My first encounter with Band In a Box a.k.a bb,biab was well over twenty years ago when I saw it used on a few gigs by local musicians. They dragged their desk top computers to their gig as they had bb installed on it. At the time it was simply midi but very useful for creating accompaniments quickly and easily using one of the several midi styles. There are the basic instrumentation tracks; bass, drums piano,guitar, strings, melody and soloist. Today, it's quite a bit evolved from my first bb which was, I think version seven. Yeah you guessed it, I became an expert at it after so many years of using it for my own professional use. I learned every aspect of the program, what it can do and what it can't.
The program is quite easy to use once you get the hang of it as all you need to do to get started with your first tune after the install, is to type in some chords, pick a style and click play or generate and the program does all of the rest for you. You don't need other musicians and having to deal with ego and personal problems. The best part is that the program will do exactly what you tell it to do instead of arguing with you. As a practicing tool, it don't get any better than this. The tempo can be slowed down to a crawl if need be without affecting the sound allowing the student to work at their own pace and speed gradually increasing it until they can play up to speed.
Today the program is quite sophisticated as there are more styles and audio files created by recording artists in all genres. They have come up with some great midi files also created by recording artists giving the midi files a less rigid sound. The audio files are awesome and the user has a choice of having the entire accompaniment played by recording artists. You can even have some great solos in your tunes, all real played by real musicians. Sometimes if need be one could learn to play one of the solos by following the notes, piano keyboard or the guitar fret windows and slowing down the tempo to what ever. There is even the option of a vocalist altho synthetic. All one needs to do is to write in the lyrics and press create and after a while you can hear someone singing.
There is nothing out there that comes close to bb nor its versatility. I still use it after all these years. I like the external hard drive as it saves me a lot of space, over eighty gigs, on my computer as the whole thing is installed on the external drive. I can literally take it anywhere and connect it to my lap top via USB. Now is the best time to get your bb, that is if you are thinking about it, because they've just come out with a new version and since there are still a few bugs in it, the price is the lowest of the year. Bugs are usually fixed in their several updates/fixes which you will need to keep up with but perhaps the saving will make up for it. The initial cost if you don't already have bb will be a bit more than you might expect it to be but, I would suggest acquiring the least expensive one as they have several packages and then upgrade for a lot less later. To see what I mean, check out all of their prices and compare them. Here are a few links: http://www.pgmusic.com/bbwin.htm
http://www.pgmusic.com/bbwin.packages.htm
Showing posts with label Band In A Box. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Band In A Box. Show all posts
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
a quick study
Learning to play a new musical instrument or even learning how to improve on an existing one isn't such a big deal and can be a lot of fun if you know how to do it. Unfortunately, music teachers using the traditional methods can become extremely boring and often times the student becomes discouraged and quits. I recently (Jan. 2015) began learning a new instrument, the flugelhorn, a cousin of the trumpet.
Playing the trumpet wasn't really totally new to me since 40+ years ago I was introduced to it in music college and had to pass a proficiency test on it along with all of the other band and orchestral instruments before receiving my teaching and performance degree. But....that was 40+ years ago and about the only things I could remember were how to hold it, some fingerings and how to form the embouchure. Between the time I decided to begin the task of learning to play or should I say re-learning (Nov. 2014) and the point where I finally got a playable horn 2 months later (January 2015) all I did was buzz into a mouthpiece I had from the college days.
It really was like starting from the beginning but I decided that I wasn't going to go thru the traditional method of learning. Back in 2005, I started learning to play the guitar which took me about 9 months. I used a different method than what was taught to me which was similar to the Suzuki method. I tweaked it for myself and used a program called Band In A Box. I created a melody and solo using BB along with the accompaniment tracks, listened to it over and over and then began learning it. Fortunately, I read music and was able to follow the notes. For most part, I had to look up the fingering but once I got them it was a piece of cake, well kinda. I learned the parts by playing phrases. First by myself to get acquainted with the notes and then to the music which got me used to playing with a band right away.
