Brass Chats Lesson with John Rommel

From the desk of Tom Brown, 1/3rd of Monster Oil:

“It was 1998. I had just finished up my undergraduate degree and was trying to figure out why I still had fundamental issues with the trumpet.

I had countless friends who went on and on about what Indiana University Professor John Rommel had done for their playing, so I gave him a call. That first hour I had with him was the most inspirational hour of my trumpet career.

In this lesson he had the courage to tell me I was fundamentally playing the trumpet incorrectly, that there was an easier way, and then proceeded to tell me how it could be fixed.

Fast forward to the summer of 2018. I purchased a 2000 Lincoln Town Car station wagon (don't ask) that had a tape deck. So I went into my garage and the first tape I pulled out of an old box (full of maybe 200 tapes) was THIS lesson. So....this was meant to be.

I called Professor Rommel and asked him if he'd be ok with us releasing it as a Brass Chat. He said sure (mostly). So I spent a fair amount of time cleaning up the sound quality which was pretty bad. And I must say the tape is as inspirational today as it was then.

Thankfully for you, I don't do much playing in the lesson. He talks most of the time, and the info is applicable to pretty much anybody who plays, not just me.

Don't worry, this isn't a substitute for a proper Brass Chat with Mr. Rommel, but we thought you might find it interesting.”

There it is—fabulously inspiring raw trumpet content, rescued by pure serendipity from the bowels of an old stinky cardboard box. Your brain is like a stinky cardboard box right now; fill it with this tape to fix!

Love,

Monsters