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Bob Reeves Brass

12 Trumpet Gap Myths You’ve Probably Heard

One of the most talked about aspects of trumpet equipment over the last few years has been the annulus, or gap, and rightly so because it can have a huge impact on how your trumpet and mouthpiece play. Unfortunately, there is a lot of confusion and plain old misinformation that gets passed around making a relatively simple adjustment much more complex than necessary. Don’t worry, we are here to help by dispelling some of the popular myths about the trumpet gap.

1. “I measured my trumpet gap and it is .1845 inches (4.686mm), that must be too big.”

False! Due to a combination of all the factors involved — you, the mouthpiece, and the instrument — it is very possible that a gap that large, or even larger, may be optimal. Yes, it is possible that size of gap is too large, but you won’t know by just looking at the measurement by itself.

2. “I must use a #5 sleeve on all of my horns.”

False! While this may coincidentally true for some, there is no sleeve that magically works on every trumpet. There are many reasons for this: receivers are not standardized among trumpet manufacturers, factory tolerances for setting trumpet receivers are larger than the minimum amount that most players can perceive, and no two trumpets are built exactly alike thus having different playing characteristics.

3. “Adjusting the gap is a relatively new concept.”

False! The effects of adjusting the gap go back over 40 years. Carroll Purviance found that a smaller shank size would help trumpet players playing on certain instruments. Bob Reeves revolutionized gap adjustment when he patented his adjustable mouthpiece sleeve system and designed the first adjustable gap receiver in 1971. Renold Schilke studied the gap and theorized than zero gap was best in his article from 1977. A comprehensive Master’s Thesis was done in 1980 by Dennis Fleisher while at Eastman School of Music.

4. “I am not advanced enough to notice any difference in the gap.”

False! We’ve found over the last 45 years of working with players daily that experience and skill does not correllate with the ability to perceive changes in the gap. Great players sometimes cannot feel huge adjustments in the gap, while young players can greatly benefit from small adjustments. The questions is: how much do you perceive changes in the gap? The answer is easy — experiment!

5. “Little to no gap is best.”

False! While a small minority of players play with little or no gap (and that may be you!), a vast majority of players prefer some gap and a significant percentage of players prefer a relatively large gap compared to what most standard setups create.

6. “I can figure out the gap by taking a few measurements and plugging it into a formula.”

False! No formula can properly take into account every variable that affects what the optimal gap should be, including the response of the instrument and the lip penetration into the mouthpiece of the player. At best, a formula can generalize what gap works best for you, but at worst it can send you in the wrong direction. Why? Because you can’t measure what you feel, and more importantly, you can’t measure what you like to feel when you play.

7. “It’s better to adjust the gap by moving the trumpet receiver than altering the mouthpiece.”

Usually false! The biggest drawback to adjusting your receiver is that it is more costly and risky to make a change to the trumpet as opposed to the mouthpiece. Also, even the best repair shops cannot set the receiver to the precision that we can make sleeves (adjusting the gap to within .001″). Receiver adjustments are best when you use only one mouthpiece on that particular instrument. If you use multiple mouthpieces (like a commercial mouthpiece and a classical mouthpiece), then it is best to leave the receiver alone and dial in the gap by adjusting the mouthpiece shanks.

8. “A mouthpiece cut for Reeves Sleeves loses energy or vibrations.”

False! When we cut a mouthpiece for sleeves, there is less than .001″ separation between the mouthpiece and the sleeve. Bob Reeves did extensive studies on this and concluded that, when machined properly, there is no acoustical detriment when converting a mouthpiece for sleeves.

9. “Receiver inserts adjust the gap the same way sleeves or resetting the receiver does.”

False! Receiver inserts are a crude way to adjust the gap, as they usually make adjustments several times the amount that a player can perceive. More critical, however, is that they also drastically alter the trumpet leadpipe by changing the air column design (the leadpipe is both lengthened and the shape changed by the addition of a cylindrical section).

10. “A Bach Strad (or insert any other model trumpet) always plays best with an 1/8″ gap.”

False! This thinking fails to consider the effects of the mouthpiece and the player (the most important factor!). It also assumes that all trumpets are built and play the same. Line of 10 of any specific make and model of trumpet and you’d be hard pressed to find any two that play alike.

11. “My trumpet teacher plays a #5.5 sleeve, so should I.”