I also added scales to my practice sessions using an accompaniment which made it more fun. For endurance and breath control I would hold the note of a scale at first 4 beats and worked my way up to 16 measures (64 beats). This also helped for tone development. Using this method helped me learn to play much quicker and made me sound like I've been playing the horn for years. More to come in the future on my quick learning.
I'm sure you're interested in finding out how this all sounds so below is a player and you can check it out yourself.
 | ||
| me holding a flugelhorn |
It really was like starting from the beginning but I decided that I wasn't going to go thru the traditional method of learning. Back in 2005, I started learning to play the guitar which took me about 9 months. I used a different method than what was taught to me which was similar to the Suzuki method. I tweaked it for myself and used a program called Band In A Box. I created a melody and solo using BB along with the accompaniment tracks, listened to it over and over and then began learning it. Fortunately, I read music and was able to follow the notes. For most part, I had to look up the fingering but once I got them it was a piece of cake, well kinda. I learned the parts by playing phrases. First by myself to get acquainted with the notes and then to the music which got me used to playing with a band right away.
I also added scales to my practice sessions using an accompaniment which made it more fun. For endurance and breath control I would hold the note of a scale at first 4 beats and worked my way up to 16 measures (64 beats). This also helped for tone development. Using this method helped me learn to play much quicker and made me sound like I've been playing the horn for years. More to come in the future on my quick learning.
I'm sure you're interested in finding out how this all sounds so below is a player and you can check it out yourself.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Am I just wasting my time?
Is what people ask me often these days. Obviously they are asking me about their own endeavors. In the past 57 years as a musician and a multi instrumentalist for about 40 the thought of wasting my time has never come to mind.
Learning to play a new musical instrument is a huge challenge and I've always looked at it straight on with the intent of beating it. I love a good challenge whether it be a musical one or something in my life such as a project of some sort. I remember not too long ago, 2005, I decided to pick up the guitar. Up-to this point my main instrument were keys. I locked myself into a room for 9 months and practiced 6-8 hours daily. When I learned to play adequately enough, I came out.
How did I do it? I made myself goals; daily, weekly, monthly and a six week one (short, intermediate and long term) and followed it. Most young players getting ready for a practice session have no agenda. They just begin playing, hoping for a miracle. I on the other hand had a plan for each session and stuck to it. I didn't just play around practicing what I already knew. Although every day had a review time of my previous sessions. I spent anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour reviewing. Next, I spent another 30 minutes working on scales and another 30 on chords. Now after about an hour and a half to two hours, I was ready to learn to play to an accompaniment track and try to put what I had learned into practice. I used Band In A Box for my accompaniment tracks. Back then it was all midi unlike these days where audio tracks are used. I played my scales along to the accompaniment and then worked on improvisation. Before I knew it, six-eight hours have passed and I was pumped looking forward to my next session. My sessions didn't all go very smooth and there were times when I had to re-think and try a different approach.
The point is that I was never discouraged or frustrated because I wasn't moving forward. Every day was a new fun learning experience. So the next time you get frustrated because you are not moving forward like you want, maybe, you better look closer at your practice session to find the answer.
Learning to play a new musical instrument is a huge challenge and I've always looked at it straight on with the intent of beating it. I love a good challenge whether it be a musical one or something in my life such as a project of some sort. I remember not too long ago, 2005, I decided to pick up the guitar. Up-to this point my main instrument were keys. I locked myself into a room for 9 months and practiced 6-8 hours daily. When I learned to play adequately enough, I came out.
