Trombone Story
Aug. 18th, 2023 08:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taz_39I bought a new trombone to try this week, and there's more to the story than that.
TL;DR: Years ago, and just a year or two before she died, my mom bought me my first semi-professional model trombone.
(full story under the cut, or jump to the bottom of page for TL;DR cont'd if you don't want to read/can't see the cut)
When I first started playing trombone, my dad and stepmom got me a rent-to-buy student King 606.
It was a good trombone, and I used it to compete in the statewide band competitions (Districts, Regionals, etc) with great success. But when I was about to graduate high school and expressed interest in continuing the trombone for college, my teachers said that I needed a large trombone with an F attachment.
So I did a lot of research, and my mom (not stepmom, mom) took me to the nearest local music store (Haines Music, a 45-minute drive away) to look at what they had. There were quite a few good options considering what a small store it was, and I ended up liking a Getzen Eterna 1047.
It looked like this:
Trombones are not the most expensive instrument, but they're also not cheap.
This one, in the late 90s, was probably between $1200-$1800.
We went back home and I didn't think much of it again…I remember that I was setting aside some money from my paychecks in the hopes of getting it.
But then on my birthday (or close to it), my mom surprised me with this trombone! I think she had picked me up for visitation, because I remember she gave it to me in the car. Because she was SO excited about it that she couldn’t wait until we got home to give it to me! How adorable is that! She clambered into the back seat and yanked this trombone case out from behind the rear seat...I'll never forget it <3
I remember how shocked I was, and overcome with emotion (yeah I cried), but also, sadly, I remember the sinking and terrified feeling in my stomach, because I knew what would come next.
A fight.
My dad had refused to get me this trombone (for now, possibly because money was tight, just to clarify that he wasn’t necessarily being evil, just practical.) And my mom, whom he hated, had bought me The Important Thing. Without discussing it with him, or giving him a chance to be part of it.
My parents had been divorced since I was five. I knew a conflict was coming the minute I saw the trombone. I was thrilled, and grateful, and horrified at the conflict that I knew was coming, all because I’d shown my mom what trombone I wanted and she wanted so badly to give it to me.
Anyway, you don’t need details. Suffice to say that the trombone was already bought. And just a year later my mom was dying of pancreatic cancer. And after she died, I went to college, and played the trombone she had been so excited to give to me.
Before I graduated, the trombone broke in a way that couldn’t really be rectified (a structural flaw), and I let my teachers and peers pressure me into getting a different horn. To be fair, I wanted one that wouldn’t break like that again either.
So I traded my Getzen Eterna 1047 for a Bach 42A, another popular model. I played it for the rest of college and up through 2012 when I worked at Busch Gardens:
Yeah that’s me :p
And then I was hired to do the circus for five years, and switched to a small trombone, my Williams 6, for that:
Then a cruise ship, then a bunch of theatre shows in jazz/pop styles like “9 to 5” and “Ain’t Misbehavin’”.
And then Tootsie the Musical for two years.
I haven’t touched a large trombone for ten years.
But I’ve never forgotten how much I loved the trombone my mom bought for me.
It symbolized her unwavering support of her weird daughter who wanted to be a trombonist. It showed that she was willing to confront my dad in order to continue being that support system.
Every day, I wish I’d had a chance to thank her. But I have to hope that successfully becoming a trombonist, largely because of her love and support, is enough until we meet again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cut to today: I've been hired to do My Fair Lady, and the book clearly requires a large bore trombone.
Since I've been playing a small bore for ten years, I am no longer comfortable on a large bore.
Of course I will be able to GET comfortable again with practice!
But this is also an opportunity to check that my gear matches the type of player that I am now.
So I casually shopped around for trombones to try, especially trombones that might be or feel smaller than what I have now, but still have an F attachment so I can play the My Fair Lady book appropriately.
Of course I remembered my very first semi-professional trombone, the Getzen Eterna 1047. But when I looked for one, they were NOWHERE to be found. None in any music retail stores, not even any for sale online. There was only one on Ebay, in poor condition. I couldn't fathom why this might be...usually you'd at least find one or two for sale out there.
So I called Getzen directly. I used to be a retail manager for Music & Arts, so I know some people :)
Asked about the 1047 and found out that Getzen is making a "new and improved" version, called the Novus.