False! While you probably should do what your trumpet teacher tells you during your studies, realize that this statement is just as absurd as saying, “My teacher wears a size 10.5 shoe, so should I.” Even if you follow your teacher’s routine, style, and sound concepts, you are still two different individuals with different physical builds, preferences, and equipment.

12. “I use a #5.5 sleeve, so should my student.”

False! Helping your student to think logically about their equipment and dial it in is a great asset for your student, however, forcing your student to play on exactly what you play does not do your student any favors. The best thing to do is spend 5 minutes in your lesson and experiment with with the Reeves Paper Trick. Your student may end up on the same sleeve as you, but if that’s true it will be for the right reason.

Alan Kaplan Trombone Interview – Trombone Corner #7

Alan Kaplan – Trombone Interview

Welcome to the show notes for Episode #7 of the Trombone Corner podcast. This episode features trombonist Alan Kaplan.

Listen to or download the episode below:

About Alan Kaplan

Alan Kaplan has long been one of the busiest studio and freelance trombonists around. Growing up in Los Angeles he began playing at the age of eight. He tried to prepare for a “real” job, majoring in engineering at LA Valley College, but by the age of nineteen he was on the road with Buddy Rich. He was the youngest trombonist ever to play lead with that band. The next few years found him playing with big band legends such as Harry James, Louis Bellson, Don Ellis, and Lionel Hampton.In the ensuing years, Kaplan’s studio career took off. His recording credits vary vastly from Marvin Gaye to Johnny Mathis to Madonna to Placido Domingo to Sarah Vaughan to Oingo Boingo to Whitney Houston to the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Phil Collins, Pharell Williams, Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Michael Buble, Paul McCartney, Harry Styles, Bob Dylan, Bryan Adams, Nirvana, Neil Young, Harry Connick, Lady Gaga, and countless more.

Kaplan’s TV credits include such shows as Hawaii 5-0, Dynasty, Voyager, Star Trek, Home Front, Mash, Dallas, Simpsons, Fantasy Island and hundreds of others. He has been the featured trombone soloist on more than 1000 cartoons such as Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, Tazmania, Pinky and the Brain, 101 Dalmations, Timon and Pumbaa and many others. He is currently working on Family Guy, American Dad, Orville, Mickey Mouse Shorts,  Agents of Shield, Star Trek, Once Upon a Time, Pennyworth, Blood and Treasure, Stargirl, Picard, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Animaniacs reboot, and Looney Toons.

He was a regular member of the staff bands on the Merv Griffin, Joan Rivers, and Star Search Shows. Several times in the last few years, Alan has been in the orchestra on the Academy Awards. He also was in the band for the Jerry Lewis Telethon for over thirty years.

Throughout his career, Alan has performed and recorded with Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Harry Connick, Boz Scaggs, Cheap Trick, Tony Bennett, Tower of Power, Josh Groban, Michael Jackson, Celine Dionne, Madonna, The Who, Elton John, Spinal Tap, and many, many more.

His movie credits are perhaps most impressive of all, a list of some 1100 plus films including “Animal House”, “Airplane”, “Dances with Wolves”, “Out of Africa”, “Sleepless in Seattle”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Hercules”, “Apollo 13”, “The Lion King”, “Con-Air”, “Batman and Robin”, “Silverado”, “Godzilla”, “Zorro”, “Planet of the Apes”, “Spiderman 1,2, and 3”, and “Men in Black 2”, “Pirates of the Carribean 1,2, and 3″,”Star Trek XI”,”The Incredibles 1 & 2″,”Up”, “Transformers 1&2″ ,”Mission Impossible 4″,” Star Trek”,” Rise of the Planet of the Apes”, “Inside Out”, “Tomorrowland”, and ” Ted”, “Ted 2”,  “Star Wars Rogue One”, “Spiderman 4”, “The Dark Tower”, “Jurassic World”, “Spiderman Homecoming”, “War for the Planet of the Apes”, “Coco”, “Ready Player One”, “The Greatest Showman”, “Lego Movie 2″, ” Ralph Destroys the Internet”, “Alita; Battle Angel”, “Frozen 2”, “Men in Black: International”,  “Spiderman: Far From Home”, “Soul”, “Onward”, “Bad Boys For Life”, “An American Pickle”, and “Scoob!” to name just a few.

Alan has been featured in articles in many publications including The Brass Herald, Windplayer Magazine, Downbeat, ITA Journal, and International Musician.

