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Title:
Maintain your Fabulous Valve Instrument?
Article:
After your instrument is cleaned and polished, what are some of the items you will need
in order to keep your fabulous instrument fabulous? First of all, you will need a
bottle of "Valve oil".
Tubas, baritones, Euponiums, flugal horns, trumpets, valve
trombones and french horns use valve oil to keep the valves in perfect playing order.
This bottle of valve oil is used to lubricate the instrument's valves.
This is what you do. Carefully remove the top lids of the valves by screwing off the
lid. (Hint) It is probably smart to remove one valve at a time. The cylinder inside
must be lubricated with the valve oil. Apply a few drops onto the internal valve
cylinder and return the cylinder to the instrument. There is a trick to putting the
valve back on. Carefully and slowly return the cylinder to its proper place by slowly
turning the cylinder until you sense a "click" when the valve is properly seated in its
place. This may take a few time to get it right. Once this happens, then screw the
valve lid back on. Test the valve by pressing it a few times to spread the valve oil
inside the instrument's chamber. Do this for each of the valves.
It takes practice, but once you get a feel of it, it isn't that difficult. If you
really have a problem with it go to your local band/music store for assistance.
Remember, your trumpet should be your pride and joy. Treat it that way. You should
have to pay more than 2-7 dollars for the bottle. It is relatively inexpensive and
provides your instrument with the lubrication it needs.
Article #7
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Do you have trouble reading music? This book is sure to help you out. This book is great for beginners and for others who are rusty in reading music.
Just One Way to Memorize a Piece of Music
There are many techniques, but I learned this technique from my music teacher in Corpus Christi, Texas back in the old days. First, I would make sure I understood the rhythms and time/key signatures. I would then proceed to learn the piece one measure at a time. I would also perform the piece at a much slower tempo, in order to correctly play the notes and rhythms. Use a metronome for this purpose. Many are available in your music store or here (see link below) for a great price. For example, if the piece was set to play at 120 bpm (beats per minute), I would set the metronome at a very slow 60 bpm until I mastered the songs at that tempo. Then and only then, I would increase the tempo by a comfortable step. Maybe at 70 bpm. I would again play the piece until it was mastered. Then, I would set the metronome to 80 bpm, then to 90 bpm, then to 100 bpm, then to 110 bpm and finally at 120 bpm. If I made a mistake I would then reduce the tempo and try again. Metronomes are very useful tools in learning music. They help you keep strict time.
Article #6
Fixing a stuck tuning slide.
First, identify the stuck tuning slide. That should be too hard.
Its probably the one that is stuck. :)
Then, use a strong rag (like an old T-shirt or bath towel) and loop
the rag around the curbed end of the slide.
Get a friend to firmly hold the instrument.
Now, pull hard on the rag to extract the stuck slide. Pull the slide in the out
direction by the rag.
If the slide is still stuck, try again, and again. You may need some stronger
people to hold the instrument and pull the rag.
Once the slide is removed, use Brasso (metal cleaner from the super marker) to
clean the dirty brass postion of the slide. Clean the slide until it is a very shiny
metal. Do not clean the lacquered portion of the slide.
When the tuning slide is cleaned, apply (spread) a thin layer of tuning slide
grease on to the slide. It only needs to go on the shiny metal.
After you have applied the grease onto the slide, you can now put
back the tuning slide back onto the instrument. I like to put one end
of the tuning slide in and twist the slide back and forth, in and out to
spread the grease around. Completely remove the tuning slide and
do the same to the other side.
Try to clean the whole instrument to avoid this problem in the first place. See article #4 below.
The H.W. Brass-Saver set has revolutionized the way brass players clean their instruments. These brushes can be used wet or dry, contain absolutely no metal, and they won't scratch or get stuck. Their unique design is so flexible, they reach parts of the horn never before accessible. Available for Trumpet, Trombone and Tuba.
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Article #5
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Possible Uses for your Plastic CD Spindle Cover
Use #1. One use of the CD spindle cover is to use it as a "tip" jar, when you play gigs. You can decorate it to make it look more presentable. I just used black colored sticky paper to decoreate the outside of the cup. Use glitter to make it even more shiny.
Use #2 - I'm sure that you can probably think of many fine uses for the Clear plastic CD spindle cover, that comes with your purchase of CDs. I have found another use of these plastic covers for a "spit container". If you are a brass instrument player, like I am, and you are playing a gig in a place where some people look down at you when you release the water key contents on the floor. Use can solve this problem by using the CD spindle cover as a "cup", so to speak, to hold the deposits of your water key. I like to put a folded paper towel inside the cup to absorb the moisture. When you have completed your gig, you can just toss the paper towel.
If you know of any other uses of the clear plastic CD spindle cover, drop me a line and I'll try to include it on my website. Please make it useful for musicians to use.
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Article #4
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How to Clean a Brass Instrument
Items you will need.
1. one small can of Brasso (from your local supermarket)
2. numerous rags to clean the instrument
3. numerous brushes - (mouthpiece, slide, valves)
4. a bath tub
5. valve oil, tuning slide grease
First fill the bathtub with soapy warm water. Use very mild soap. Fill tub to about 5-8 inches.
Next, take apart your instrument by removing the mouthpiece, tuning slides, valves, etc... Let the instrument soak in the warm water for about 15-20 minutes.
