Advantages: Allows full strength playing without a lot of noise.
Disadvantages: none

...If you have read my last review, and I hope you do, you will see that I have a new toy, a shiny trumpet. I enjoy playing a new instrument, I'm not an expert but I can get a tune out of it. the trouble, as with a lot of my instruments, it makes a lot of noise and can get on people's nerves. My salvation came in the form of a Denis Wick 5526 practice mute. This is a pear shaped device made from spun aluminium that can be wedged inside the bell of the instrument. Its purpose is to reduce the volume of the instrument whilst allowing you to blow at full strength. If you try to play the trumpet quietly and you aren't an expert the sound breaks up and sounds dreadful. Playing at full pressure is great for improving your lung power and means that the trumpet rings true. The makers promise that you can use this for practice... Read review

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Advantages: moments of truely classic music
Disadvantages: many may regard as a hard listen

...i am currently listening to frances the mute as i write this review. upon initially listening to frances the mute i was disapointed. the first thing i noticed is that there was 5 tracks, and secondly that some tracks were acompanied by several minutes of pure noise at either side. after i had listened to mars voltas previous releases almost their death it was somewhat of a disapointment. But from the outset this album is nothing short of outstanding. Cedric Bixler argueably has the best voice in rock music in the world today, omar rodriguez lopez plays some of the most experimental, soulful, atonal and melodic guitar iv'e heard for a good few years. The drummer john theodore is something else, in the live setting he shines as a powerhouse in a complete shower of genres from jazz through to salsa, punk, rock, dance and world... Read review

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Advantages: Good quality and always reliably in tune.
Disadvantages: Cost a bit more than similar student trumpets.

...Yamaha have been making musical instruments for over one hundred years and I have always found their brass instruments to be reliably in tune, which is not always the case with other student trumpets. Since about 1980, they have always had a student instrument priced between £250 and £300. The 2320 model was originally the only one in this price range. It is a well made instrument with quite good valves, and hard wearing gold colour lacquer finish. It has a mobile third valve slide for fine-tuning the low D and C#. As prices of instruments were rising, and the 2320 went over the £300 mark, they introduced a cheaper trumpet into the UK. The first of these was the T100S This is a silver plated trumpet, with a smaller bore than the 2320, making it suitable for younger players. The valves are reasonable, so long... Read review

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Advantages: pretty
Disadvantages: can be invasive

...Trumpet vine, Campsis radicans (Bignoniaceae) .I do not have a trumpet vine growing in my garden, but I know someone who does. My friend has a yellow flowered trumpet vine growing vigorously up an archway. This is in full sun. The vine will also grow along the ground where there is no support and makes a good ground cover. This vine looks magnificent in a green house too This flower comes in a few different colours ranging from yellow through orange to red. The roots like a fertile, moist soil that drains well. The plant will shoot upwards and grow green leaves. The leaves are what are termed as pinnate this means feather like with one leaf having lots of smaller leaflets which grow opposite each other. The group of leaflets are 10 -30 cm long. The Aerial roots grow from the stems of this vine. The Arial roots help this vine... Read review

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Advantages: very cheap and good for beginners
Disadvantages: basic and not for the professional

...As you may have guessed from the title, my first trumpet was a YAMAHA which I bought some years ago now for a bargain price of £250. I think that the model I bought was the one below this one, but they are still very similar and fundamentally the same. This model comes with three valves... there's a surprise, and mobile 1st and 3rd valve slides. It is available in gold laquer as well as silver plating, but the silver plating will cost a little extra. These more basic models are easier to take care of and last longer as they are less fragile. The threaded guide on the 3rd valve slide on a vincent bach is REALLY annoying if it gets even slightly bent. The YAMAHA has a more simple mechanism consisting of a screw which catches on the rim at the end of the tubing to stop it coming all the way off. I have had absolutey... Read review

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Advantages: Great song writing, some great riffs
Disadvantages: Weak singing vocals