In January of 2002 Alan released his first solo album. It is a beautiful collection of standard ballads arranged for a thirty piece orchestra called Lonely Town. In August of 2012 He released a new CD called “Secrets of Hoyt’s Garage”. In 2017 Alan released three play-along albums for Music Minus One. “Ballads for Trombone with Orchestra”, “Standards for Trombone”, and “Mostly Mozart Arias”.

Alan Kaplan Links

Podcast Credits

Karl Sievers Trumpet Interview – The Other Side of the Bell #82

Karl Sievers – Trumpet Interview

Welcome to the show notes for Episode #82 of The Other Side of the Bell – A Trumpet Podcast. This episode features trumpeter Karl Sievers.

Listen to or download the episode below:

Visit the Bill Adam Facebook Group to take part in the 6th Annual William Adam Trumpet Festival!

About Karl Sievers

Dr. Karl Sievers enjoys a successful and varied performance career, having performed in countless studio sessions, on live television, in jazz ensembles, chamber music of all kinds, solo recitals, and in symphony orchestras.

Karl is principal trumpet for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and the Norman Philharmonic, part of the Oklahoma City Jazz Orchestra, and he performs with local groups the Frontier Brass Band and the Opulent Brass Quintet. He has performed with artists such as Doc Severinsen, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder and Al Jarreau.

Karl Sievers has been a professor at The University of Oklahoma since 1999 and was named the 2017 Irene and Julian J. Rothbaum Presidential Professor of Excellence in the Arts at the University of Oklahoma Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts.

A student of William Adam at Indiana University, Karl has been instrumental in hosting and organizing the International William Adam Trumpet Festival. The 6th Annual festival will be from June 18-20, 2020 and held online on the the Bill Adam Facebook Group, where all the masterclasses will be available to view free of charge.

Karl Sievers Links

Podcast Credits

Matthias Höfs Trumpet Interview – The Other Side of the Bell #81

Matthias Höfs Trumpet Interview

Welcome to the show notes for Episode #81 of The Other Side of the Bell – A Trumpet Podcast. This episode features trumpeter Matthias Höfs.

Listen to or download the episode below:

About  Matthias Höfs

When he was six years old, Matthias Hoefs declared the trumpet “his instrument, because it shines so nicely”. He received his musical education from Professor Peter Kallensee at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre, and from Profes- sor Konradin Groth at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. When just 18 years of age, he was engaged as Solo-Trumpeter at the Philharmonic State Orchestra in Hamburg, where he enjoyed the fascinating world of opera for 16 years.

At the same time, Hoefs became a member of the GERMAN BRASS Ensemble, with whom he continues to achieve worldwide success. Since their first joint concert in 1985, he writes for himself and his colleagues tailored arrangements which span more then one genre and continue to inspire the world of Brass.

Matthias Hoefs has always shown a pioneering spirit, and thus has consistently widened the horizon of his instrument, either by close cooperation with other composers, who feel themselves inspired by his incomparable virtuosity and joy of experimentation, or as “trumpet ambassador” in his home state of Schleswig- Holstein in northern Germany, or in cooperation with the instrument makers Max and Heinrich Thein.

Since the year 2000, Matthias Hoefs has been teaching as Professor at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre, were he inspires his students with great enthusiasm, knowing how to pass on his passion for his instrument. In addition to his extensive concert performances as solo-trumpeter and chamber musician, Hoefs has produced numerous Solo CDs, and jointly with GERMAN BRASS, more than 20 recordings.

In October 2016 GERMAN BRASS was awarded with the ECHO Klassik – one of the most outstanding awards for national and international musicians.

Matthias Höfs Links

Podcast Credits

Aubrey Logan Trombone Interview – Trombone Corner #6

Aubrey Logan – Trombone Interview

Welcome to the show notes for Episode #6 of the Trombone Corner podcast. This episode features trombonist, singer & songwriter, Aubrey Logan.

Listen to or download the episode below:

About Aubrey Logan

She’s a singer. She’s a trombone player. She’s a songwriter. She’s a performer.

It would have been a lot easier if Aubrey Logan would have just picked one. But she’s never been one to be pigeon-holed. She lives her life outside the box and that makes her difficult to define. And that’s OK with her because she purposely defies definition.

Her Top 5 debut album in 2017 helped establish her as one of the premier young singer-instrumentalists in the country. Her participation in Dave Koz’ #1 album, Summer Horns in 2018 helped cement her position. But it was her own #1 album in 2019 that really helped Aubrey Logan become a household name with music aficionados around the world. Because it was that album, Where the Sunshine is Expensive, that showed the depth of songwriting that she’s capable of.

