A Brief History of Jason Harrelson & Harrelson Trumpets
1974 - 1983 Jason Harrelson is born in Louisiana. His parents, he and his sister move all over the country eventually living on the road for many years. He becomes obsessed with all things mechanical at an early age and vows to become an inventor, airplane pilot and to earn enough money that his parents can stop working eighty-hour weeks.
1984 Jason Harrelson, of Billings Montana, joins the band program at Newman elementary school. After a brief burst of excitement in the back yard with his friend blowing as loudly as possible on their instruments, Jason's mom sent him to his room to practice "the right way". When setting up to practice, Jason was electrocuted while plugging in a lamp and lost consciousness. He didn't practice again for many years and sat last chair in band. He was, in his words, "the worst player in the band".
1984 - 1990 In the spirit of free enterprise, Jason starts a successful venture, "JR's Snackbar" with his best friend in sixth grade. Seventh grade saw a lottery and then a lawn care business. In ninth grade, he moved on to recycling, then auto repair learning from his Dad who was a diesel mechanic. Music was not even a consideration until eleventh grade.
1991- 2001 Trumpet was an obsession during this period, but was not considered a viable option beyond freelance gigs. Among the many interests he pursued, Jason worked as a waiter, cook, forklift driver, warehouse picker, mechanic, public and private school band director, private music instructor (of all woodwinds, brass, strings & percussion), custodian, las vegas police officer, inventor, entrepreneur, grand canyon tour guide, graphic artist, medical research assistant and homeopathic advisor. His more notable ventures of this period included "Harrelson Woodworking" and "Harrelson Modified Trumpets". Learning is clearly his true obsession.
1984 Jason Harrelson, of Billings Montana, joins the band program at Newman elementary school. After a brief burst of excitement in the back yard with his friend blowing as loudly as possible on their instruments, Jason's mom sent him to his room to practice "the right way". When setting up to practice, Jason was electrocuted while plugging in a lamp and lost consciousness. He didn't practice again for many years and sat last chair in band. He was, in his words, "the worst player in the band".
1984 - 1990 In the spirit of free enterprise, Jason starts a successful venture, "JR's Snackbar" with his best friend in sixth grade. Seventh grade saw a lottery and then a lawn care business. In ninth grade, he moved on to recycling, then auto repair learning from his Dad who was a diesel mechanic. Music was not even a consideration until eleventh grade.
1991- 2001 Trumpet was an obsession during this period, but was not considered a viable option beyond freelance gigs. Among the many interests he pursued, Jason worked as a waiter, cook, forklift driver, warehouse picker, mechanic, public and private school band director, private music instructor (of all woodwinds, brass, strings & percussion), custodian, las vegas police officer, inventor, entrepreneur, grand canyon tour guide, graphic artist, medical research assistant and homeopathic advisor. His more notable ventures of this period included "Harrelson Woodworking" and "Harrelson Modified Trumpets". Learning is clearly his true obsession.
1990 Sitting 13th chair in the second band during his junior year, Jason did not know the difference between a sharp and a flat, nor did he know trumpet fingerings outside of the C scale. After a particularly harsh series of "up-downs" in the Billings Senior High band room and a moving lecture by his director, Gary Tangen, he was motivated to practice again. He went home with the goal of practicing 4 hours a day. After one week of hard practice, he stood up in band class and asked to challenge the first player. To the amazement of the entire band, he won first chair that day and was moved to the top band the following semester. This began his addiction to musical expression on the trumpet.
1992 Jason leaves for St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN where he studies Trumpet Performance. His father bought him a second hand Bach Trumpet for his graduation gift. Little did he know, this trumpet would spark the beginnings of a career in trumpet design. The bell was so flimsy on this Bach that he and his friends would bend it back and forth with their fingers. It was this time in his life when Jason became friends with many gifted trumpet players and was able to try many of their instruments. After briefly switching trumpets with his best friend, who also played a Bach, he realized that trumpets play drastically different depending on their design and condition. It was a natural step for Jason, a very mechanically minded and curious person, to begin altering his own trumpet to make it play better.
1993 Jason begins experimenting with trumpet mouthpieces, enlarging throats, backbores and adding mass. He modifies and builds heavy top and bottom caps for Bach trumpets. The next few years involve much reading, math and struggling to perform proficiently on trumpet. Embouchure issues plague his playing and the search for real efficiency begins.
