# Apparently I've been a good boy, look at my new toy!



## Rodney Money (Jun 21, 2017)

This gift from my school just came in today. It's a silver-plated vintage Antoine Courtois Brevete flugelhorn made in France around 50 years ago.


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## Saxer (Jun 21, 2017)

Looks beautiful! What a generous gesture from your school!


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## Daniel Petras (Jun 21, 2017)

I remember when I bought my saxophone (Yamaha custom EX silver plated) in high school. There is something really sexy about silver instruments, especially when they begin to tarnish. It was the most expensive thing I had ever bought and I cherished it greatly. A week later, I let it out of my site for 20 to 30 seconds and someone stole it - the worst feeling in the world. Don't ever leave it out of your sight. Luckily for me the camera caught the bastard, the police tracked him down and I was able to get it back unharmed.


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## trumpoz (Jun 22, 2017)

*drools*


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## Iskra (Jun 22, 2017)

Beautiful!


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## Raindog (Jun 22, 2017)

I bought such a beauty second hand a few years ago. The instrument is far beyond my abilities as a player but I never regretted the buy. It´s a wonderful instrument.
Raindog


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## Rodney Money (Jun 22, 2017)

Saxer said:


> Looks beautiful! What a generous gesture from your school!



Thank you, my friend! 

Absolutely, it was very generous. At first they wanted to purchase a tuba but the one we needed was too expensive, so then I simply asked them about this beauty instead. They knew I wanted it also.


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## Rodney Money (Jun 22, 2017)

Sonorityscape said:


> I remember when I bought my saxophone (Yamaha custom EX silver plated) in high school. There is something really sexy about silver instruments, especially when they begin to tarnish. It was the most expensive thing I had ever bought and I cherished it greatly. A week later, I let it out of my site for 20 to 30 seconds and someone stole it - the worst feeling in the world. Don't ever leave it out of your sight. Luckily for me the camera caught the bastard, the police tracked him down and I was able to get it back unharmed.


Wow! So happy to hear you got it back!


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## Rodney Money (Jun 22, 2017)

trumpoz said:


> *drools*


It's in the shop right now for a full cleaning and body repair. Right now looks wise it's about a 6.5 or low 7 out of 10 but it already plays better than the new Yamaha I've been playing, especially the valves! I also asked them to get me some estimates concerning a 3rd valve trigger and silver re-plating.


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## trumpoz (Jun 23, 2017)

What is it like tone-wise? 

Thick, fluffy, British, French?


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## Rodney Money (Jun 23, 2017)

trumpoz said:


> What is it like tone-wise?
> 
> Thick, fluffy, British, French?


I would describe the Yamaha that I have been playing for the past 2 years as thick and full, and this "new one" more French, intimate, and warm. It kind of reminds me of this sound but smaller and more personal:


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## Paul T McGraw (Jun 24, 2017)

Congratulations! Looks awesome and if it sounds like the Bach video it will sound awesome as well. I never paid much attention to the Flugel, although we of course had one in the Salvation Army Band, at least most of the time. I know that technically it is built on the same fundamentals as a Bb trumpet, but obviously with the larger bore the comfortable playing range is going to be different. What would you say is the comfortable range for a pro such as yourself, maybe written low G below the staff to G on top of the staff?


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## Rodney Money (Jun 24, 2017)

Paul T McGraw said:


> Congratulations! Looks awesome and if it sounds like the Bach video it will sound awesome as well. I never paid much attention to the Flugel, although we of course had one in the Salvation Army Band, at least most of the time. I know that technically it is built on the same fundamentals as a Bb trumpet, but obviously with the larger bore the comfortable playing range is going to be different. What would you say is the comfortable range for a pro such as yourself, maybe written low G below the staff to G on top of the staff?


I appreciate it, my friend! It is in the shop getting a "tune up," and I'm also on the search right now for the perfect mouthpiece. To me personally the flugelhorn is a very personal, expressive instrument, but the player should be a little more restrain concerning both range and dynamics in comparison with a trumpet, unless it's going for a particular special effect. On the flugelhorn I can easily play from the low F sharp to the high C. Anything higher and it starts to sound ridiculous. You have to be careful on some flugelhorns concerning the high C, because it can be quite flat. Also, if the flugel doesn't have a third valve trigger on the slide it can be problematic playing low D's and C#'s in tune. The flugelhorn also has true pedal tones that extend all the way down to a tenor trombone's low range but it lacks the tones e, eb, d, and db. So you can play pedal tones c down to f#. I've played flugelhorn on pieces by Holst and Berlioz. Also Mahler wrote a flugelhorn solo in one of his symphonies in which he did not even write in dynamics letting the flugelhorn play as they wanted. Compared to cornet 1 and trumpet 1 parts the flugelhorn is normally quite tame hanging around low A to high G on top of the staff (to me though an occasional high A sounds nice on the flugelhorn compare to the natural sharpness of the same A on trumpet.) You were right on the money concerning normal written range, Paul! I believe symphonic composers like to stay more towards the mid range maintaining the warm, natural sound of the flugelhorn. I will try to find you a flugelhorn solo piece of mine that shows when I would go past the norm in flugelhorn dynamics and range.


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## Rodney Money (Jun 24, 2017)

Here's a little bit where I would go past the norm of traditional flugelhorn writing. You can see more dynamics, range, and extended techniques:


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## J-M (Jun 30, 2017)

Congrats, it looks stunning!


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## Rodney Money (Jul 3, 2017)

MrLinssi said:


> Congrats, it looks stunning!


Thank ya! The funny thing is that it has been in the shop since the 2nd day I've had it, so technically since I have had it someone else has definitely played it more than me. Lol.


