Not a rant, just a lighthearted musing. I'm really tired so I hope this makes sense. :-)
I play(ed) bassoon obviously. Goodness. The amount of headaches I've had dealing with reeds during my bassoon playing career makes me think maybe I should have picked something else. lol If I could go back and do it over again, I'd probably pick trombone. It was so stressful being at the mercy of this tiny piece of cane. Some days I would feel like I could play in any college band in the country. Other days I felt like I should be in a middle school band all because my reed was not doing what I wanted it to. I feel like if I picked up a brass, I would have enjoyed music more. It would be more about the music than it was about the equipment. You have to spend hours making and caring for those reeds. That's before you even pick up your horn. Ah, the tedious life of a bassoon player.
I played baritone in marching band so I have a little reference. Is brass as straight forward as I think it is? Or is there a difficulty I'm not seeing right now? Can you really just pick up the instrument and get right to the music? I kind of want to pick up a trombone to play in my free time.