flervinuveling

worst- dinkles by far best- a tie. MTX for durability, viper for comfort. viper still lasted the whole season though, so maybe have to go with viper. man, those things feel good..

Thanks for the support everyone. Like I said before, I posted all that on the Scouts' forum when it first happened in February. It doesn't hurt much anymore, so I'm off painkillers, but I still don't have my usual lung capacity. I think I'll get a second opinion if it still not getting better after my check-up in June. And now to reply to some of you (sorry, I don't know how to get the reply box several times in one post): Ohiobando- Yeah I just aged-out at Madison last summer, luckily. No way could I handle drum corps like this. I can't even run 200 yards now cause my lungs won't fill with air quick enough. Puppet- 58 and still playing? Geez, I could barely do it before I got all janky! Good luck with your recovery as well. JohnZ- Thanks for the info, man. I'll definitely ask the doc about the C3-5 area. He did say last time that I prolly severed my phrenic nerve.

My name's Jared Brown, I've marched SW and Madison for a few years, and a few months ago I went to the doctor and got some interesting news. I posted this on the Scouts' forum a little while ago and am pasteing it here too to hopefully get a little more info about it: so 2 weeks ago my right shoulder started hurting and I couldn't inhale more that 50 or 60% of my lung capacity or it started hurting a lot more. I figured I just slept funny, but I was still hurting over a week later so Thursday I went to the doctor. He moved my right arm around and concluded it wasn't my shoulder that was the problem. But when he listened to my breathing through my back with his stethoscope, he couldn't hear any breathing sounds coming from the lower part of my right lung. After a stock x-ray and a real time x-ray thing (basically a video x-ray instead of just a picture) it showed that when I breathed, the right side of my diaphragm, the muscle below your lungs, didn't even budge. It's supposed to move up a few inches when you inhale, and back down when you exhale. Turns out that what I was mistaking for shoulder pain was actually upper lung pain (I'm not real sure why the upper part of my lung hurts instead of the bottom near the diaphragm; the doctor explained it, but I forgot what he said). Anyway, the doctor and the radiologist concluded that I have "diaphragmatic paralysis". The right side of my diaphragm is paralyzed, probably from an injury. I'm kinda rough on on my body with working out and Capoeira and, you know, drum corps and all, so it doesn't surprise me. Now as most of you brass players know, your diaphragm is kind of important for proper breathing and playing. With only about 50% of my lung capacity it's kinda hard to play trumpet. There's no cure for paralysis yet, so I'm stuck with half of my lung capacity and a daily diet of four Motrin at each meal for the pain and inflammation. My doctor said that he's only had two other patients ever have diaphragmatic paralysis, and the other two were elderly. Luckily, I'm getting my degree in chemistry, not trumpet performance, so my future career isn't in jeopardy, but my main hobby and passion is. So my question is, has anyone ever heard of this? Anyone here have it or ever know anyone with it?

and it's fully possible for us from smaller schools to get in- I've made the allstate band and orchestra, and I'm from catoosa! we only had 19 kids in band

my favorites are the times when you walk into a gym at 3 AM, flip on the lights, and it's like the whole floor starts moving cause of all the roaches

I get tired of them asking and now just say "yeah, they suck..." jk. it IS annoying though

Definitely concentrate on getting your marching up to DCI par. When my friend was filling a spot with my corps this summer, the mello tech asked me how good he was. I told him that my friend was a decent marcher but I didn't know about his chops. The tech replied "I can teach him to play, all he needs to know is how to march"

so he's just an evaluater-type (sp?), not someone who's already partnered with them and therefore kinda has to say nice things about them?

...wasn't that his point? mr. jacob's opinion is that of a person who is partnered with jupiter. therefore luvs, along with myself, takes his opinion of the horns with a grain of salt.

my memory may be fuzzy, but aren't Jupiter trumpets like... $300? I know lots of kids had them in 6th grade beginning band at my school. They were all right down there with Blessings. I don't know if this was such a stellar move for Phantom, but I'll trust the staff's decisions til I hear them in action.

*snappy thing

*snappy thing

blow air thru your horn before you step off to warm it up. and during the p-raid you'll be playing so your horn will stay warm

why'd you need a police escort?

I agree with every one of these

As stated on here before, though I don't remember who said it- lead sops get all the girls and lead baris get head rushes and back pains and that video is the most awesomely gratuitous thing I've ever heard

i lol'd

oh man, yall should've watched us learing the drill for the drum break at Madison a few months ago. The hornline jazz runs for like the whole thing. You can't see it that well on the dvd's cause of the sunlight and shadows, but you can still tell what we're doing. I remember the box saying after a rep "only 12 people fell during that one, we're getting better. Do it again!" It was about halfway through the season before we stopped falling during shows... cept when the grass was wet. Then we'd fold more than an oragami convention. I personally only fell once, and it was during a rehearsal, right on the last step of the rep. Everyone stops and I hit the ground. It was like I was sliding into home. Someone behind me even yelled "SAFE!!!"

what's the penalty?

haha Did they really think that? Judging from what I heard on the field, I thought they turned it down on the dvds

"Never argue with idiots. They'll bring you down to their level and beat you with stupidity." I don't remember who said that, but I was reminded of it when I read this.

may wanna read the first couple pages

no idea what to tell you, but good luck from one SW alum and fellow Tulsan to another.

and a belated good luck to those that have already auditioned!

you get really bored in the off-season, don't you? at least people aren't placing madison in like 17th this year