Citations Contra

that was a very exciting night. i was on the field with ecj when the scores were announced, and they went nuts. and then we had the privege of playing america oh canada with them. that was a great experience. i'm definately looking forward to seeing more of ECJ in these coming weeks. the best of luck to them at all their upcoming shows.

citations. DEG 2-valve G Contra

i'll second that.

and thank you guys again for any help you ever give.

the appointment is already set at a week before the show, i didnt think it would be a good idea to do that right before playing a competition. do you have any specific things that getting your braces off changed that you could tell me about? i will talk to my instructor, but i would also like to get some information from some other contra players that experienced removal of braces.

i've had braces for around three years. and i've been playing brass (contra) for less than that. so i've always played with braces on. however, in a week the braces are coming off, just in time for the camp one week before our first show. (it was either that friday or the one the day before the show, not much of a choice). i would like to know as much as any of you guys want to share about how it will affect my playing, specifically what things will change, and what i can do to fix it. additionally, once i get used to having no metal in my mouth, i'm going to head to a local music store to check out mouthpieces. i have no clue about what specific dimensions of a mouthpiece do to affect sound, volume, and everything else that comes through the horn. if anyone would like to just give a general description of that, what things i should look for in a mouthpiece, and any general tips for more volume, especially in the very bottom range of the horn. thanks guys.

i really dislike playing sousa. they definately restrict your marching ability. and because the lower part of the horn rests on your hip, they tend to move around, even if you're marching correctly. the sousas that my high school marching band has are extremely beat up and don't sound very good. also, during rehearsals, where the horn is on your shoulder for as much as an hour at a time, the constant weight aggravates my back and neck. that might have something to do with the fact that in january i broke three vertebrae and cracked my skull ( i was all healed up in a month, no obvious long term effects), but whatever. so those factors might unfairly increase my dislike for the sousaphone, but regardless i enjoy playing the contra much more. sure it might be a little heavier, and you actually have to use your arms to hold it up, but it sounds much better, you can put it down during rehearsals occasionally, and the bass music arranged for dci is much better than mediocre high school tuba parts. i doubt that this post helped at all, but i typed it and its getting posted.

very cool. its not as much trouble as i thought it would be. the brass head is going to wring my neck when he see's me trying that.