TromboneChat

Yes, welcome, Nate!

Nice doggy.

 It's from the internet 

Hello I'm Jimmy. I'm 16, from Adelaide, Australia. I am at Marryatville High School, and play lead bone with their 1st Big Band.

Hi Jimmy! Welcome to the forum.

hi Jimmy

Jimmy, welcome to the forum!

Hi,

I'm not exactly new but I never did introduce myself.  I didn't see this thread before tonight so that's the reason.  I have only one loyalty, and that is truth.  My philosophy is if that creates conflict so be it.  I'm sort of Aristotelian/Socratic in my outlook.  I neither welcome nor shy away from controversy.  In Los Angeles where I live, I am one of the most vocal critics of the union local and the RMA (Recording Musicians Assoc.) leadership. 

The reason for that is because between the RMA and Local 47's control over contracts and pricing, most of the recording work has left Los Angeles.  Most of it has gone to Prague, Bratislava, London, Seattle, Salt lake City, Canada, Houston, Hungary, you name it.  Why?  Because we live in a buyout world (whether we like it or not) and Local 47/RMA policy is 'no buyouts anytime under any circumstances.'  What that means is, to quote the liberals, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

In other words, for those of you understandably confused at this point, there are only a handful of the recording elite working in LA anymore.  And they're enjoying the full Monty -- back end payments, double, triple scale etc., while a large population of musicians in Los Angeles -- and good musicians -- are unemployed.  It is a travesty.

We don't have a free market here in LA.  Shame on us.  The rank and file are allowing the elites to run most of the work out of town.  It is a disgrace.

So maybe you heard it here first?

Aside from all that I've played bass trombone all over North America, Europe and Japan with all sorts of groups.  I've been fortunate to have wonderful opportunities.  I strongly encourage younger musicians to go for maximum glory, but I will also tell you the truth as I see it.

All the best,
Paz   

Thanks for sharing your experience, Paz.

It's long been an axiom, especially in the big markets like LA and New York, that it is as much "who you know" as "what you know".  You can't just walk into a theater on Broadway, play a great audition, and be hired.  Somebody has to recommend you.  I'm sure it's the same at the studios in LA.

One point of difference I'll make is that there is no limit to the greed of the guys hiring musicians.  I see this again and again, even in a small market like here in the sticks.  People all think that since musicians are having "fun" playing, they'll do it for free.  They don't seem to treat the sports players, who also are having "fun" the same way!  If they only appreciated the work that has to go on behind the scenes (hours of dedicated practice, rehearsals, etc.) maybe they would be willing to treat musicians like they treat everybody else.  Ahh, but why should they change the philosophy of centuries

That's for sure Bruce.  And musicians are in part responsible for this because they are often so eager to do some playing they will just give it away.

That's one of the reasons markets are important, in my view, because as screwy as it all gets at least its not so likely to be controlled by a few people or by union strong-arm tactics.

I remember when I lived in NY, which is also a strong union town, it wasn't so bad because there were seemingly more differentiation in the business and more contractors.

Paz

pazuni, welcome to the forum!

Hello!

I am from Suffolk, in England.

I go to Ipswich School, I am the first trombone in the 2nd orchestra. (There is only 1 trombonist, which is me)

I plan to join the Big Band sometime soon, when I'm a little better.....

Our school has 4 trombonists, out of ~800 people.

Hello!

Welcome to the Forum!

Sorry, I just corrected a bit of your spelling....

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks!

 Hello. I'm Trombownage. I know my user name is extremely cheesy, but meh. 
I am currently a tenor trombonist. Not the best, but I'm defiantly improving every since I got into marching band. I've been playing ever since 6th grade and I'm now a freshman. You can do the math to find out how many years I've been playing.
 I'm curretly 1st chair in my band, but it doesn't mean much because not many people in this band really care. =P
That's a little info. on me. I guess I'll be seeing you around the forum.

Welcome to the forum Trombownage Don't be shy about posting

Thanks. I'll try to post daily. 

Howdy Hey!

I am 21, I live in Cardiff during term time and Manchester in the off season. I am currently studying at the RWCMD.
Quartets seem to be my thing, have been for about 3 years so I have got a couple together lol!

Anyone on BTS will know me as HT7! You guys here can call me that too! 

Hello!

Welcome to the forum.

What about if we're a reeeeeeeeeeally old member and we're just coming back ... that count??   

Welcome back!  What are you up to?

