Perhaps it’s the time of year with ITG around the corner that gets me thinking about comparing equipment and/or general nerding out on trumpet…And, while this years’ ITG has great content and I’m really looking forward to it, I will miss the exhibits and ability to try horns, mutes, mouthpieces…
I have decided to downsize my trumpet collection and sell my WONDERFUL AR Resonance Classica C trumpet. (That can be found and bought at ThompsonMusic.com) However, I still need to have a C trumpet so I went back to my roots and looked at Bach. I owned an Artisan for a few years and it was a marvelous horn and what I learned at that time is that Bach has been upping their game considerably and it seemed like each horn they came out with was better than the last one. So, I was very intrigued with their newest member to the C trumpet family, the C190. This horn has design input from the principal trumpet of the Cleveland Orchestra, Mike Sachs. Fittingly, the nickname for this new horn is the Cleveland. Bach also has C trumpets nicknamed Philly and Chicago. My good friend Don Sipe has lent me his Chicago, and Thompson Music has sent me a Cleveland for trial so those are the two horns you will hear in this comparison.
Everything was recorded in one sitting, no editing, so there are mistakes and fluffs here and there. Some of those misses can be attributed to switching equipment on the fly, and some is just me trying to get back in shape… However, the point of this was not to publish “perfect takes” of each thing being compared. The change in equipment, whether it horn or mouthpiece, certainly plays a part in the ease and comfort of execution. I played multiple excerpts that showcased a variety of playing aspects from the simple to the more complex. I obviously will make less mistakes on equipment that agrees with me and “fits” my physicality.
I used the same mouthpiece (AR Sergei 42) for each horn and played about 10 feet away from an Advanced Audio CM49 mic > Focusrite interface > Studio One DAW, in my basement. I left this as “raw” as possible as far as effects so you can really hear the equipment. I suggest you use headphones to pick up the subtleties even better.
:05 Chicago – Tomasi Concerto mvt 1
:55 Cleveland – Tomasi Concerto mvt 1
1:46 Cleveland – Tomasi Concerto mvt 2 1st expt
2:15 Chicago – Tomasi Concerto mvt 2 1st expt
2:45 Chicago – Tomasi Concerto mvt 2 2nd expt
3:25 Cleveland – Tomasi Concerto mvt 2 2nd expt
4:04 Chicago – Casterede Short Meetings 1
5:10 Cleveland – Casterede Short Meetings 1
6:15 Chicago – Casterede Short Meetings 2
7:05 Cleveland – Casterede Short Meetings 2
7:50 Chicago – Casterede Short Meetings 3
8:58 Cleveland – Casterede Short Meetings 3