Clean the outside of the instrument with the mild soap. Use the assorted brushes to clean inside the bore of your mouthpiece, slides, and valves.
When you are done cleaning the soaked instrument, drain the water from the tub. Dry the instrument using a towel. Most of all, clean the dirty ring around the tub. Your mother will thank you for that!
After you have dried the instrument with a towel, its time to clean the tuning slide brass. Apply some Brasso cleaner onto a rag and clean the dirt stuck in the tuning slide. DO NOT CLEAN THE LACQUER FINISH ON THE INSTRUMENT WITH THE BRASSO. It will damage the finish of your instrument. Clean the "brass parts" only of the tuning slide until it is very shiny. If there is a spot left, keep trying to clean it until it is spotless. You'll be happy you did. It takes quite a bit of work to do this so don't get discouraged.
Once your arm is tired of cleaning the tuning slide, it should be real shiny!
Now you can apply the tuning slide grease to the newly cleaned brass portion of the tuning slide. It just needs just enough to cover the brass area of the slide. Don't over do it. If you do, just wipe it off and try again. As you attempt to replace the slide back onto the instrument, I like to just insert one side of the tuning slide in order to spread the grease well. Then, I insert the other side by itself to spread the grease in the other side. Wipe off any excess grease from the instrument.
For valved instrument, carefully oil the valves using valve oit and insert them into the correct valve cylinder.
Trombone players can use the trombone slide oil or use the cremes.
Use an instrument clothe to buff the lacquer until the lacquer is shiny. That's it! Following this procedure should help you maintain your instrument in great condition for many years to come. Now that you know how to clean your horn.
Feel free to click on the instrument below that you are interested in investigating/purchasing.
To clean the grunge out, disinfect, and remove mineral deposits, we recommend soaking the REKA snake's rubber sponge in REKA-DES before cleaning. This special soap mixture can also be used in the water of an instrument bath.
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Article #3
Get your iTunes here. Click below to order it.
 
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CD Production
I started my digital audio studio about 10 years ago in 1995.
I bought what I could afford at that time. The center pieces of my
studio are the ECHO Layla (20 bit) DAW and Cakewalk Pro Audio 9.
One day I will upgrade to Sonar as the budget allows. I wanted to
go through the process of composing original compositions and rearranging
songs and putting them on a music CD.
In 2000, my first instrumental music CD was released and is called "Jubilosos
Te Adoramos". It was my first experience with the process.
I was hooked. I also purchased Sound Forge v6.0 to master the tracks
and prepare them to be burned to a CD and sent to Discmakers to press many
of them. I wasted too much money on purchasing too many CD and tapes.
I learned my lesson. I was not able to sell them as I would have
liked.
I would suggest that you buy an inexpensive graphis program like JASC
Paint Shop Pro to create your artwork and print it out on CD labels by
using your own printer. You should also burn your own CDs.
You should start marketing your music CD to your family, friends and
co-workers. They are usually easiest to convince. I'm assuming
you have a great music CD to sell. At that level of marketing, they
are your best customers.
Interested in purchasing Sonar from Cakewalk, click on the music123
link below to make that happen for you. They have a full array of
software for the musician, including the latest versions of Sound Forge. |
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Article #2
Click below to get yours!
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Build your FAN club
If you would like to generate support for your music in terms of people
getting interested in your music, I would like to suggest that you
create a yahoo group.
What is that, you ask? It's a place online in the yahoo web site, where
you can invite potential fans to join. Just click on the "Groups"
link at Yahoo's site. There are instruction on how to create your
own yahoo group.
I would suggest that you pre-screen your potential members by talking
to them about the group. Tell them that you follow a very rigid set
of rules for the group. Tell them that their email addresses will
not be abused in any way. Don't ever betray their trust in this manner!!
If you remain true to your word, with time the site will grow with new
members as you invite them.
I started one called "dgc_music" and it is by invitation only.
I provide photos of my music adventures and short video clips of my performances.
A few times a month, I post a message to all members of the group to keep
them informed of my music endeavors. I also let them know about my
future plans and dreams about my music. I usually let the membership
know about future gigs and invite them to come and listen to the band,
if the are in the vicinity.
The cost is free. The yahoo groups are a free service from Yahoo.
You only need to set up an account by filling out a form to establish a
yahoo email account.
Feel free to click on the links provided. |
Article #1
Click on image to enter the giveaway!
 
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Keyboard Tricks!
In my experiences as a participant in "live" performances, I have learned a
few neat tricks you can do to enhance your keyboard sounds. One would be to
get familiar with your keyboard manual and learn how to manipulate the sound
patches using the onboard interface menus and buttons to adjust parameters
of the sounds (patches). A more simple way to enhance your sound on the keyboard
is to "midi" them together. Your main keyboard will be the master and a second
keyboard or sound module is your slave. Here is how to connect the instruments
together. Set the slave keyboard/sound module to receive on the channel that
the MASTER keyboard is sending (transmitting) on. Usually channel 1. Set the
volumes on both instruments to balance the sounds. Send the outputs of both
instruments to a mixer or house sound system. Experiment with your patches
(sounds) and explore the sonic textures available on the instruments.
Mix and Match. The possibilities are great! Feel free to click on the links
provided. You can get the latest musical products from the link below.
Try it.
Feel free to click on the links provided. |
I'm having a blast with my music keyboards. Get your new Electronic Keyboard by clicking below.
Keyboard Accesories @ Music123
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