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By: J.J. Cooper

September Newsletter

September is upon us, and that means back to school! As much as some students hate to admit it, its time to stop sleeping in, and time to get back to the daily grind! Fortunately, for most of the students reading this, back to school isnt all about homework and tests. Musicians also get to look forward to getting back in the band room, on the marching band field, and in the practice room. Surely many of you have made lists of school supplies, new clothes, and other back-to-school necessities, but a list of items that many students might need for their musical back-to-school needs is harder to come by. We here at Dillon Music have come up with a back-to-school checklist so every student, from grade school through college, will be ready for school.

Cleaning Snake Metronome

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September Newsletter

EVERYONE: Metronome Tuner Folding Music Stand BRASS: Valve Oil or Rotor Oil Mouthpiece Pouch Mouthpiece Brush Cleaning Snake

Silver or Lacquer Polishing Cloth Instrument Stand Breathing Aids

(Breath Builder/Breathing Bag)
Valve Oil

WOODWIND: Reeds Instrument Swab Reed Case Instrument Stand

Reed Making Supplies (double reeds) Flute Flag (flute) Mouthpiece Cap Neck strap (saxophone)

These are items that most people need for their daily use/maintenance of their instruments. If your back-toschool needs include more substantial items like a new instrument, mouthpiece, or a case, the Dillon Music sales team would be more than happy to help you. It also might be a good idea to have your instrument inspected by our repair department to make sure your equipment is in tip-top shape for school.
Folding Stand

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September Newsletter

Dillon Music Employee Spotlight

Tuba: Dillon Custom 1185 CC Tuba Davins tuba of choice is a horn that was custom built by Matt Walters, Dillon Musics tuba repair man and overall tuba expert. This horn is 11/8 size, has four piston valves, and one thumb-operated rotor valve. The 1185 is a perfect horn for Davin, as the 11/8 (in between a 5/4 and 6/4 size tuba) is smaller in size than the largest orchestral tubas, yet larger than the typical 5/4 sized tubas that are available. This tuba works great for a lot of different playing situations. It is large enough to produce the big supportive sound required in most orchestral/wind band playing situations, yet is still very capable of being used for most chamber music situations. Bass Trombone: Rath R9DST with Hagmann Valves, Heavy Gold Brass Bell Davins current playing situation has him playing more tuba than trombone, and as such, his Rath bass trombone is currently set up to take a larger volume of air than most bass trombones. With the dependent Hagmann valve set, heavy weight valve caps, tune in-slide hand slide with sterling silver 9L lead pipe and a 9 medium heavy weight gold brass bell, Davin is able to get a Beefy sound out of his Rath. Davin finds that the in-slide tuning system on his horn resonates better for him than a standard tuning setup or an inline valve system. Davin will be leaving Dillon Music in November to be a full time musician in the United States Army. While we are sad to see him go, we here at Dillon Music are excited for him, and wish him the best in the next stage of his musical career.

Davin Vance
Here at Dillon Music we get many inquiries on what equipment our employees use personally. We will be highlighting a different Dillon Music employee every month, discussing what equipment they use in their day to day playing. This month we will be spotlighting Dillon Musics longtime low brass expert Davin Vance. When Davin is not in the shop, he keeps busy performing as a low brass doubler. Davin plays tuba in the Princeton Brass Band, amongst other groups, and plays bass trombone, tenor trombone, and euphonium with the 63rd New Jersey Army National Guard Band.

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September Newsletter

Introducing the new Rico Reserve Bb Clarinet Mouthpieces

Inspired by the most prized, vintage mouthpieces of the 1920s, the Reserve harnesses modern technology to recreate the incomparable craftsmanship found in these legendary works of art. Millednot moldedfrom hard rubber for a higher level of consistency, every Reserve mouthpiece is machined to the strictest tolerances. But make no mistake: the true beauty of Reserve lies beyond its polished angles, glorious curves and proprietary materials to something far more remarkable its sound. The worlds first 100% precision-milled, vintage-inspired mouthpieces Milled from hard rubber, not molded from blanks Crafted from a unique proprietary hard rubber for a vintage-inspired tone Precision machining delivers unparalleled accuracy no hand finishing required Designed by a team of top players, craftsmen and engineers Available in three facings: close, medium, and medium open

The Reserve mouthpiece has raised the bar. Rico has succeeded in designing a mouthpiece that sounds like the great vintage mouthpieces of old, has superb intonation and articulation, and gives the player huge satisfaction; at only a small fraction of the cost! - Mark Nuccio, New York Philharmonic

Introducing the Soulo Mute for Tenor and Bass Trombone

From Mike Jarosz, founder of Soulo Mute:
We started Soulo Mute about two years ago, which was initially only for trumpet. Within a couple months of its launch, the word got out to trombone players and emails started coming in asking when I will have a bone version available. At first I was too busy hand-making trumpet mutes to even think about it. So I responded with "email me in a year!" A year later, when the emails started coming in again, I realized they seriously wanted it, so I better started making them! I'm thrilled to say we now offer three sizes - Small Tenor, Large Tenor, and Bass Trombone. Small tenor fits bells 7-3/8" to 8", large tenor fits bells 8.25" to 8.5" and bass fits bells 9.5" to 10.5". We make the mutes with flexible clips to accommodate the many sizes. I knew it was important for bone players to be able to quickly put it on and off, so we made that possible. I also knew that just like trumpet players, they were looking for a mute that "doesn't fall off of the bell in the middle of a show or session", and so we incorporated that as well. Otherwise, the features are very much like Soulo for trumpet, as we were going for the same sound and user experience: - perfect pitch in all registers - no back pressure - two adjustable settings One additional benefit of Soulo for trombone is that you can throw a cotton rag in it for an even darker sound. Another cool feature is that Soulo will fit over just about any other mute (cup, straight, harmon and pixie) for even more colors. I've known Steve and have been a loyal Dillon customer since I was in high school, so give or take 20 years now. To me, Dillon has always been a place where you can not only find the coolest, most novel instruments and gadgets for your horn, but also a place where you can bump into some great people and great musicians. To this day I always enjoy my visits to Dillon. When I invented Soulo Mute, it was the first place I thought of to carry it.

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