Dear Diary, (haha)
I was teaching beginning band this morning and the most horrible thing happened. My trumpet slipped out of my hand during a gesture (conducting and playing with the kids at the same time) and it fell to the floor. The bell is completely bent/crushed... I am in a state of utter and unfathomable depression right now. It is the only trumpet I had left (sold the others for debt repayments, etc) and now it is damaged (possibly destroyed). Oh, it's definitely a Monday. How will I come up with the funds to get it fixed? Grr... Off to Granier (one of the local music stores in the Springs) after school to see if they can work their voodoo on my baby. So disastrous... Poor Bear....

FYI: (Like you really care but...) The bell of a trumpet is a "special" area. It is crafted (a real trumpet, not a "made in china" POS) by hand and is considered the resonance chamber of the instrument. Any little ding/damage to it and it can offset the resultant resonance and thus create tuning inconsistencies that were not present before. It also plays a drastic effect on the actual sound production of the horn/human combination. All I can say is THANK GOD that I don't own a Monette and it didn't happen to that instrument!! Of course, if I actually owned a Monette, I'd never take it to school in the first place. But hey, can't win 'em all. Btw, during the down times of repairs, if anyone has a Monette Prana XLT Bb trumpet they'd like to let me borrow (and make love too) or purchase for me (hey, you know $7K and a two year wait is just chump change! HAHA) I would greatly appreciate it. HAHAHAHA.

Thanks guys, I'm going to go cry in my corner now... Poor trumpet...

BigBear