Hi Fred,

I guess the trumpet concerto played with enough volume there. My settings must be off somehow. With the sound card in the old computer, I used to have to set them way up; in the new computer, it's just the opposite--radically.

When the card was in the old computer, I discovered a way to get more volume, using the graphic equalizer. I just selected the "flat" preset and moved each slider up by exactly the same amount then saved it as a preset. I wound up with presets vol+1 through vol+4. +4 gave a huge increase in volume.

Enlarging the screen to do pitch bends sounds like a great idea. So does saving a successful one...which I'll do as soon as I get one. I didn't know you could use the straight line since the manual says to use a curve. I'll try that, too.

When I was in my 20s, I went through a period of renting an instrument for several months, buying an introductory book, and learning the basics of playing it. The trumpet was one of those rentals, and far from the most successful. Oddly, I had the most success, among the brasses, with the french horn. I've already written some notes above the normal trumpet range, so I guess I'm limiting any pool of possible players. I just hope the final product will make someone want to play it.

all best,
mgj