26/100

I have a love/hate relationship with my cornet.

I love it because it was my very first instrument, a birthday present (8 years old?) from my Dad before I joined the beginner band at Albion Elementary. It's pretty neat to still have your first instrument. And it would be pretty neat to still be using my first instrument at gigs, except that cornets are awful, and mine is no exception.

A cornet is different than a trumpet because it is shaped conically instead of cylindrically.  Whereas a trumpet's bore remains pretty much the same size until the instrument makes its final turn into the bell, a cornet gradually tapers from the mouthpiece all the way through the bell flare. This means that the cornet sound is much mellower and can be sweeter than the trumpet, which is direct. That should be good, right? Not if you're sitting next to a section of trombones. Plus, cornet-making technology hasn't kept pace with trumpet-making techniques, so a lot of the problems with pitch and response that have gradually improved with trumpets over the years are quite problematic on cornets. Add in the fact that my instrument is a student model that saw way too many bumps and bruises, and you understand why it's really only suitable for outdoor summer use only as a musical instrument.

But even if I had the chance to get a nicer cornet I wouldn't get rid of this one. This was the instrument my Father gave me. This was the instrument where I found my voice, and there's still something thrillingly familiar about the way that it feels in my hands and even the way that it smells. I couldn't ever let it go.

We played our rehearsal this morning and I was packing up, getting ready to go. I set the cornet down for just a second on the top of my case while I packed up my mutes. And then it wobbled and crashed down directly onto my C trumpet bell, crinkling and badly denting it.

I hate the cornet.