How did I do it? I made myself goals; daily, weekly, monthly and a six week one (short, intermediate and long term) and followed it. Most young players getting ready for a practice session have no agenda. They just begin playing, hoping for a miracle. I on the other hand had a plan for each session and stuck to it. I didn't just play around practicing what I already knew. Although every day had a review time of my previous sessions. I spent anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour reviewing. Next, I spent another 30 minutes working on scales and another 30 on chords. Now after about an hour and a half to two hours, I was ready to learn to play to an accompaniment track and try to put what I had learned into practice. I used Band In A Box for my accompaniment tracks. Back then it was all midi unlike these days where audio tracks are used. I played my scales along to the accompaniment and then worked on improvisation. Before I knew it, six-eight hours have passed and I was pumped looking forward to my next session. My sessions didn't all go very smooth and there were times when I had to re-think and try a different approach.
The point is that I was never discouraged or frustrated because I wasn't moving forward. Every day was a new fun learning experience. So the next time you get frustrated because you are not moving forward like you want, maybe, you better look closer at your practice session to find the answer.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
BIAB really comes in a tiny box
As I continue practicing and improving daily with Band In A Box (BIAB,bb), I'm only re-confirming that it's due to having the ability to play to accompaniment tracks. Without it, I could create my own midi tracks for accompaniment but there's nothing like having a real band playing right behind you rather than some hoaky sounding midi files and I would undoubtedly get bored fairly quickly.
I've turned many of my musician colleagues onto bb and they all agree with me that it's an invaluable tool to practice with. They all use it even tho they have been playing for over 4.5 decades. No, I don't have anything to do with PG music and never will. Yes there are things about bb that just gets my goat and frustrates me so much. But, I've learned to overcome my hostilities towards it and take it for what it is.
I just can't understand why anyone learning to play a musical instrument or someone interested in improving themselves don't have this in their arsenal. You don't even have to install the program onto your computer. It comes on a tiny hard drive with way over 100gb of space already to go right out of the box (hd). All you have to do is plug it in to your laptop or computer, install the PG music fonts along with a couple of soft synths like the Coyote or Roland VST/DXi synth or IK Multimedia's Sample tank and go to town on it. Everything else (Real Tracks, Real Drums) comes right out of the little hard drive. A program called Real Band also comes with bb. The program is similar to Cakewalk with less bells and whistles but it allows you to record your own several tracks or include the ones from bb. You can cut and paste to make your own custom arrangements. I don't use it as I have a much more sophisticated one on my desktop for my studio work. For someone just learning home recording the Real Band will get you on the right track.
Here's the setup I use when practicing. As you can see, there's not too much involved.
I had a couple of old Roland studio monitors which I plugged in to the headphone outlet of my lap top. Sometimes I'll just use some headphones instead. That mini hard drive just left of my lap top is band in a box. I can take the program anywhere my lap top goes. I purchased the program with the mini drive because if I had downloaded everything that's on the drive, about 80 gb of files, it would have taken me days to download it all. Not only that but my lap top just didn't have all that space left available.
Not only do I create backing tracks for scales and exercises, I have about a 100 fake books that have accumulated throughout the years and all I have to do is to punch in the chords into bb, click on any of the hundreds of styles and within seconds, I have a backing track for that song. If I wanted to have a melody along with it to play along with, all I have to do is to copy the notes like in the book and click play. Here's a link to find out more about bb. http://www.pgmusic.com/
Since Band in a Box is such an integral part in my learning to play the horn and since I am quite versed in the program, I will be including it with each new post.
I've turned many of my musician colleagues onto bb and they all agree with me that it's an invaluable tool to practice with. They all use it even tho they have been playing for over 4.5 decades. No, I don't have anything to do with PG music and never will. Yes there are things about bb that just gets my goat and frustrates me so much. But, I've learned to overcome my hostilities towards it and take it for what it is.