Quote from: Pyrepapayabeast on Dec 23, 2007, 04:42PMWhat about if we're a reeeeeeeeeeally old member and we're just coming back ... that count??   

Hey! Of course it does! Welcome back!

Quote from: Pyrepapayabeast on Dec 23, 2007, 04:42PMWhat about if we're a reeeeeeeeeeally old member and we're just coming back ... that count??   

Long time, no see type!

It's good to be back around the forum.  I don't even know where I've been ... or where I am ... *gets existential n' stuff*, but I'm still playing a ton!

 

Loving that wave smiley.  So welcoming.

Hey, I'm Rob.  Been tromboning for 7 years, and hopefully it'll get me into a college where i can learn to trombone for the rest of my life.

The amount of expertise on this forum is pretty remarkable, not gonna lie.  I like it. 

So yeah, I'll be around.

Hi, Rob! Welcome aboard.

I just saw that the latest new member was 'Trom Bone'. Wow. I would have thought all the simple, trombone-related user names were long gone - but apparently not!

Anyway, hello Trom Bone, if you do venture in here anytime soon. Good to have you around!

That surprised me too!

Hi, I'm Tim. I've been playing since around 1985. Played pretyy consistently for several years and ended up studying at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada with the teacher there, Jay Castello.
After that my playing has been sporadic and I'm asd to say my 88h and the 1960's 48h I inheirited from my Dad have lived in the closet for the last 2-3 years. I got asked to play some Christmas music at a few churches this year and re-found my love for playing. In short, I'm back and looking forward to tapping into the wealth of knowledge that appears to exist here.
Anyone else here live in York Region? (just north of Toronto)

Hi Tim, and welcome.

We have a few Torontans (Torontoans?) here.  If you skim some of the posts, you may find them (I can't name anybody offhand).

Good luck getting back into playing.  Use your local music store or University to get some leads on ensembles to join.  I think there are amateur bands all over the world and I can't believe there isn't at least one within 50 miles (80 Km) of you.

Howdy all!

To a number of you, I will be "new."  Some of you will think, "We didn't get rid of him with the forum change over???"  To all, however, I say hello.

Since the last time I logged in here, many things have changed.  I finished my internship, and am now a fully licensed (but unemployed) teacher of social studies.  I'm subbing when and where I can.  We moved to Midland, MI this past July.  Nice to be back up in this area.

Along with umpiring Little League baseball, I began officiating football this past fall.  My middle son joined Cub Scouts last year.  This year, all three of my sons are involved in Scouting.  I am volunteering as the Assistant Cubmaster for the pack, and the Unit Commissioner for the troop which my oldest son has joined.  I had been in scouts in my youth.  I had forgotten how much I love the world of Scouting.  In many ways, I feel like I've come home again.

I've decided to go back to school and add a math minor to my certification . . . hopefully this will make me more marketable.  Teaching jobs are sparse enough here in Michigan.  Social Studies jobs are not to be found.  And if someone retires, there are a ton of resumes for each position.  Not a good time to be a teacher in Michigan. 

At any rate, it is good to be back.  I look forward to catching up on what is going on in the world of trombones and trombonists.  I need to find some good, new trombone compact discs.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Hi there, Bob! Welcome back.

Hi Bob.

When I was investigating going into teaching when my Engineering job went bust, I found out that the schools here in New England (and maybe where you are, too) have several "critical shortages" of teachers.  Over here it's Math, all the Sciences, and (surprisingly) Music.  I find Music to be rather odd because all my music teacher friends seem to be the first ones to get the pink slips when budget cuts have to be made.

Welcome back and keep active.

Welcome back [s]Kotter[/s] Bob!

hello all forum members

my name is alex, i just joined the forum after reading it for a few days. i play the trombone and my main interests are in jazz, but i also like playing classical music as well. i am still in highschool, grade 11, and i am planing on graduating and going to university for a BA in jazz performance.

cheers,
alex

Welcome to the forum, Alex! Can I ask what schools are on your list for jazz performance? (Just curious)

i am thinking University of Toronto, or Brandon University

I'm basically new here and love it.  I wish I'd been here a long time ago.

I'm a music teacher in Arizona and about halfway through the coursework for my Doctorate in Music Education at Arizona State University.

I studied trombone with Bob McAllister (Phoenix Symphony -- retired), Tom Ervin (past ITA President), and Lewis Van Haney (I had one lesson before he passed away and I played at his funeral).

