All about the ROTARY TRUMPET feat. the awesome Ganter G7a! | Instrument Reviews

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

I've been sitting on this playtesting footage for ages, but definitely did not want to scrap it, because you sure won't want to miss it! This is a long one, so strap yourself in and enjoy this combo review and general educational piece on an instrument hailing from Germany!

[@James_Dawes]

Brilliant video, I think this has been the most informative video about rotary trumpets I've seen, love the way you describe the small details of how it feels to play compared to a piston trumpet!

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

So glad to hear it, James! I still have a lot of learning to do as far as actually playing rotaries goes, but I look forward to hopefully exploring further on the channel!

[@RobertCardwell]

Rotary trumpets are fun. Got a lot of use out of the Lechner C. Glad you had a chance to play one. PS. Love the orchestral excerpts that you're working on 😊

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

Sounds like a fun horn! And yes, that Parsifal was done just for you, Rob ;)

[@RobertCardwell]

@@SamuelPlaysBrass Luv you brother!

[@morrobaydan]

I am a returning French horn player and a nearly new Kunl and Hoyer rotary trumpet came up on eBay. I bought it and had instant buyer's remorse. Breathing is soooo different. I was constantly out of breath or gasping. I was hissing at every note. I was constantly pushing harder and harder to sound like a trumpet and not a leaky tire. THEN I watched a few videos on rotary picolo trumpets. Take a breath, let half out, Don't Force the tone and relax. I'm so happy with my purchase now. I prefer the rounder sound, thank goodness and rotary levers just make more sense. At least they do to me.

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

It’s so strange, isn’t it? You feel like you’re getting winded but in reality you ought to hardly be pushing half as much air down the tube. I’ve been there more times than I can count. Anyway, glad you figured it out for yourself! Rotors are a big adjustment for me and they tend to feel pretty weird as a primarily piston player, but I can definitely see how you’d prefer them as a hornist.

[@dantespeakdigital]

Agree 100% with everything you covered here and bravo for demonstrating all these difficult excerpts! Great channel!

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

Thank you for the kind words!! Very glad you enjoyed. Hope to see you stay tuned!

[@Nynodon]

oh cool!! i love the rotary trumpet so much. I want to be able to actually play one some day, but these videos are cool regardless.

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

They are amazing! Hope you get to play one someday but in the meantime I’m glad you enjoyed the video!

[@robbicu]

I've been waiting for this video! Watch any performance of the Vienna Phil and it's obvious the trumpet players make frequent use of the Vienna Klappen. I hope you get to 50 soon, and hopefully more!

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

Thanks for tuning in, Rob! You’re very cultured as a woodwindist to understand the significance of the rotary trumpet in European orchestras :)

[@PriceWay50]

Awesome intro to the horn fam

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

@@PriceWay50 Glad you liked it!

[@AdenosinePush]

Yeah man, I have a Shagerl Berlin Heavy and I am finding I actually prefer it to my piston most of the time. They play different but once you figure it out they rock.

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

It's a Trumpet with Rotary Valves as far as the name goes. These Trumpets have Smaller Diameter Bore & a Larger Diameter Bell so it produces a much mellower almost Flugelhorn Like sound so it could be great for Jazz as well. It might even make a good alternative to the Cornets in British Brass Bands.

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

I talked about all of this in my video, you know. The thumbnail is a rhetorical question if you actually watch the video itself. Anyhow, this one has too brash a sound to be a cornet or flugelhorn substitute unless you use an extremely deep mouthpiece with an adapter for a trumpet shank.

[@hauke3644]

Here in Germany rotary trumpets are still standard for advanced or professional players and the Ganter G7a has been a very common model in the 1980s. I‘d consider it semi-professional, real professionals played Monke at the time. Ganter trumpets usually sound kind of elegant. They were not very consistent, some really out of tune, but mostly manageable. I don’t think there is a sample with perfect intonation. I started with an affordable Conn, until I tried a Ganter G3, which was his student model without the “Heckel” rim. It was so easy so play that I immediately started saving for my own, which ended up being a G6aN. 6 stands for yellow brass and I like it’s sound better. Nevertheless I have it for sale-I don’t use rotaries anymore, because I found some advantages with good piston trumpets.

