank you, Mr. Baadsvik, for a great week at IEI and we hope to see you again very soon!

You can learn more about Emory University, the host of IEI, and their Music Department here:

http://music.emory.edu/

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The Juilliard School, located adjacent to Lincoln Center in New York City, is a marvelous place. The faculty and students are world-class. It sits in the heart of one of the world’s most vibrant and energetic cultural centers. Every time I visit there, I come away awed and inspired. In this Episode, I visit with my friends Clayton Chastain and Marc Boehm. I knew them both when they were high school standouts here in Atlanta. All of us here in the ATL are incredibly proud of these 2 young men! It’s great to see them working so hard, learning so much, and living so fully. They will introduce us to some of their friends; we’ll play a bit; and they’ll tell us what its like to be studying at one of the world’s finest conservatories. Hope you enjoy meeting them! Thanks for the “hang” fellas.

Also in this episode, we announce that viewers of the Podcasts can use our password to download SmartMusic for $25. This is made possible by the generous contributions of you viewers. Thanks to everybody that has donated to make this possible.

SmartMusic, as you may know, is one of my favorite tools for music-making. It’s an incredible resource for those that make use of it. We encourage you all to check it out and try it. Hours of fun await you:-)

PS- just one day after this interview, Mr. Chastain performed his first Brandenburg Concerto! It’s a fabulous performance, available at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISt0Qxm5Z7Q

Clayton used to be a trombone player, but for some stupid reason, he switched to trumpet. Oh, well, seems to be working out well for him:-)

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Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen!

In this Episode, I’m pleased to introduce my friends from the US Air Force Reserve Band’s Brass Quintet. The players are:

Michael Richter, trumpet

Thomas Salyers, trumpet

Michael Pekarek, horn

John Caputo, trombone (and euphonium)

Michael Andrew, tuba

These guys are great! They have a new CD out, too. More info about the CD and the US Air Force Reserve Band can be found at their website: http://www.band.afrc.af.mil

A career as a military musician can be a really wonderful experience. If you have any questions about it, I would encourage you to contact these gentlemen. They are marvelous performers and seem to have a lot of fun doing their jobs. I’m sure they’d be happy to talk to you about their careers as military musicians. I speak from experience when I say that playing in a military band can be an awesome thing!

BTW- I just received word from Colin that he has been invited to the Final round for the Principal Trombone job with the Boston Symphony! I know we all join in wishing him the best of luck. Although, as I was recently reminded….luck comes to the well-prepared mind:-) You’re an inspiration to us all, Colin. Bravo.

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***NOTICE: the original posting on March 1 had a few typos. This is a re-edited version. You may wish to download again. If you have the original (with typos), I guess you have a rare “collector’s edition”. Could be worth million$ one day:-) ***

Wow, it’s been nearly 3 weeks since our last post……sorry to those of you suffering withdrawals:-) Things have been quite busy ’round here, so I apologize for the delay. But, I’ve got a good one for you this week:

Through our friend, Dr. Robert Ambrose, the Atlanta Trombone Quartet (actually a quintet) was asked to record a newly published work by Andrew Rindfleisch. It is a beautiful quartet for trombones entitled “Chorale and Prayer”. In this episode, you get a peek into the recording session. I think you’ll agree that the music is absolutely gorgeous. It’s also nice to see the great interaction between these master trombonists and Robert, who produced the recording. Our thanks to the members of The Church of the Redeemer here in Atlanta. Their lovely sanctuary proved to be the perfect venue for this solemn and uplifting music.

You’ll hear only a portion of the piece. If you’d like to hear the rest of it, we think you should buy it and play it with your friends! Trombone Love to Mr. Rindfleisch, you know?

It’s available through Manzo Music, at: www.manzomusic.com

If you’d like to know more about the composer, Andrew Rindfleisch, please visit his website: www.andrewrindfleisch.com

Thanks for all the great emails! We are thrilled and humbled by the responses we’re getting to the Podcasts. Love you guys. Peace.

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A while back, a very nice gentleman named Gary Garner contacted us about Episode 18, where we play and talk about the Bruckner Sym. No. 8.

Gary is retired from West Texas A&M University, where he was the Director of Bands. He was invited to do a clinic at the Texas Bandmasters Convention on INTONATION. He asked if he could use our Bruckner 8 in his presentation. We were honored to abide, of course, but if you’ll recall the audio fidelity was not the greatest. In Episode 18, the audio feed is off my camera’s mic. Not bad, but not great. We had the really nice mics in the hall recording the entire session, though. So I re-edited the video for Mr. Garner, using the better audio from the mics in the hall.

This is just a very short clip, but I think you’ll like it…….the complete discussion about this excerpt can be found in Episode 18.

If you have good speakers and/or good headphones, now’s the time to use ‘em.

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