In between her recording commitments, Logan finds time to share the stage with Alabama Shakes and Meghan Trainor and Pharrell Williams and Josh Groban and Dave Koz and The Commodores and Boston Pops at venues as diverse as Ronnie Scott’s famous jazz club in London to the expansive Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. She’s appeared on Jimmy Kimmel and the Grammys’ Award Show and ABC’s The Goldbergs. She’s recorded a duet with her childhood hero, Gloria Estefan. She’s won multiple awards at the Montreux Jazz Festival. She’s beloved by not just the dedicated fans of Postmodern Jukebox, but she considers the creator, Scott Bradlee, and her colleagues within the collective her true friends. And she loves performing. But it’s in her writing that we find out who Aubrey Logan really is.

Her title track, LA revealed to the world just how difficult it is to be an artist living in the biggest entertainment town on the planet. She opened up her soul in the song, Understand. She gave us songs that told us how much travel takes its toll and songs that tell us what’s truly important in a world that glorifies superficiality. She even takes us back a few decades with some retro songs that ask us to remember what it was that first captured our imagination on the radio.

But mostly, Ms. Logan has finally given us a glimpse into the complexity of the mind of the artist. She’s still known as a world-class singer-instrumentalist. But she’s revealed that there’s so much more. Aubrey continues to headline sold-out shows and festivals. She continues to wow the crowds at symphony dates all over the world and she touches us in those rare intimate club shows. And with her latest album, we now discover that “The Queen of Sass” has depths to which we would never have imagined.

Aubrey Logan Links

Podcast Credits

Jim Manley Trumpet Interview – The Other Side of the Bell #80

Jim Manley – Trumpet Interview

Welcome to the show notes for Episode #80 of The Other Side of the Bell – A Trumpet Podcast. This episode features trumpeter Jim Manley.

Listen to or download the episode below:

About Jim Manley

Jim Manley figures he has spent around 10,500 plus nights playing his trumpet around town in his hometown of St. Louis since the 70’s.

His recordings have gathered critical acclaim as well and have traveled all over the world. Jim’s forays into the stratosphere are musically exciting and unbelievable to his peers. 

In the past few years he has branched out as a band leader, composer, and clinician.Jim has been featured as a guest soloist with many bands across the country, including as a featured soloist at the annual Trumpet Party in Amsterdam in 2006. 

Jim’s group Horns in the House” was the opening act for the legendary Maynard Ferguson. Every year Jim headlines at “Jazz at the Bistro” one of the foremost jazz clubs in the country to sell out crowds.

His approach to brass playing has gained world-wide attention via his many students and now several youtube clips. Jim is a clinician and teaches players of all ages in his teaching studio at home and via Skype worldwide.

Jim Manley Links

Podcast Credits

Ralph Sauer Trombone Interview – Trombone Corner #5

Ralph Sauer- Trombone Interview

Welcome to the show notes for Episode #5 of the Trombone Corner podcast. This episode features former principal trombone of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ralph Sauer.

Listen to or download the episode below:

About Ralph Sauer

Ralph Sauer retired from the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2006 after 32 years as principal trombonist. Previously, he spent six years as principal with the Toronto Symphony. During that time, he also served as principal trombonist for the Canadian Opera and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., and was a faculty member at the University of Toronto. A native of Philadelphia, he is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Emory Remington.

Mr. Sauer has performed as a soloist with many orchestras, including premieres of concertos by Kazimierz Serocki and Augusta Read Thomas. He has given masterclasses and recitals throughout Europe, Japan, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Canada, Australia, and the United States, and has appeared at the Stratford, Marlboro, Aspen, and Pacific summer music festivals. Mr. Sauer has been a visiting professor at the Eastman School of Music and at Arizona State University, and has taught at the Sibelius Academy of Music (Helsinki) and the Norwegian Academy of Music (Oslo). He is a founding member of Summit Brass.

Recent activities include performing as guest principal with the Malmö (Sweden) Symphony Orchestra, teaching at the Malmö Academy of Music, and leading masterclasses at various American universities. He continues to add to his catalog of more than 300 transcriptions for brass instruments.

