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

Rodney Money

On V.I. avoiding work.
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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.
 
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.
 
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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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. ;)
 
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!
 
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.
 
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?
 
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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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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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.
 
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?
 
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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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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