I just can't understand why anyone learning to play a musical instrument or someone interested in improving themselves don't have this in their arsenal. You don't even have to install the program onto your computer. It comes on a tiny hard drive with way over 100gb of space already to go right out of the box (hd). All you have to do is plug it in to your laptop or computer, install the PG music fonts along with a couple of soft synths like the Coyote or Roland VST/DXi synth or IK Multimedia's Sample tank and go to town on it. Everything else (Real Tracks, Real Drums) comes right out of the little hard drive. A program called Real Band also comes with bb. The program is similar to Cakewalk with less bells and whistles but it allows you to record your own several tracks or include the ones from bb. You can cut and paste to make your own custom arrangements. I don't use it as I have a much more sophisticated one on my desktop for my studio work. For someone just learning home recording the Real Band will get you on the right track.
Here's the setup I use when practicing. As you can see, there's not too much involved.
 |
| my practice set up 1 |
I had a couple of old Roland studio monitors which I plugged in to the headphone outlet of my lap top. Sometimes I'll just use some headphones instead. That mini hard drive just left of my lap top is band in a box. I can take the program anywhere my lap top goes. I purchased the program with the mini drive because if I had downloaded everything that's on the drive, about 80 gb of files, it would have taken me days to download it all. Not only that but my lap top just didn't have all that space left available.
 |
| that mini drive just left of my lap top is Band In a Box |
Since Band in a Box is such an integral part in my learning to play the horn and since I am quite versed in the program, I will be including it with each new post.
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Band In A Box is it worth the money?
Not too long ago I deleted a blog I created called "BIAB Under Glass" and the number one question was, is it really worth all that money to plop down for what seems to be a mediocre program for kids? Well, it all depends on what you want it to do and how well you know the program. I learned the program inside out, learned the positives and the negatives of it. I've used it for years and still do.
If you are looking to do something complex musically with it, it's not for you. If you want to create some backing tracks like I did for my guitar solos, which are on the player above, and want to keep them in a pop format, then yes, go for it. If you are a single act or a duo looking for some backing tracks for your gigs, it can do that. If you want to use it as a learning tool, it's one of the best I've seen. Back in the late 2005 when I decided to learn the guitar, I used biab a.k.a bb to expedite my learning. I created scales and then had bb re-harmonize the notes and create chords for them. Back then they didn't have the Real Tracks and Real Drums like they do these days and I simply practiced to the midi it was known for. The last time I was at PG Music site (creator of BB) the real tracks and real drums files went beyond 80gigs. Real tracks and real drums are exactly that, they have studio musicians create 64 bar recordings in various key signatures and the program slices and dices phrases created to fit into the chord progression you create. There are literally hundreds of different styles and instruments that make up the real tracks.
Lets say you want a rhythm section for your practice session, You can pick out a style that is preset for drums, bass, guitar, keys and or strings. If you want to create your own rhythm section that too is an easy task. The basic track set up for the instruments are bass, piano,rhythm guitar, drums, strings, melody and solo. Any of the 7 tracks will accept any instrument not necessarily for the one it's named for. The drum track however is dedicated for drums altho another instrument can be substituted for drums but then you won't have drums.
BB can play in any tempo and any key. Since most of the tracks show the notes (what they call charts) it's easy to follow along at any speed. I like it when I'm learning new parts because slowing down the tempo or speeding it up without affecting pitch is a piece of cake. The program is so sophisticated that it makes practicing fun. You get hooked on it and before you know it, you just spent 4-5 hours practicing with it like I did earlier in the day. BB also comes on a small external drive with the program pre-installed and can be taken anywhere making it a true band in a box.
When I was a music teacher in a local music store, I insisted that each of my students have some form of Band In a Box because I could simply transfer the lesson from my computer to theirs via thumb drive. This eliminates the use of books and staff paper. The student can practice along to the backing tracks I created for him/her specifically. The student learned much faster using this method rather than the old. BB had an option where you could just buy the basic program using midi cutting down on the initial cost of the program. You could later upgrade to the real tracks and drums for a reduced price.
BB comes in Windows an Mac. If you are a beginner, intermediate, advanced or even a pro (like many of my friends) it's a great tool to work with. What instrument or style you might play, makes no difference. Altho bb is more geared to jazz, country, blues and rock there are many others and new ones come along with each new version.
