OK, this one is WAY off-topic, but here goes.

There is some marvelous harmon mute trumpet playing in a short music snippet during a rerun episode of House on TV. I would love to know who this is who is playing, and I'll buy this recording.

The episode is season one (1995), episode nine, called DNR.

In the episode, a fictitious trumpet player named John Henry Giles gets sick. House is shown listening to a record (yes, an LP) with the name John Henry Giles on the album. Later, Giles' music is played after he has the operation he needs.

I taped two short audio files of it.

The first is while House listens to the album with headphones, as Foreman enters.

http://premium.fileden.com/premium/2008/2/1/1735022/House/John%20Henry%20Giles%20part%20one.mp3

The second is a wonderful quartet including vibes backing up the trumpet. It sounds fairly modern to me. Who is this?

http://premium.fileden.com/premium/2008/2/1/1735022/House/John%20Henry%20Giles%20part%20two.mp3
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I've done everything except contact the producers of the show to find out who it is. I can't. It is very possible that it's some studio musician in L.A. that does TV and movie stuff.

I just don't know.

Gary

I'm a bit of a freak for House, M.D.

Long story.

Anyway, here's a page of resources comprising websites about every aspect of the show. Music is midway down. Tunefind.com is the site I have used to learn about the striking pop music used in the show, in particular the theme, a remix of Massive Attack's "Teardrop".

Interestingly, several episodes are based on musicians. In the episode you cite, the only music credit given is Louis Armstrong playing "What A Wonderful World", which you would certainly recognize.

You note that he 'actually plays an LP'; did you notice that a turntable mfr is in the product list at the end of the program?

Here's my question. While I know that Hugh Laurie is fully capable of playing any keyboard part which he is shown doing, it is sometimes clear that what we are hearing is a sampled or effected piano. But does anyone know if Mr Laurie actually plays the guitar? Dr House is often portrayed playing a Flying V, Les Paul, Strat, or other vintage honey--but only rarely through an amp, even though we hear distorted guitar lines.

R.

If the dude that writes it comes back to town maybe I could find out. He was born here and went to the University the same years as my wife. I met his brother when there was a fire in the cedar hut back of the synogogue, one of my most bizzare arson cases ever.

Thanks, guys. That's far more info than I received on the two trumpet forums I frequent. Nobody there knew anything, and collectively we normally know all things trumpet.

Ryszard, that's a formidable list of House-related resources. I had stumbled onto similar sites through Google, but none of them give the credit for this music clip, only Louis Armstrong at the end. I love Louis Armstrong, but this music isn't him.

Gary, are you saying you previously noticed this particular music and enjoyed it? I'm not surprised. I know several guys in L.A. alone who this could be.

You very well could be looking for a keyboardist, Matt.

Because I hear no lip correction on certain key notes that a three-valve trumpet would *have* to do. It is dead on tempered scale, I think this quite easily could be modern modeled-plus-sampled stuff.

There are other clues in there, as well, for example, the key sig of the first example you give -- falls under the fingers on a keyboard and are really licks that gospel/soul keyboardists know and play all the time.

It is very clean. Too clean.

And the vibrato is always at the same rate.

But unless they manipulated the thing using something like Autotune, I have yet to hear *any* trumpet player able to nail every note to the Tempered Scale like that without leaving the clues that only trumpet players with well trained ears know to listen for.


--Mac

That's a great suggestion, Mac. The playing is extraordinarily good. Could be too good. And pretty high for a harmon to sound that good.

Ironic, isn't it, if the music in the show about a fictitious trumpet player is fictitious trumpet playing.

FYI, I actually don't care about the trumpet playing. I just want to learn the song in the second clip.

ps an Emmy nod should go to the sound guy for bringing in the elevator door opening sound on key and on the beat at the end of the 2nd clip

Mac,
I had that nagging thought too, in the back of my head. Not that *I* would *hear* what you hear, but that so many shows are actually using sampled libraries for an 'on the cheap' studio production.

If that were the case then I would point you to one Mr. Cody Westheimer as a possible culprit.

There was an uncredited appearance by 'Brand New' singer/guitarist Jesse Lacey as the guitarist in the band.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNR_(House)

And yes, Matt, I truly enjoyed the music of that. I didn't not see the show, but listening to the clips, it's good stuff. I'd like to hear more of it, too.

Gary

Quote:

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That's a great suggestion, Mac. The playing is extraordinarily good. Could be too good. And pretty high for a harmon to sound that good.

Ironic, isn't it, if the music in the show about a fictitious trumpet player is fictitious trumpet playing.

FYI, I actually don't care about the trumpet playing. I just want to learn the song in the second clip.

ps an Emmy nod should go to the sound guy for bringing in the elevator door opening sound on key and on the beat at the end of the 2nd clip

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One of the reasons I'm hooked on the show is the extraordinary music direction and composition.

Naturally, the first thing you notice on watching is House's smartass rebelliousness, along with his obsession for excellence in medicine--at any cost. But after watching a couple of seasons' worth, more and more often I find myself in tears at the end of a show as some expertly-chosen song plays which recapitulates the emotion of some character or situation--often House's loneliness.

I suspect that little of the music which appears to be being played on screen is, in fact. It's acoustics which gives it away for me. It wouldn't have occurred to me to listen for what Mac is hearing, but it fits with the rest.

The music cues are subtle but so right on. No "Miami Vice" in-your-face stuff here. But watch an episode a couple of times so you don't have to pay attention to the story, and just listen to the music. Co-composers Jason Derlatka & Jon Ehrlich, who seem to always work as a pair, are way up on my list of musicians to pay attention to, at least for what I'm doing.

Ryszard