Because they're doing an upgrade to the model, the older models were not restocked, and have thus been sold until they are out of stock.
And music stores are waiting to receive the new model...which is currently backordered 8-9 months.
Yowza. Still, I talked to Getzen's regional sales rep, who Knows Things.
And he knew of three stores that might have some Eternas lying around.
All three are old, well-established pro musician shops, so I was happy to give each a call.
Two of the stores didn't have any Getzens in stock.
The third, Chuck Levin's in Washington DC, had the older model AND the new-improved model!
They said they'd gotten one of the first shipments before other stores had backordered them out of existence.
So I ordered one.
------------------------------------------------------
(TL;DR cont'd)
The significance of this is that now, twelve years after my mom's death, exactly at a time when I decide to consider buying a different trombone, the model that my mom bought for me is receiving an upgrade, and I am somehow strangely able to get one of them before they're widely available.
It's a weird kind of full circle.
This horn is not even being advertised yet except for on a very few retail sites; not even Getzen has a page for their own trombone yet.
Most trombonists don't know it exists. And most trombonists will not be able to try one either because of the backorder.
Finding it now, just because I was having my heart tugged toward my mother's gift, feels like she came and tapped me on the shoulder, and helped me to find a hidden treasure. A secret that only she and I knew about.
I know it's probably just an interesting coincidence.
And despite the feelings and attachment that I have for that trombone model, I'm still going to be VERY practical in deciding which trombone to keep (one of them has to go, I can't afford a new trombone right now and selling the Bach will cover the full cost of the Getzen.)
I may not end up with "mom's trombone" again.
But just the fact that I'm able to try it, when it's not publicly available, is kind of a miracle. To me, anyway.
It made me feel wonder, and excitement for playing the trombone again.
Thanks, mom :)
TL;DR: Years ago, and just a year or two before she died, my mom bought me my first semi-professional model trombone.
(full story under the cut, or jump to the bottom of page for TL;DR cont'd if you don't want to read/can't see the cut)
When I first started playing trombone, my dad and stepmom got me a rent-to-buy student King 606.
It was a good trombone, and I used it to compete in the statewide band competitions (Districts, Regionals, etc) with great success. But when I was about to graduate high school and expressed interest in continuing the trombone for college, my teachers said that I needed a large trombone with an F attachment.
So I did a lot of research, and my mom (not stepmom, mom) took me to the nearest local music store (Haines Music, a 45-minute drive away) to look at what they had. There were quite a few good options considering what a small store it was, and I ended up liking a Getzen Eterna 1047.
It looked like this:
Trombones are not the most expensive instrument, but they're also not cheap.
This one, in the late 90s, was probably between $1200-$1800.
We went back home and I didn't think much of it again…I remember that I was setting aside some money from my paychecks in the hopes of getting it.
But then on my birthday (or close to it), my mom surprised me with this trombone! I think she had picked me up for visitation, because I remember she gave it to me in the car. Because she was SO excited about it that she couldn’t wait until we got home to give it to me! How adorable is that! She clambered into the back seat and yanked this trombone case out from behind the rear seat...I'll never forget it <3
I remember how shocked I was, and overcome with emotion (yeah I cried), but also, sadly, I remember the sinking and terrified feeling in my stomach, because I knew what would come next.
A fight.
My dad had refused to get me this trombone (for now, possibly because money was tight, just to clarify that he wasn’t necessarily being evil, just practical.) And my mom, whom he hated, had bought me The Important Thing. Without discussing it with him, or giving him a chance to be part of it.
My parents had been divorced since I was five. I knew a conflict was coming the minute I saw the trombone. I was thrilled, and grateful, and horrified at the conflict that I knew was coming, all because I’d shown my mom what trombone I wanted and she wanted so badly to give it to me.
Anyway, you don’t need details. Suffice to say that the trombone was already bought. And just a year later my mom was dying of pancreatic cancer. And after she died, I went to college, and played the trombone she had been so excited to give to me.
Before I graduated, the trombone broke in a way that couldn’t really be rectified (a structural flaw), and I let my teachers and peers pressure me into getting a different horn. To be fair, I wanted one that wouldn’t break like that again either.
