In order to discuss whether valve alignment is necessary one must first understand some of the physics involved. Valve alignment affects the damping of the mouthpiece/trumpet system. When the damping is increased it is easier to excite the resonances (notes). The resulting resonance however, is never as good as with less damping. Too much damping [...]

Veteran trumpet player Lee Katzman stopped by today for some work and a trumpet hang and we were telling “gig” stories: I told him that, when I was in High School my stage band played Stan Kenton’s “Malaga” at a mini festival. At the end of the tune, I had a death grip on a [...]

It seems to be a no brainer that, when designing a trumpet (or any other piston instrument), you would intuitively want the holes in the pistons to line up with the corresponding holes in the casings whether the valve is up or down. Assuming so, why would an instrument not have this be the case? [...]

This will be a multi part post as it is a very large and, for some reason, controversial subject. Let’s start by defining what a valve alignment on a piston instrument is. A valve alignment is a process whereby the trumpet is adjusted so that the ports in the pistons line up with the corresponding [...]

Most brass players are raised describing the sound of a brass instrument or mouthpiece as being either “bright” or “dark.” I find this is extremely limiting especially in the modern world. The reason is that, for example, a dull sounding instrument is often described as being “dark.” After spending close to 20 years talking about [...]

The most common question I’m asked deals with mouthpiece rim diameters. Players want to know what the diameter of a given mouthpiece rim is, or what mouthpiece is the same diameter as their current mouthpiece. It’s obvious why this question is so common and, at first, seems like it would be an easy one to [...]

In answering emails this morning, I am reminded that by far, the most important dimension you can adjust to improve how your mouthpiece-trumpet system, works is the gap. Officially called the annulus, it actually adjusts the relative intonation between the modes (or notes) on your set up. In other words, it is a great way [...]

I received this question from Hawaii: “Do you “Spach” both the 229 and 239? Being a trumpet gear guy, I’m always keeping an eye out for good horns, so if I could snag a Bach C for a good price, having it Spach-ed might be a nice upgrade over my Yamaha. However, I wonder whether [...]

I’ve decided to start posting tidbits and answers to questions from players as they come to mind based on my learnings and experiences. I hope this is of interest to trumpet players. Away we go!