Hey all--

I'm new here, figured I'd introduce myself.

My name is Drew Wilkie, and I'm from Bergen County, NJ. I am currently enrolled at Towson University in Maryland as a criminal justice major. I am 22 years old.

I marched three years (2003, 2007, 2008) in The Cadets drum and bugle corps on lead trumpet, and was the soloist in 2007 and 2008. In addition, I marched three seasons with the Hawthorne Caballeros senior drum and bugle corps on lead trumpet, and was a soloist in 2006. Currently, I am playing solo soprano in the Towson University marching band, and lead trumpet on the Towson big band.

My horns:

-1968 Getzen Eterna Severinsen model Bb. This is a horn that has been lent to me from a friend while I make enough money to buy my own Bb.
-2006 Kanstul Powerbore soprano bugle. This is the instrument I use for marching band and pep band. The transposition isn't difficult.

My mouthpieces:

-Monette BL4S6 Prana. I use this for most everything I play these days. It is similar to a Schilke 6A4a, but a bit shallower and narrower, and with a big #23 throat.

Who else is on these boards? If anyone wants to chat, my AIM screen name is: drewwilkie86

Hey! I'm John Martin. I'm from the Florida area, and I marched with Memphis Sound in 2007, and I've been on the brass staff there since. I kinda of run the joint, and since most of the folks on here for now are my acquaintances, they're mostly Mempho alums (until the boards grow a little). My contact info's in my profile (at least I'm pretty sure it is) :-p. Let me know if there's anything I can help you with!

Hello there Drew. You may or may not remember me, but it's Bruno. A flute player from Elizabeth that you met at the USSBA event. I marched Raiders., as you can see by my signature. Hopefully you'll remember me?

Yeah I remember speaking with you, Bruno...how are things?

In other news, I just purchased a brand new Yamaha Custom Series 8340EM Eric Miyashiro Artist Model Bb trumpet. It outplayed every horn I played at Chuck's in DC, which included many Schilkes and Yamahas. This horn has a medium bore (.445) valve block, with XL bore (.463) tuning slides...and a 5 1/2" bell! The concept is that when you push valves down, the resistance barely changes, leading to an extremely even feel across the harmonic series. It's a reversed lead pipe, lightweight horn that has the ease and brilliance of a medium bore horn, with the projection and core of a large bore Schilke X3. This is EASILY the most powerful Bb trumpet I have ever played. At lower dynamic levels, it's very dark and soft...but at higher dynamic levels, it is extremely bright

If you're a Bach fan, you probably will not like this trumpet if you get the chance to try it. I come from the Schilke line of horns, so I identified with this instrument right away. If you want a trumpet for solo and commercial playing (as this is not a horn for legit playing by any stretch), and you're not afraid of the blow of a big bore horn, try it!