I also play tuba.  Though I've never formally taken tuba lessons, I did audition my way into Pat Sheridan and Sam Pilafian's Access All Areas Tuba Camp in 2002 on both Euphonium and Tuba.

When I play trombone, it's my Holton TR158 Van Haney model.

When I play Bass trombone, it's an F.E. Olds NS22D.

Euphonium?  Yamaha YEP641s.

Tuba?  Besson 995CCs and (soon to arrive) Willson 3200s F tuba.

I'm also a member of the Conductors Guild as well as ITEA and ITA.

With all that, I teach 4th-8th Grade band in the Scottsdale Unified School District and assist with a community band at a local community college.

I love everything low brass and am thrilled to find a decent trombone forum to be a aprt of.  All the oher trombone message board I've been involved in have been dead.  No one posts anything, much less anything interesting. 

tromboneforum.org is awesome.  I love it.

Welcome to the forum!

And if anyone's interested, I have a myspace page at  www.myspace.com/AmmonRog

It'd be great to hear from great trombone players.

ROG

Just found this topic and it seems to be a good reason to say Hello! to everyone here.
My name is Mikhail Kapustin. The information about me is avaliable at: http://www.trombonesonline.com/artist-trombone/mikhailkapustin.htm 
Everything there is correct except that last autumn I got a new bass trombone Yamaha YBL-822G Xeno. 
Since 1997 I live and work in Finland, but now and then visit my native town St.Petersburg (Russia).
I´m also a Moderator at the Brass Forum at: www.brassmusic.ru

Welcome, Roger and Mikhail!

Hi, I'm Manex Berzosa. I´m from Ordizia, in the Basque Country, in Europe.
I have just find this page. As most of you are Americans I wanna tell that I'm shocked with your school bands.
I went to visit some friends to California and while I was in Alamo, near San Francisco, I had the chance to see some high school bands and high school jazz combos. I was really surprised down here, in my country, high schools doesn´t have bands (very few towns have a band in may area), of course, marching bands are usually smaller in The Basque Country (10-15 musicians, you know this is a small place) but what really made me to feel interested in those American bands was the great show they offer. Since that day I have discovered the "battle of bands" and the "trombone suicide", I have see how many sousaphones can you have in the same band...
As you see I´m still shocked!!!

Welcome, Manex! Great to see another European here.

Howdy all! I recently picked up my t-bone after a 20 some year hiatus. I HAD a King 3B silversonic w/F attachment. Someone broke into my car and stole it. This was in 1979. After that I inherited my dad's E.K. Blessing and his King euphonium. My dad was a music instructor. He graduated from San Francisco State, and taught elementary band so I had a good background to start with.  Both instruments are over 50 years old and in excellent condition. (He saved his paper route money to buy the euphonium). After being bugged for several months to join the local community band I showed up trombone in hand. I was told they needed more players in the trombone section. When I showed up, I found out I WAS the trombone section. We play several concerts throughout the year for the senior center. 

Manix Wrote "I have see how many sousaphones can you have in the same band... "

There is a show here called "California's Gold" hosted by Huell Howser. It airs on the local Public Broadcasting Statins (PBS). At Christmas he did a special on Tuba Christmas or check this out... http://www.tubachristmas.com/ Totally awesome 

Welcome, Jack.

Welcome to TTF!!!

Quote from: Jackofalltrades on Jan 23, 2008, 10:05PM
There is a show here called "California's Gold" hosted by Huell Howser. It airs on the local Public Broadcasting Statins (PBS). At Christmas he did a special on Tuba Christmas or check this out... http://www.tubachristmas.com/ Totally awesome 

I saw the web and some of the you tube videos of the tuba thing... thats amazing!!!
If al the basque tuba players would get together we won't be even the half of them...
Thank you for the new experience...

I'm a horribly misguided valved soprano trombone (translation:trumpet) player that has been talked into joining the forum.  I am a new band director so I do at least own a trombone.  My mother (a trombone forumite) proudly tells me from time to time that trombone was really my first instrument.  This is quite damaging to my trumpet ego, but I at least managed to test out of the trombone portion of class brass in college.  Mom credits that to trombone "lessons" at 18 months old.  I credit it to being a trumpet player which automatically makes me good at everything (at least in my own mind).  Must go to bed now since it is getting late and a certain trombone player *coMOMugh* let me go into music education of all things.  That will be a rant for later, though.