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Thread: Wife's first comment

  1. Wife's first comment

    My loving wife of 20 years has never heard a Euphonium. Last night I started my road back and was doing a little buzzing and a couple soft long tones. From the other room I heard the lovingly encouraging words:

    "What are you doing to that Moose?"

    I then played a couple Dave Werden and Steven Mead MP3 snipits for her. She added..



    "This is going to be a long road, isn't it..."



    So, my Besson is now named Moose



    Besson 767 New Standard, SM 4U
    Irondequoit Concert Band & Penfield Pops, Rochester NY area

    F-Alphorn, Hubert Hense maker, Alderwood
    Alphorn Society of Western NY

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    NYC metro area
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    523
    Quote Originally Posted by RWiegand View Post
    My loving wife of 20 years has never heard a Euphonium. Last night I started my road back and was doing a little buzzing and a couple soft long tones. From the other room I heard the lovingly encouraging words:

    "What are you doing to that Moose?"
    I'll soon be starting a similar journey. I played baritone horn in high school and euphonium in college, but my career as a professional musician was on piano and other keyboard instruments with only occasional gigs as a euphonium substitute for various community bands (I stopped being a full-time musician after I turned 30, opting for a steady job, but that's a different story). In recent years, arthritis has cut into my piano playing. After talking it over extensively with my wife, she decided to buy my a Mack Brass euphonium for my birthday. I'll be resuming playing after more than three decades. Although she is a musician herself (specifically, a music therapist who plays piano and violin), she has never heard a euphonium, either.

    The real funny thing will be to see how the dogs react to me making these strange noises.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Central North Carolina
    Posts
    2,368
    My wife and I work (not as frequently as we would like to) on a bunch of euphonium-with-piano things. One is a book of Steven Mead stuff. And now we're starting on some of the simpler Rochut exercises since good piano accompaniment is available for them. We also play Christmas tunes for our children and grandchildren (when they can't manage to run away fast enough), Anna Baadsvik's arrangement of "Gabriel's Oboe", and Dave Werden's (Gounod) version of "Ave Maria". There's a lot of stuff that you can have fun with, even if you're building/rebuilding skills.
    Gary Merrill
    Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
    Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
    Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
    1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
    Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
    1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)

  4. Back in February, the Heart of Texas Band did an all-James-Barnes concert. One of the pieces was his Concerto for Euphonium and Wind Band. Soloist did an outstanding job. On the way home from the concert my wife said "So THAT'S what your instrument is SUPPOSED to sound like!"

  5. I'm sure she meant well, but this is a favorite of mine
    Bob Tampa FL USA
    Euph -- 1984 B&H Round Stamp Sovereign 967 / 1978 Besson NS 767 / Early 90s Sterling MP: 4AL and GW Carbonaria
    Tuba -- 2014 Wisemann 900 CC / 2013 Mack 410 MP: Blokepiece Symphony American Shank and 33.2 #2 Rim

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    NYC metro area
    Posts
    523
    As to getting the family used to the sound of my taking up euphonium after a 32 year lay-off, take a look at my signature--While Jazz took to it right away, and curled up on the day bed in my practice room, Sherlock avoided the noise for the first four weeks. The past few nights, he's started coming in and resting by my feet.

    My wife (who is a multi-instrumentalist herself, piano/violin/guitar and a number of other instruments) has been very encouraging. A few nights ago, she said, "why didn't you do this years ago?"
    Dean L. Surkin
    Mack Brass MACK-EU1150S, BB1 mouthpiece
    Bach 36B trombone; Bach 6.5AL and Faxx 7C mouthpieces (pBone on loan to granddaughter)
    Steinway 1902 Model A, restored by AC Pianocraft in 1988; Kawai MP8, Yamaha KX-76
    See my avatar: Jazz (the black cockapoo; RIP) and Delilah (the cavapoo) keep me company while practicing

  7. #7
    Whenever I take my euph out of the case to practice, our cat gets up and, with dignity, leaves the room. With some critics you never get a break.

  8. Quote Originally Posted by dsurkin View Post
    My wife has been very encouraging.

    I'm a bit jealous as my wife who is not a musician could care less. I come down from my upstairs man cave after a practice and performance worthy of any of the finest concert halls in the world (in my mind) to an unmoved audience. Perhaps the competition for time.............hmmmmmm
    Bob Tampa FL USA
    Euph -- 1984 B&H Round Stamp Sovereign 967 / 1978 Besson NS 767 / Early 90s Sterling MP: 4AL and GW Carbonaria
    Tuba -- 2014 Wisemann 900 CC / 2013 Mack 410 MP: Blokepiece Symphony American Shank and 33.2 #2 Rim

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    West Palm Beach, FL
    Posts
    3,853
    I remember when I first started back playing nearly 15 years ago (after 33 yr break). Fred Dart came over to my house to give me my first lesson. (For those who don't know, Fred Dart was euphonium soloist in the USAF band in Wash, DC back in the late '50s, early '60s). After the lesson my wife said, "I could tell when you were playing". "Oh yeah?" I asked. "Mr. Dart has a good tone". Gee thanks hon.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    NYC metro area
    Posts
    523
    Rick:
    Nice to know I'm not the only one who took a three-decade break. Actually, since piano was my main instrument, I took more than one break: I didn't play a horn from the end of 10th grade until sophomore year in college (I always played a school-owned baritone or euphonium, depending upon what was available, either Conn, King, or Olds). After college, I did take out my trumpet every now and then (I did a stunt on gigs--I'd play bass pedals and left hand on the organ while playing trumpet), and I did some gigs on euphonium for a community band as late as 1982. Around 1982, I made a gift of my trumpet to my nephew, who had started music. I hadn't played a horn of any kind between 1982 until this past June, when I got my Mack Brass horn.
    Dean L. Surkin
    Mack Brass MACK-EU1150S, BB1 mouthpiece
    Bach 36B trombone; Bach 6.5AL and Faxx 7C mouthpieces (pBone on loan to granddaughter)
    Steinway 1902 Model A, restored by AC Pianocraft in 1988; Kawai MP8, Yamaha KX-76
    See my avatar: Jazz (the black cockapoo; RIP) and Delilah (the cavapoo) keep me company while practicing

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