The Brass Junkies: Joey Tartell - Episode 44

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Joey Tartell, Professor of Trumpet at Indiana University, is someone I truly look up to in the music business. Not just for his playing, which is stunningly awesome, but for his approach to teaching and to life. He is one of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet and plays so incredibly well that he could "get away with" being a completely pain in the rear end and still work as much as he'd ever want to. But he doesn't.

In this interview, Joey details the keys to his success including the insights he gained from his former teachers, explains the good news/bad news about the advent of YouTube and how he equips his students to succeed in music.

Along the way there is also mention of Mexican food, vuvuzelas, the San Antonio Spurs and the story of how Joey almost got thrown out of a women’s basketball game.

Don't miss this one!

Links:

joeytartell.com
Joey at IU
Raya Brass Band

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You can help offset the costs of producing the show by making a small donation at https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Joey Santillo for Pedal Note Media

Activity Is Not Productivity

Activity is not productivity. Have a plan set before you start practicing and execute it. Then evaluate how it went afterwards.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Silence Can Not Improve

“Start with bad sounds and make them into good ones. Silence can not improve.”

— Andrew Hitz (@JacobsQuotes) January 25, 2016

The last four words of this quote pretty much sums it all up, doesn't it?

Barry Tuckwell: Monday YouTube Fix

Here is a recording of baroque horn concertos that horn virtuoso Barry Tuckwell recorded in 1987 with Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields under the direction of Iona Brown.

Complete Track Listing:

1. Knechtl Concerto In D Major 9:03
2. Reinhardt* Concerto In E Flat Major 7:13
3. Quantz Concerto No. 3 In E Flat Major 8:42
4. Quantz Concerto No. 9 In E Flat Major 9:24
5. Graun* Concerto In D Major 10:28
6. Rollig Concerto No. 14 In E Flat Major 7:07
7. Rollig Concerto No. 15 In D Major

Enjoy!

The Brass Junkies: Leonhard Paul of Mnozil Brass

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Leonhard Paul of Mnozil Brass joins me & Lance for a spectacular conversation about the phenomenon that is Mnozil Brass. I am so pumped that we got to interview him. He is one of our heroes.

Over the last 24 years, Mnozil Brass has charted a path that is completely unique and continues to amaze audiences all over the globe. Leonhard explains how they plan and develop their shows, pieces and stage settings. He goes on to talk about the development of the YouTube sensation Lonely Boy.

From learning how to work a crowd to the subject of "lip disability", this conversation was both fun and illuminating.

You can help offset the costs of producing the show by making a small donation at https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer of FredBrass

Leonhard Paul of Mnozil Brass joins Andrew & Lance for a spectacular conversation about the phenomenon that is Mnozil Brass. Over the last 24 years, Mnozil Brass has charted a path that is completely unique and continues to amaze audiences all over the globe. Leonhard explains how they plan and develop their shows, pieces and stage settings. He goes on to talk about the development of the YouTube sensation Lonely Boy. From learning how to work a crowd to the subject of "lip disability", this conversation was both fun and illuminating. You can help offset the costs of producing the show by making a small donation at https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies. Your support is greatly appreciated! Produced by Austin Boyer of FredBrass

Arnold Jacobs on Developing the High Register

“Take music you know and put it in the high register. It will take a little time, but it will develop with more practice.”

— Andrew Hitz (@JacobsQuotes) April 20, 2016

This is a really great way for a student to begin developing their high register on any instrument. Starting with something familiar takes a few layers of complexity out of the equation.

And playing music rather than exercises will keep the brain focused on the phrasing which keeps the wind or the bow moving.

The Best Quote I've Ever Heard About Goal Setting

"A good goal is one that changes your actions in the moment. Like, right now. Goals are not about the future. They are about the present moment. Changing your present actions."

—Derek Sivers

Derek Sivers is one of my favorite thinkers/authors/speakers/entrepreneurs in the world. He regularly makes me think about things in a different way or inspires me to try something new.

This is the best quote I've ever heard about goal setting. I've never heard the quality of the goal attached to whether it inspires you take to immediate action which makes all the sense in the world.

Two summers ago I decided to learn all of my major scales in thirds with the descending scales featuring ascending thirds. I learned ascending thirds on the way up and descending thirds on the way down many years ago. I have played that pattern at most once a year for the last decade and could do it perfectly right now. It is fully engrained. But playing ascending thirds on the way down was like reading a foreign language at first! Surprisingly so actually.

So I made a very specific goal for myself which was something like this:

I will play all the major scales in thirds around the circle of fourths in 8th notes at quarter note equals 100 with ascending thirds on the way up and ascending thirds on the way down from memory by August 20th without making a single mistake.

This goal made me immediately spring into action. It was made around July 1st and I had a very busy summer planned. I wasn't going to have a ton of time to practice because of gigs, family obligations and vacation. Putting a hard date on it that was neither overly aggressive nor so far in the future that there was no sense of urgency was the key.

It ended up forcing me to spend a lot of time on basics and certainly led to me having a few practice sessions that surely would not have happened otherwise. Using Derek's litmus test, this was a good goal since it made me take immediate action.

My students are going to get sick of me saying this quote very quickly because it is about to permeate my teaching.

So if you have a goal that isn't changing your present actions, the question to ask yourself is how can I improve this goal so that it does?

The Brass Junkies: Andrew Balio of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

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Andrew Balio, Principal Trumpet of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra join Andrew & Lance in a fascinating and far reaching conversation. From his time with some of the greatest orchestra on the planet to the four years he spent at an ashram, Andrew's story is endlessly fascinating. We also cover his role at the Future Symphony Institute and talk about many of the issues facing professional orchestras today.

Oh, and there are sheep. Like, a lot of sheep. 

Links:

Website
BSO Bio
Future Symphony Institute

You can help offset the costs of producing the show by making a small donation athttps://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer of FredBrass

The Brass Junkies: Brian Balmages

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One of the best composers you'll ever find, Brian Balmages, joined me and Lance for an interview on The Brass Junkies. I find it fascinating that Brian can write so well for beginning band, the finest professional ensembles in the world and everything in between.

He is also a great human.

I particularly found it interesting how he shared in the interview that he had a completely different process for writing each of the movements for the piece we commissioned him to write for Boston Brass. Great insights into how a piece like that goes down!

Links:

Website
FJH Music
Soundcloud

You can help offset the costs of producing the show by making a small donation at https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer of FredBrass

The Brass Junkies: C Street Brass/Beauty Slap - Episode 36

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Two of the members of C Street Brass/Beauty Slap, Hakeem Bilal and Gabriel Colby, sat down with us in a fun conversation about these cool new interconnected groups.

C Street and Beauty Slap are a sort of Jekyll and Hyde hybrid with C Street functioning as a brass quintet and Beauty Slap a brass quartet plus DJ, giving them the opportunity to play to a wide set of audiences.

Most recently they shared the stage with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and we have fun exploring where these guys are going.

Links:

C Street Brass
Beauty Slap

You can help offset the costs of producing the show by making a small donation at https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer of FredBrass