So I traded my Getzen Eterna 1047 for a Bach 42A, another popular model. I played it for the rest of college and up through 2012 when I worked at Busch Gardens:
Yeah that’s me :p
And then I was hired to do the circus for five years, and switched to a small trombone, my Williams 6, for that:
Then a cruise ship, then a bunch of theatre shows in jazz/pop styles like “9 to 5” and “Ain’t Misbehavin’”.
And then Tootsie the Musical for two years.
I haven’t touched a large trombone for ten years.
But I’ve never forgotten how much I loved the trombone my mom bought for me.
It symbolized her unwavering support of her weird daughter who wanted to be a trombonist. It showed that she was willing to confront my dad in order to continue being that support system.
Every day, I wish I’d had a chance to thank her. But I have to hope that successfully becoming a trombonist, largely because of her love and support, is enough until we meet again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cut to today: I've been hired to do My Fair Lady, and the book clearly requires a large bore trombone.
Since I've been playing a small bore for ten years, I am no longer comfortable on a large bore.
Of course I will be able to GET comfortable again with practice!
But this is also an opportunity to check that my gear matches the type of player that I am now.
So I casually shopped around for trombones to try, especially trombones that might be or feel smaller than what I have now, but still have an F attachment so I can play the My Fair Lady book appropriately.
Of course I remembered my very first semi-professional trombone, the Getzen Eterna 1047. But when I looked for one, they were NOWHERE to be found. None in any music retail stores, not even any for sale online. There was only one on Ebay, in poor condition. I couldn't fathom why this might be...usually you'd at least find one or two for sale out there.
So I called Getzen directly. I used to be a retail manager for Music & Arts, so I know some people :)
Asked about the 1047 and found out that Getzen is making a "new and improved" version, called the Novus.
Because they're doing an upgrade to the model, the older models were not restocked, and have thus been sold until they are out of stock.
And music stores are waiting to receive the new model...which is currently backordered 8-9 months.
Yowza. Still, I talked to Getzen's regional sales rep, who Knows Things.
And he knew of three stores that might have some Eternas lying around.
All three are old, well-established pro musician shops, so I was happy to give each a call.
Two of the stores didn't have any Getzens in stock.
The third, Chuck Levin's in Washington DC, had the older model AND the new-improved model!
They said they'd gotten one of the first shipments before other stores had backordered them out of existence.
So I ordered one.
------------------------------------------------------
(TL;DR cont'd)
The significance of this is that now, twelve years after my mom's death, exactly at a time when I decide to consider buying a different trombone, the model that my mom bought for me is receiving an upgrade, and I am somehow strangely able to get one of them before they're widely available.
It's a weird kind of full circle.
This horn is not even being advertised yet except for on a very few retail sites; not even Getzen has a page for their own trombone yet.
Most trombonists don't know it exists. And most trombonists will not be able to try one either because of the backorder.
Finding it now, just because I was having my heart tugged toward my mother's gift, feels like she came and tapped me on the shoulder, and helped me to find a hidden treasure. A secret that only she and I knew about.
I know it's probably just an interesting coincidence.
And despite the feelings and attachment that I have for that trombone model, I'm still going to be VERY practical in deciding which trombone to keep (one of them has to go, I can't afford a new trombone right now and selling the Bach will cover the full cost of the Getzen.)
I may not end up with "mom's trombone" again.
But just the fact that I'm able to try it, when it's not publicly available, is kind of a miracle. To me, anyway.
It made me feel wonder, and excitement for playing the trombone again.
Thanks, mom :)
no subject
Date: 2023-08-18 04:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-08-19 12:53 am (UTC)For example, when I applied to work with Ringling Brothers they didn't have an opening. They said they'd keep my resume on file, and I forgot all about applying. Then a few months later I suddenly got an email from the band director asking if I'd like to audition. Of course I said yes. But then over then next two days the other candidates dropped out one by one for misc personal reasons. So, I was offered the job!
The timing/karma that time was A) I happened to be working in Virginia, and the circus was playing DC; B) My lease happened to be ending in the next three days, which was exactly when they wanted me to start, and C) I was working at Busch Gardens at an outdoor show, and all of the rehearsals so far had been for substitute musicians, so there was already someone who knew the show to replace me, so I could leave with only three days notice without ruining life for everyone around me.
Anyway, there I have other strange timing lineups like that. It's very odd...but I try not to question it.