If you're interested in finding out more about Band In a Box , here's their link.
http://www.pgmusic.com/
If you are looking to do something complex musically with it, it's not for you. If you want to create some backing tracks like I did for my guitar solos, which are on the player above, and want to keep them in a pop format, then yes, go for it. If you are a single act or a duo looking for some backing tracks for your gigs, it can do that. If you want to use it as a learning tool, it's one of the best I've seen. Back in the late 2005 when I decided to learn the guitar, I used biab a.k.a bb to expedite my learning. I created scales and then had bb re-harmonize the notes and create chords for them. Back then they didn't have the Real Tracks and Real Drums like they do these days and I simply practiced to the midi it was known for. The last time I was at PG Music site (creator of BB) the real tracks and real drums files went beyond 80gigs. Real tracks and real drums are exactly that, they have studio musicians create 64 bar recordings in various key signatures and the program slices and dices phrases created to fit into the chord progression you create. There are literally hundreds of different styles and instruments that make up the real tracks.
Lets say you want a rhythm section for your practice session, You can pick out a style that is preset for drums, bass, guitar, keys and or strings. If you want to create your own rhythm section that too is an easy task. The basic track set up for the instruments are bass, piano,rhythm guitar, drums, strings, melody and solo. Any of the 7 tracks will accept any instrument not necessarily for the one it's named for. The drum track however is dedicated for drums altho another instrument can be substituted for drums but then you won't have drums.
BB can play in any tempo and any key. Since most of the tracks show the notes (what they call charts) it's easy to follow along at any speed. I like it when I'm learning new parts because slowing down the tempo or speeding it up without affecting pitch is a piece of cake. The program is so sophisticated that it makes practicing fun. You get hooked on it and before you know it, you just spent 4-5 hours practicing with it like I did earlier in the day. BB also comes on a small external drive with the program pre-installed and can be taken anywhere making it a true band in a box.
When I was a music teacher in a local music store, I insisted that each of my students have some form of Band In a Box because I could simply transfer the lesson from my computer to theirs via thumb drive. This eliminates the use of books and staff paper. The student can practice along to the backing tracks I created for him/her specifically. The student learned much faster using this method rather than the old. BB had an option where you could just buy the basic program using midi cutting down on the initial cost of the program. You could later upgrade to the real tracks and drums for a reduced price.
BB comes in Windows an Mac. If you are a beginner, intermediate, advanced or even a pro (like many of my friends) it's a great tool to work with. What instrument or style you might play, makes no difference. Altho bb is more geared to jazz, country, blues and rock there are many others and new ones come along with each new version.
If you're interested in finding out more about Band In a Box , here's their link.
http://www.pgmusic.com/
Saturday, December 13, 2014
a great start
I've had my flugelhorn now since Wednesday, practiced on it Thursday and Friday and I'm already playing notes on it ranging from the lowest F#3 to the F5 (C4 being middle C and 3rd space C being C5 on the piano keyboard) without too much effort. Buzzing on a mouthpiece for several weeks prior to getting my horn has made a huge difference I think. Buzzing on the mouthpiece helped build up my chops to where they are currently and without doing so, I doubt it if I would be as far as I am at the moment. A new mouthpiece versus the stock also makes a huge difference because I chose one with the throat being much more open without a lot of pressure. I can still remember my music college days while studying to be a music teacher, constantly hearing about playing without pressure. Each mouthpiece has so much back pressure created in them so my project was to find something where more air would pass thru it. I chose a Curry 600 Series 40FLM. It is a bit more brighter than the stock mouthpiece that came with the horn and a lot more comfortable for me to play on especially with my crooked teeth.