Ralph Sauer Links

Podcast Credits

Robert Sanders Trombone Interview – Trombone Corner #4

Robert Sanders – Trombone Interview

Welcome to the show notes for Episode #4 of the Trombone Corner podcast. This episode features bass trombonist Robert Sanders.

Listen to or download the episode below:

About Robert Sanders

Bob‘s training included four great teachers, Don Kimble, Jeff Reynolds, Robert Simmergren and Roy Main; they have made all the difference! His professional career began at the age of twenty with the Disneyland Band where he stayed three years. It was a de facto apprenticeship, working day in and day out with 15 experienced professional musicians. Thereafter he stayed busy performing hither and yon in the greater Los Angeles area, including 30 years with Pacific Symphony, 24 years as a founding member of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, 22 seasons with Opera Pacific, 12 years in the Composers Brass Quintet, and of course, a decade or so in Hoyt Bohannon’s garage on Tuesday nights.

The low brass section from Zorro.

He has played on a freelance basis, at one time or another, for every dog and pony show to come through Southern California for 45 years; including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, hundreds of motion picture and television scores, and considerable time in various and sundry theater, ballet and opera pits. He has been a member of the Bill Watrous Refuge West Band, the Jack Sheldon Orchestra, the Jimmy Cleveland Orchestra and did two, all too short, tours subbing with the west coast iteration of the Toshiko Akioshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band.

He is presently retired from low brass performance, serves as president of Local 7, American Federation of Musicians, and has taught trombone at California State University, Fullerton for more than three decades; where he co-founded (with Jeannie Little and Alex Iles) Trombone Day in 2004.

​Bob is a Greenhoe Artist.

Robert Sanders Links

Podcast Credits

Bria Skonberg Trumpet Interview – The Other Side of the Bell #79

Bria Skonberg – Trumpet Interview

Welcome to the show notes for Episode #79 of The Other Side of the Bell – A Trumpet Podcast. This episode features trumpeter Bria Skonberg.

Listen to or download the episode below:

About Bria Skonberg

Photo by Krista Stucchio

To most of us, the adventures of trailblazing triple threat trumpeter, singer and songwriter Bria Skonberg are borderline unbelievable. Born in British Columbia, Canada and now residing in New York City, the Juno Award winner for Best Vocal Jazz Album has performed hundreds of festivals and stages the world over, including New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival and Montreal Jazz Festival.

Called the “shining hope of hot jazz” by the NY Times, Bria has been at the forefront of a revival of classic American music as both a performer and educator, programming concerts and workshops for students of all ages; She is currently developing educational activities for the Louis Armstrong House Museum and co-directs the New York Hot Jazz Camp she co-founded in 2015.

“Nothing Never Happens” Album by Bria Skonberg

Described as “one of the most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation” (Wall Street Journal), she has performed the music of Aretha Franklin alongside Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child, played with U2 at the Apollo, sat in with the Dave Matthews band, was a featured guest with Jon Batiste and sang the “Star Spangled Banner” at Madison Square Garden for a NY Rangers game.

Bria has been featured on over 25 recordings and recently released her sixth studio solo album “Nothing Never Happens”. Her music has garnered over 10 million streams online.  A 6x Downbeat Rising Star, she tours constantly bringing her own signature sounds of fiery trumpet playing, smoky vocals and story-telling together with adventurous concoctions of classic and new.  Bria is a Bach Conn-Selmer artist; she plays a Bach Stradivarius 37 with a 3C Bach mouthpiece.

Bria Skonberg Links

Podcast Credits

Jay Friedman Trombone Interview – Trombone Corner #3

Jay Friedman – Trombone Interview

Welcome to the show notes for Episode #3 of the Trombone Corner podcast. This episode features principal trombone of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Jay Friedman.

Listen to or download the episode below:

About Jay Friedman

Jay Friedman attended Yale University on scholarship and majored in composition at Roosevelt University. After four years with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and two years with the Florida Symphony, he joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1962 and was appointed principal trombone in 1964. He has soloed with the CSO on several occasions, including a concerto by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.

Friedman recently released The Singing Trombone, a solo CD designed to assist trombone students. He has taught trombone privately for many years, and his students hold positions in major orchestras such as the Gothenburg Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Friedman currently serves as professor of trombone, principal guest conductor, and head of winds and brass at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. He also has been artist-in-residence at Indiana University. Friedman was invited to hold master classes and perform at the International Trombone Camp in Fossano, Italy, in 2002, and in Limone, Italy, in 2003. That same year, he also performed at the International Trombone Association in Helsinki, Finland. In 2006 Friedman held master classes in Vigo, Spain.

