What Have You Accomplished Lately

[ArbanRubank]

This thread a chance to toot your own horn about what you have been able to accomplish recently.

I have had quite a few, but I'll start with my most profound one.

I have gone digital. I bought a new laptop with a 1 terabyte hard drive and a 15" monitor set up beside it. I have about 500 Great American Songbook-type ballads written out in musical notation using Fidelity, along with their respective Band-in-a-Box accompaniments I have cobbled up using BiaB Real Tracks. I can open up a ballad and place it on the monitor. I can then open up a BiaB accompaniment on my laptop and run the sound through my stereo system with floor speakers directly behind me.

It is a versatile system. I can change the key of the piece and/or lengthen the accompaniment to as long as I want. If I choose, I can play through the chorus once as is or as many times as I want to from as-is to total improv. I can also take chop breaks while I hand off a chorus or part of a chorus to a sax, a piano, an organ, a jazz guitar, a trumpet - you name it.

Next step is to put all the Rochuts and Arbans Fantasies on the hard drive. I'll start with scans, but probably ultimately end up with musical notation charts.

[LeTromboniste]

Got "Elite" status with an airline for the first time, thanks to KLM doubling miles earned on flights since last spring because of the pandemic! Sadly I doubt I'll fly enough in 2021 to keep it for when travel really resumes...

[SwissTbone]

Ok I'll play.
I organized an online trombone competition together with Michael Massong. It started small and I actually didn't think it was really doable at the beginning. But then it grew and grew and grew....

I have to say it wasn't an easy task. But I learnt a lot and I think I can consider it a success.

The aim was to give something to strive for to young musicians and I think that aim was accomplished.

[Bach5G]

Finished Obama’s A Promised Land.

It’s Vol 1 - it ends with the bin Laden raid. (Spoiler: they got bin Laden). Vol 2 out next Christmas?

Making progress on alto.

[Burgerbob]

I am at my peak on all my instruments... Not so many gains on bass trombone, but tenors, contra, euphonium are all at my highest level ever. A lesson with Doug a few months ago set me on a path to build my first "real" chops, and guess what... practice pays off.

Hopefully I'll get the chance to actually use these skills in 2021...

[ArbanRubank]

Ok I'll play.
I organized an online trombone competition together with Michael Massong. It started small and I actually didn't think it was really doable at the beginning. But then it grew and grew and grew....

I have to say it wasn't an easy task. But I learnt a lot and I think I can consider it a success.

The aim was to give something to strive for to young musicians and I think that aim was accomplished.

Props! I think that is an accomplishment to be proud of!

I am at my peak on all my instruments... Not so many gains on bass trombone, but tenors, contra, euphonium are all at my highest level ever. A lesson with Doug a few months ago set me on a path to build my first "real" chops, and guess what... practice pays off.

Hopefully I'll get the chance to actually use these skills in 2021...

You're a talented guy!

I am nowhere near my peak yet! At age 72, I feel I can still improve my playing quite a bit by improving my coordination and musicality.

Practice does pay off! I'm still putting in close to 4 hours a day. A lot of things that I could barely do about a year ago are feeling pretty natural now.