Amazingly after all these years, since early 1970's, and only learning to play the trumpet for about 6 weeks, I still remember most of the fingerings and only have to look up a few past C5. I'm mainly working on tone building along with the embouchure and intonation by playing scales and their modes. Modes will come in handy for improvisation later. So far the scales and their associated modes I've worked on these 2 days are: G, Ab, A, Bb, B, C, D, Eb, E, F. I haven't had enough time to get to the Gb or Db yet but will soon. I usually practice playing long notes holding them for 4 measures, then whole notes, half, quarter, eighths and sixteenths. I don't have the technique yet to play faster tempos and stick to ones between 64 to 94bpm.
While dealing with the fiasco from Musician's Friend in trying to obtain a working horn, I had created various accompaniment tracks using Band In A Box and even a couple of full tunes which are about 4 minutes in length. Along with practicing the above, I take a few minutes to work on the tunes I created thus putting what I learn into practice. Today will be my third day of practice with my new horn. As you can see, I'm quite serious and dedicated with a plan making progress. Yes I'm 65.
Amazingly after all these years, since early 1970's, and only learning to play the trumpet for about 6 weeks, I still remember most of the fingerings and only have to look up a few past C5. I'm mainly working on tone building along with the embouchure and intonation by playing scales and their modes. Modes will come in handy for improvisation later. So far the scales and their associated modes I've worked on these 2 days are: G, Ab, A, Bb, B, C, D, Eb, E, F. I haven't had enough time to get to the Gb or Db yet but will soon. I usually practice playing long notes holding them for 4 measures, then whole notes, half, quarter, eighths and sixteenths. I don't have the technique yet to play faster tempos and stick to ones between 64 to 94bpm.
While dealing with the fiasco from Musician's Friend in trying to obtain a working horn, I had created various accompaniment tracks using Band In A Box and even a couple of full tunes which are about 4 minutes in length. Along with practicing the above, I take a few minutes to work on the tunes I created thus putting what I learn into practice. Today will be my third day of practice with my new horn. As you can see, I'm quite serious and dedicated with a plan making progress. Yes I'm 65.
Monday, December 1, 2014
Allora AAFG 103F flugelhorn
I had been kicking around the idea of learning to play some sort of a horn for sometime now. I'm known for my guitar and keyboard artistry. I began playing keys somewhere around 1958. The guitar, I taught myself in the mid to late 1960's. After graduating from music college, I ended up putting the guitar on hold and in storage as I was too busy doing my teaching thing and gigging on the keys. It wasn't until late 2005 that I decided to get back to my guitar.
After pulling it out from storage and doing some serious restoring to it, I practiced on it from 6-8 hours a day. I pretty much ate, shit and slept with guitar in hand. It took me 9 months to become a proficient jazz guitarist. I used many of the current technology during my practice sessions to get to where I needed to be. Programs like Band In A Box and recording myself using Cakewalk's Sonar allowed me to play along to sound tracks and then listen and critique myself after recording my performances.
My keyboard and guitar playing has become limited these days due to arthritis, so serious thought was needed to choose an instrument where I didn't have to use all of my fingers. My choices were narrowed down to trombone or trumpet. I didn't want to wear out my arm using the slide on the trombone and considered valve trombone but, it was just too expensive for me to spend that kind of money on something I didn't know whether I could handle playing at my age, or how long I would be interested in playing anymore. After spending plenty of time on the internet researching, I decided to go with the flugelhorn, a cousin of the trumpet. I found a couple of flugelhorns that fit into my budget and if I didn't last, my loss would only be under $500 rather than a few thousand. I did consider renting a flugelhorn, however no one had one available in my area.
My choice was the Allora AAFG 103F flugelhorn. It has a nice mellow tone and stays in tune quite well. It's a nice looking horn which came with a cheap case and a stock mouth piece. I first ordered it thru MusiciansFriend on October 27, 2014 and received it November 2, 2014. I was pretty excited and had been anticipating the short wait. Prior to my order, I had been practicing buzzing on a trumpet mouthpiece which was given to me many years ago in music college.