...I thought I'd try out Avenged Sevenfold following the release of their latest album 'City of Evil'. After several months of pin up posters depicting the band riding motorbikes whilst holding various lead pipes and chains, endless articles in rock and metal magazines on the band's success, and A7x hoodies popping up everywhere in the town centres, I thought I'd give it a go and see what all the fuss was about. So how lucky I was when a mate gave me 'Sounding the Seventh Trumpet', saying that he 'didn't like the awful screaming'. Since that joyous moment I have bought their latest release also, and can safely say that 'Sounding the Seventh Trumpet' is much better. Firstly, this album boasts some fantastic song writing skills. Although not matching some of the top metal bands, A7x have certainly a large amount of talent to offer... Read review

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Advantages: nice story, lovely pictures, teaches children about sharing
Disadvantages: Nothing I can think of

...This book is called "Tiny Trumpet" and is yet another book from the Practical Parenting range which aim to "be fun to share together, stimulate imagination, develop understanding through words and pictures and encourage an early love of books and learning". The RRP is £3.99. I purchased this book along with several others from the Book People in a Lucky Dip selection. I like to have a box of books available for presents to give to friends children. My godson and his brother and big fans of books and I enjoy reading to them. Age Each of the books from the practical parenting range are aimed at a certain age range from birth to five years. This book is aimed at the 2-3 years age group. The Introduction = If you have read my other book reviews in this series you will know the others give advice on how... Read review

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Advantages: Fantastic display of flowers and good looking foliage.
Disadvantages: Not frost hardy. All parts of the plant are poisonous.

...The plant is relatively unknown to the vast majority of the population, yet it is so magnificent that I cannot understand why. The plant goes under the name of Datura or Brugmansia or simply Angel's Trumpet. It is not frost hardy so needs to be sheltered in winter. The fast growing shrubs produce masses of large trumpet shaped flowers between 10" and 12" long and 3 to 4 inches across, several at a time, and flower over and over again from July to October. Different varieties come in white, pink, yellow, orange, red and purple. They can be purchased at an increasing number of garden centres as ready grown plants - prices range from a pound or so for a seedling a few inches high, to over £10 for a mature specimine a metre high. Seeds are also available - see the Thompson & Morgan catalogue - but are not carried by many stockists.... Read review

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Advantages: Great price, well made
Disadvantages: none

.... Would I recommend this trumpet? ----------------------------------------------- Absolutely! To be able to try out an instrument for this price is an absolute bargain. Anyone who has bought any instrument for their kids to learn knows how expensive they can be, especially if he or she gives up after a few weeks. How much better to let them get a taste for it, if they give up eBay, here we come. When they get to grade 5 buy them a posh one. Value for money Unbelievable! Update 11.02.08 I'm getting to grips with this instrument now, the practice mute has helped my playing and my breathing. The only thing I have found to it's detriment is the lack of a second spit valve, which you get with more expensive trumpets. The tube behind the one with the spit valve in collects a fair amount of water and I have to take out the third... Read review

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Advantages: insigtfully funny, beautifully written, a childhood classic
Disadvantages: copies can be difficult to find though recently reprinted here in the UK

...the birds as they nest, finally being rewarded with a view of the hatching. Five little cygnets happily trumpet their greetings. Well, sort of. One poor cygnet discovers he is mute, and is a trumpter who cannot trumpet. This leads Sam to ponder what a baby rumpeter swan can be if he cannot trumpet, leading him to the question, "What will I be when I grow up?" The father of the baby swan, Louis, also ponders this for his own mute son, and vows to find a way to give him his voice, so that he may achieve all that the other swans have, and win himself a mate.The cob tries many tricks, some unintentionally cruel, and Louis follows Sam back to his home in Montana, seeking a solution himself, only to return home unsuccessful. He does however, meet and fall in love with a female Trumpeter swan, Serena, and wishes to be able to use his call to woo... Read review

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