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

I would be inclined to agree that the model 7 is a semi-professional instrument and not a true professional one. It felt very finicky to play. Although I’m sure my general inexperience with rotary trumpets did not help matters. I also suspect that the Heckel rim doesn’t help, but I’m sure Ganter had his reasons for using it. I have also been told that my trouble with this instrument was likely because it was not clean enough inside the tubes, as rotary trumpets are supposedly often more dirt-sensitive than piston trumpets. Have you ever noticed such a thing to be the case?

[@hauke3644]

After having played my Ganter for almost 40 years, I don't find it difficult... Of course, any trumpet should be clean. And haven't counted how often I had mine for professional cleaning... But that was for the valve mechanics. The rim helps for a more centered tone and allows for more volume. Now that I think about it, the G3 without the rim was clearly easier to play. As is am old Lätzsch, that I also have and which doesn't have a rim, too. On the other hand, the very common Monke models are somewhat difficult without a rim. But they are heavy, have different taper and large 140mm bells. That's why I love my CarolBrass 8060 with piston valves: easy to play, but rich sound, no compromise

[@agogobell28]

Have you ever considered demoing a Romantic long-F trumpet? Thein, Dotzauer, and Egger make modern reproductions, and there are a few historical examples kicking around still.

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

@@agogobell28 I’ve really wanted to play a true F trumpet but the chance has never come up to try one.

[@agogobell28]

@@SamuelPlaysBrass I really hope you get the chance one day! They're so fascinating.

[@anthonykaiser974]

Did you change mouthpieces? I've read they like a different cup shape and backbore.

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

Fair question. I tried a few mouthpieces and didn’t have markedly better or worse results with any one in particular. But then again, it’s not like I own any *actual* rotary trumpet mouthpieces like a Breslmair. Just a bunch of piston trumpet mouthpieces. I thought the Bach 1-1/2A would be good, seeing as A cups come with the symphonic-style backbore by default.

[@jean-pierredevent970]

@@SamuelPlaysBrass Since it's a smaller bore, something very big, free and open could perhaps be a good idea. The Denis Wick 1X is such a beast of a mouthpiece but it's hard to play. I once let somebody try it and never got it back (as always?? ) but so, I don't miss it. I have mouthpieces enough ;-)

[@VictorLamme]

You may look silly with it, but regardless, would you recommend it for playing jazz?

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

A good question, silliness notwithstanding. I like the clarity of some rotary trumpets’ sound, but I still don’t think it’s a good idea to use them in jazz, even outside of aesthetics. One of the biggest “draws” of jazz to me versus other genres is the effects-pitch bending, shakes, squeezes, doits, etc. A lot of these are almost intrinsic features of the piston valve. They range from being much harder to pull off (and much less convincing to the listener) to essentially impossible on rotary trumpet. Half-valving is much harder on rotors due to the shorter valve stroke. Additionally, it is nigh impossible to play a rotary trumpet one-handed, meaning quick mute changes and especially “wah” effects with Harmon or plunger are essentially out of the question.

[@stevewilliams6904]

Very interesting. Thx. But I really wish you would slow down your delivery.

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

Slowing down my speech is something I’m working on for future videos. My brain has a tendency to run off faster than my mouth can keep up.

[@siegfriedwifling907]

I had one.. in case of emergency you can use it as a weapon😂

[@peternaryd_operasinger]

😁👍👍👍

[@rafaelfernandeslopesdeoliv1700]

They seem to have been the standard in the eastern bloc, in former yugoslavia and the soviet union.

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

This is true! Unfortunately, however, Soviet-made rotary trumpets never could reach the same echelon of manufacturing and design as German-made ones.