After taking the horn out of the box and case, I began blowing on it and to my surprise, a nice tone came out of it for the first time use. Earlier I had been relearning some fingerings for the horn and began playing a scale...the C scale. To my surprise, I was able to play a whole octave without too much difficulty. Going beyond that was a bit more challenging but I've never turned down a challenge before so I'm not about to now.
In the next few days, after going out to get some valve oil and grease, oiling the valves and greasing up the tuning slides, I noticed that the third valve tuning slide wasn't working properly. I notified Musician's Friend and after several e-mails later they had me take it to a repair shop for analysis. The horn was defective. The tubes were not aligned properly which made the valve stick rather than sliding back to the original position as it was supposed to after releasing the trigger. I got back to Musician's Friend and told them that because it has a lacquer finish, trying to repair the tubes would damage it. I was told to send it back and did. I didn't get too much hassle from them but rather than just sending me a new horn, I had to re-purchase one.
It took about a week before I was refunded my money. Since black Friday was just around the corner, I decided to wait to see if I could save a few more $$$ in case there was going to be a discount on the item. During the Thanksgiving week I kept my eyes open on a couple of sites and decided that the first one with a decent sale was going to get my business. WoodwindsBrass.com came out with a coupon for 15% off on the item so I tried purchasing it. Unfortunately, they were having problems and I just couldn't make the purchase. Thanksgiving day, I noticed that MusiciansFriend.com also had a 15% discount for the Thursday and Friday for the item and decided to give them another try. I saved another $75 on the horn which I will put towards a decent mouthpiece. Getting any information regarding a mouthpiece for the horn from Musician'sFriend or even WoodwindBrass.com was futile as even the supposed experts had no clue. The Allora AAFG 103F flugelhorn uses a flugelhorn mouthpiece with the large Morse taper. The way I found that out was when I took the horn to the repair shop. The shop had several Bach mouthpieces on site and since I was looking to purchase one, I thought that I'd see if one fit the horn. Unfortunately, the Bach mouthpieces uses the small Morse taper so it was way too loose. Tomorrow, I will receive my replacement horn....it'll be interesting to see if everything works considering no one there bothers to check to see if the horn actually works by moving the slides, trigger valve and the tuning valves.
Update: Dec. 2, 2014
Received my replacement flugelhorn about 2 hours ago. Haven't had a chance to play it yet but things seem to be working fine, even the trigger however, I won't know for sure until I actually play it. This one had a cleaning rag and white gloves which my original didn't have. It came with the same stock mouthpiece which is somewhat useless in the upper register. The case is very cheaply made with plastic...bendable plastic. But the horn is surrounded with foam which is covered by some cheap black cloth. There is one slot for mouthpiece, no storage of any kind, nor was there any valve oil or grease for the tuning valves. A decent gig bag or a wooden case is a must in the near future.
Update December 3, 2014
Finally had a chance to blow into my flugelhorn only to find out that it didn't play. After some investigation, I find that the valves are stamped 1-3-3 instead of 1-2-3. Once again no quality control at Allora. I'm having to send it back to Musician's Friend. This horn is proving to be a piece of junk and not worth the money I spent on it.
After pulling it out from storage and doing some serious restoring to it, I practiced on it from 6-8 hours a day. I pretty much ate, shit and slept with guitar in hand. It took me 9 months to become a proficient jazz guitarist. I used many of the current technology during my practice sessions to get to where I needed to be. Programs like Band In A Box and recording myself using Cakewalk's Sonar allowed me to play along to sound tracks and then listen and critique myself after recording my performances.
My keyboard and guitar playing has become limited these days due to arthritis, so serious thought was needed to choose an instrument where I didn't have to use all of my fingers. My choices were narrowed down to trombone or trumpet. I didn't want to wear out my arm using the slide on the trombone and considered valve trombone but, it was just too expensive for me to spend that kind of money on something I didn't know whether I could handle playing at my age, or how long I would be interested in playing anymore. After spending plenty of time on the internet researching, I decided to go with the flugelhorn, a cousin of the trumpet. I found a couple of flugelhorns that fit into my budget and if I didn't last, my loss would only be under $500 rather than a few thousand. I did consider renting a flugelhorn, however no one had one available in my area.