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## TheNorseman (Sep 14, 2017)

I heard a comedian talk about this and he brought up a question that I have always had but never asked.... How do you play all the notes with only 3 buttons? I guess you can get 7 notes with all the combinations, is it a one octave instrument?


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## Rodney Money (Sep 14, 2017)

TheNorseman said:


> I heard a comedian talk about this and he brought up a question that I have always had but never asked.... How do you play all the notes with only 3 buttons? I guess you can get 7 notes with all the combinations, is it a one octave instrument?


Beautiful question, my friend. I hope I can explain it. It's a little thing called the overtone series which basically means in a span of 4 8vas I can play nearly 8 notes with each one of the 7 valved combinations. So with no valves pressed on a flugelhorn I can play it's low pedal C, then an 8va higher to middle C, then G, then another C, then E, G, Bb which is out of tune, and then high C, and that's with no valves even pressed! When you pressed the valves you start getting new notes, and if they are out of tune then you have a 3rd valve trigger to adjust the pitch. If you want a low note, you slow down the buzz of your lips, higher notes get a faster buzz. If you want more volume, you blow more air. The overtone series is a beautiful thing found in nature and following it even shows you the harmonic development of the history of Western music!


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## Rodney Money (Sep 14, 2017)

For those wondering, I've decided to put in the time and money to fully restore this rare beauty. Hopefully I will get her back in a couple of weeks.


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## C-Wave (Sep 14, 2017)

Rodney Money said:


> I would describe the Yamaha that I have been playing for the past 2 years as thick and full, and this "new one" more French, intimate, and warm. It kind of reminds me of this sound but smaller and more personal:



Thank you Rodney. Teared my eyes.


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## Rodney Money (Nov 7, 2017)

Just got her back today from being restored. I think I played her 8 hours today lol. She's been gone since June.


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## synergy543 (Nov 7, 2017)

What a beauty! 

8 hours? Creating the sampling session for the rest of us?  
Jking. Enjoy


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## J-M (Nov 8, 2017)

Rodney Money said:


> Just got her back today from being restored. I think I played her 8 hours today lol. She's been gone since June.



That thing is a beauty.


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## Iskra (Nov 8, 2017)

Beautiful!


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## Rodney Money (Nov 8, 2017)

synergy543 said:


> What a beauty!
> 
> 8 hours? Creating the sampling session for the rest of us?
> Jking. Enjoy


Lol! Yeah, I wish I had the talent and know how to make VI's. Thank you for the compliments.


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## Iskra (Nov 8, 2017)

Rodney Money said:


> I wish I had the talent to make VI's.


We can always count on you to record a trumpet part remotely


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## Rodney Money (Nov 19, 2017)

And... I got to play my flugelhorn in public for the very first time today accompanied by pipe organ. Here's where we played:


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## Rodney Money (Nov 19, 2017)

From left to right: one of my trumpet students J.T. who I am so proud of. Today was his very first public playing gig, and he literally got paid $1 per measure! Not too bad. Next in the red is me, then my best friend Dan who also majored in trumpet with me back in the day during college, and lastly the organist Eric who is the minister of music at the church. The best part though was the free food after the service which was a delicious southern Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings!


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## LamaRose (Nov 19, 2017)

synergy543 said:


> What a beauty!
> 
> 8 hours? Creating the sampling session for the rest of us?



THIS! Who else is going to lay the Flugelhorn/Euphonium law down for us, if not Mr. Money himself? flugel, Flugel, FLUGEL...


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## Rodney Money (Nov 20, 2017)

LamaRose said:


> THIS! Who else is going to lay the Flugelhorn/Euphonium law down for us, if not Mr. Money himself? flugel, Flugel, FLUGEL...


Lol, yeah right! I can hear it now, "It has too much vibrato, it doesn't blend well with my other samples, how can I use this instrument in my pieces, and why does it sound like it was recorded on an iPhone?"


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## Iskra (Nov 20, 2017)

Rodney Money said:


> "It has too much vibrato, it doesn't blend well with my other samples, how can I use this instrument in my pieces, and why does it sound like it was recorded on an iPhone?"


Plus "it gets brassy too soon", "Why Rodney haven't recorded a _ff molto_ layer?" and "It doesn't sound like a flugel at all"


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## blougui (Nov 20, 2017)

"To bad it sounds like a beta ! Sounds great at time but the scripting. And I can hear this chair squeeking at each 3nd RR. Hopefully, we'll get a upgrade to the full choir at a loyalty discount - zero $ would bemuch appreciated."


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## Rodney Money (Nov 20, 2017)

Iskra said:


> Plus "it gets brassy too soon", "Why Rodney haven't recorded a _ff molto_ layer?" and "It doesn't sound like a flugel at all"


Exactly!


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## Rodney Money (Nov 20, 2017)

blougui said:


> "To bad it sounds like a beta ! Sounds great at time but the scripting. And I can hear this chair squeeking at each 3nd RR. Hopefully, we'll get a upgrade to the full choir at a loyalty discount - zero $ would bemuch appreciated."


And knowing me, I would start saying crazy things like, "But those squeaks are beautiful and make the samples more realistic giving you an inside tour of the whole recording process."


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## synthpunk (Nov 30, 2017)

Paul McCartney's father bought him a trumpet when he was young, Paul took it to the music store and traded it in for a guitar.


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## Rodney Money (Dec 2, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> Paul McCartney's father bought him a trumpet when he was young, Paul took it to the music store and traded it in for a guitar.


Poor guy, he could've really been something.


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## Rodney Money (Dec 22, 2017)

For education purposes, the difference between a flugelhorn mouthpiece on the left and trumpet on the right. Careful with that flugel, you might fall straight in the black whole like Boba Fett.


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