An active conductor, Jay Friedman was named music director of the Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest in 1995. At the invitation of Daniel Barenboim, Friedman conducted the Civic Orchestra in act 1 of Wagner’s Die Walküre, in a performance the Chicago Sun-Times called “the best Civic concert in the past 30 years.” In 2002, he was chosen Conductor of the Year by the Illinois Council of Orchestras.

In 2001, Friedman combined his passion for brass and conducting by organizing the Chicago Symphony brass and alumni in a concert at Symphony Center benefiting the Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest and honoring Adolph “Bud” Herseth. This all-brass concert, Brass Buddies, featured Friedman’s own arrangement of Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony.

Friedman’s conducting career has included guest appearances with orchestras around the world, including the Orchestra of the Italian Radio (RAI), the Malmo Symphony, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s annual donor concerts. In April 2005, he conducted three concerts with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome. In March 2006, he conducted the Civic Orchestra of Chicago in a public master class of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony at Symphony Center, and in May 2007 he conducted the RAI orchestra in Italy with Daniel Barenboim as piano soloist.

Friedman’s articles on conducting and orchestral style have been published by The Instrumentalist magazine. These articles currently are being used as a curriculum at leading universities and can be accessed on his Web site at www.jayfriedman.net.

Jay Friedman Links

Podcast Credits

Christopher Still & Honesty Pill Interview – The Other Side of the Bell #78

Christopher Still – Trumpet Interview

Welcome to the show notes for Episode #78 of The Other Side of the Bell – A Trumpet Podcast. This episode features trumpeter and Honesty Pill founder, Christopher Still.

Listen to or download the episode below:

About Christopher Still

Honesty Pill founder Christopher Still joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Second Trumpet in 2007.

Before coming to California, he was the Principal Trumpet of the Colorado Symphony. He has also held the positions of Associate Principal Trumpet of the Dallas Symphony and Principal Trumpet of the Charleston (SC) Symphony. Additionally, Christopher has served as Assistant Principal Trumpet with the Grant Park Festival Orchestra in Chicago’s Millennium Park and Guest Principal with the St. Louis Symphony.

Christopher has recorded extensively with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Grant Park, Dallas, and Albany symphony orchestras. Active in the Hollywood recording studios, he can be heard on major motion picture and television soundtracks. He is a Yamaha Artist, a dedicated educator, and an active clinician.

Christopher Still Links

Podcast Credits

David Elton Trumpet Interview – The Other Side of the Bell #77

David Elton – Trumpet Interview

Welcome to the show notes for Episode #77 of The Other Side of the Bell – A Trumpet Podcast. This episode features trumpeter David Elton.

Listen to or download the episode below:

About David Elton

David Elton is recognised as one of the world’s most sought-after trumpet players.

Principal Trumpet of the London Symphony Orchestra since December 2017 and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra since 2011, David is also a trumpet professor at the Royal College of Music in London, and a member of the Australian National Academy of Music brass faculty in Melbourne.

As a soloist, David has performed Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in Vietnam with the London Symphony Orchestra, given the world-premiere of James Ledger’s Trumpet Concerto (a work that was written for him) with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, as well as performing other concerti with various orchestras including the Sydney and Canberra Symphony Orchestras, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Prior to his LSO and SSO appointments, David Elton was Principal Trumpet with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (2005-2011) and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (2000-2004).  He has also performed as a Guest Principal Trumpet with the New York Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Australian World Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic.

David is an active chamber musician, most recently giving the world premiere of David Sampson’s Memories to Keep Awhile at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music. He is a founding member of the Australian Brass Quintet with whom he regularly tours throughout Australia and beyond.

David has recently given masterclasses in London, Paris, Madrid, Houston, Aarhus, Karlskona, as well as Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide.  A frequent tutor of the Australian Youth Orchestra, he was also Artist in Residence and the 2019 AYO National Music Camp.

David began learning the trumpet at the age of nine, later studying with Paul Goodchild in Sydney.  He gained a Bachelor of Music degree from the Queensland Conservatorium (where he studied with Yoram Levy) and was recipient of the Conservatorium Medal. He furthered his studies with Charles Geyer and Barbara Butler, graduating with a master’s degree in performance from Northwestern University, Illinois, USA in 1999.

David Elton Links

Podcast Credits