My choice was the Allora AAFG 103F flugelhorn. It has a nice mellow tone and stays in tune quite well. It's a nice looking horn which came with a cheap case and a stock mouth piece. I first ordered it thru MusiciansFriend on October 27, 2014 and received it November 2, 2014. I was pretty excited and had been anticipating the short wait. Prior to my order, I had been practicing buzzing on a trumpet mouthpiece which was given to me many years ago in music college.
After taking the horn out of the box and case, I began blowing on it and to my surprise, a nice tone came out of it for the first time use. Earlier I had been relearning some fingerings for the horn and began playing a scale...the C scale. To my surprise, I was able to play a whole octave without too much difficulty. Going beyond that was a bit more challenging but I've never turned down a challenge before so I'm not about to now.
In the next few days, after going out to get some valve oil and grease, oiling the valves and greasing up the tuning slides, I noticed that the third valve tuning slide wasn't working properly. I notified Musician's Friend and after several e-mails later they had me take it to a repair shop for analysis. The horn was defective. The tubes were not aligned properly which made the valve stick rather than sliding back to the original position as it was supposed to after releasing the trigger. I got back to Musician's Friend and told them that because it has a lacquer finish, trying to repair the tubes would damage it. I was told to send it back and did. I didn't get too much hassle from them but rather than just sending me a new horn, I had to re-purchase one.
It took about a week before I was refunded my money. Since black Friday was just around the corner, I decided to wait to see if I could save a few more $$$ in case there was going to be a discount on the item. During the Thanksgiving week I kept my eyes open on a couple of sites and decided that the first one with a decent sale was going to get my business. WoodwindsBrass.com came out with a coupon for 15% off on the item so I tried purchasing it. Unfortunately, they were having problems and I just couldn't make the purchase. Thanksgiving day, I noticed that MusiciansFriend.com also had a 15% discount for the Thursday and Friday for the item and decided to give them another try. I saved another $75 on the horn which I will put towards a decent mouthpiece. Getting any information regarding a mouthpiece for the horn from Musician'sFriend or even WoodwindBrass.com was futile as even the supposed experts had no clue. The Allora AAFG 103F flugelhorn uses a flugelhorn mouthpiece with the large Morse taper. The way I found that out was when I took the horn to the repair shop. The shop had several Bach mouthpieces on site and since I was looking to purchase one, I thought that I'd see if one fit the horn. Unfortunately, the Bach mouthpieces uses the small Morse taper so it was way too loose. Tomorrow, I will receive my replacement horn....it'll be interesting to see if everything works considering no one there bothers to check to see if the horn actually works by moving the slides, trigger valve and the tuning valves.
Update: Dec. 2, 2014
Received my replacement flugelhorn about 2 hours ago. Haven't had a chance to play it yet but things seem to be working fine, even the trigger however, I won't know for sure until I actually play it. This one had a cleaning rag and white gloves which my original didn't have. It came with the same stock mouthpiece which is somewhat useless in the upper register. The case is very cheaply made with plastic...bendable plastic. But the horn is surrounded with foam which is covered by some cheap black cloth. There is one slot for mouthpiece, no storage of any kind, nor was there any valve oil or grease for the tuning valves. A decent gig bag or a wooden case is a must in the near future.
Update December 3, 2014
Finally had a chance to blow into my flugelhorn only to find out that it didn't play. After some investigation, I find that the valves are stamped 1-3-3 instead of 1-2-3. Once again no quality control at Allora. I'm having to send it back to Musician's Friend. This horn is proving to be a piece of junk and not worth the money I spent on it.
More on the Allora AAFG 103F Flugelhorn
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