1992 Jason leaves for St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN where he studies Trumpet Performance. His father bought him a second hand Bach Trumpet for his graduation gift. Little did he know, this trumpet would spark the beginnings of a career in trumpet design. The bell was so flimsy on this Bach that he and his friends would bend it back and forth with their fingers. It was this time in his life when Jason became friends with many gifted trumpet players and was able to try many of their instruments. After briefly switching trumpets with his best friend, who also played a Bach, he realized that trumpets play drastically different depending on their design and condition. It was a natural step for Jason, a very mechanically minded and curious person, to begin altering his own trumpet to make it play better.
1993 Jason begins experimenting with trumpet mouthpieces, enlarging throats, backbores and adding mass. He modifies and builds heavy top and bottom caps for Bach trumpets. The next few years involve much reading, math and struggling to perform proficiently on trumpet. Embouchure issues plague his playing and the search for real efficiency begins.
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1996 Jason leaves St. Olaf College for one year to be with family in Montana. Here he built his first complete trumpet, which was pawned locally to raise the deposit to return to school the next year. This was the beginning of his artistic woodworking career, which continued off and on until 2000.
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1997 Jason returns to St. Olaf College spending countless hours in his "shop" (torches and saws in his dorm room?) and the lab experimenting with an oscilloscope measuring the effects of weight, bend, bore and bracing placement on the efficiency and tone quality of a trumpet. His shop was run out of a tiny space next to a barber shop on Water street in Northfield. Specializing in handmade custom woodwork like name plaques and heirloom puzzles, most of his clients were faculty of the two local colleges. Working tirelessly to make his start-up profitable, he didn't leave his shop for days at a time living in the shop sustaining himself on waffles and water. It was here that he built the second generation of Harrelson Modified Trumpets including his first trumpet keyed in C.
2001
While working as a music teacher and freelance trumpet player, Jason sells one of his college-day trumpet modifications on ebay which started a stir in the trumpet community. One inquiry to have similar work done led to another and yet another and interest in "Harrelson Modified Trumpets" began to snowball from there.
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2002
The waiting list for custom Harrelson "Modified" Trumpets exceeds 6 months as Jason's work becomes more well-known.
2003 Harrelson Trumpets moves from the tiny Northfield apartment "shop" to Waconia MN. This next shop is a one car garage with drafty windows and no heater, but this is where some of Jason's first designs took on new style and design. The Muse model and Ergonomic Finger Rings were designed in this shop and led the way for a transition that would shape the company. At this time, everything was hand cut, filed, sanded and fit with little or no machinery. |
2004
Harrelson Trumpets moves to a larger shop space just a few blocks away in Waconia, MN. Harrelson Trumpets invests in CNC equipment that allows some of Jason's visions to take shape on a new level, but the equipment is used and breaks often. It is during this time that Jason teaches himself coding and CAD design, it is a long and tedious process. Jason and Jen attend their first ITG Conference in Denver Colorado. They are met with mixed reviews as many people judged the trumpets by appearance alone without even picking them up to play. Over the coming year, "Harrelson" was on the lips of trumpet players around the globe. People were talking...
2005
Jason builds the first Katrina Trumpet the week after the deadly hurricane forced the evacuation of his adopted home of New Orleans. He donates the trumpet to the Jazz at Lincoln Center fundraising effort where it is auctioned on eBay with proceeds benefiting displaced musicians. At the time, this trumpet was the most complex design produced in the Waconia shop incorporating advanced cnc milling techniques with hand cut and shaped organic elements.
2006 After two more years of hard work building dozens more prototypes and refining designs, Harrelson Trumpets exhibited at the International Trumpet Guild Conference in Glassboro, New Jersey. Piquing the interest of the majority of attendees, most of the the designs brought to this show were simplified to appeal to a wide audience. This show was a success with our first retail trumpet sale at an ITG conference! A year later at the Amherst, Massachusetts ITG, we discovered that we sell more trumpets at ITG Conferences than any other vendor. We had no idea!
2009 Harrelson Trumpets moves to the current shop space in New Brighton, Minnesota. Over 4100 square feet of space gave us room to expand the office, shop and show room. We added a new client services employee and a new shop assistant. With business booming, word of mouth sales become a driving force that pushes our waiting list to 12 months on the most difficult orders. The ITG Conference in Harrisburg, PA was a huge success selling 7 trumpets!
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Summer 2010 Jason invests in a brand new top of the line CNC Milling Center that makes his creative designs a reality. The capabilities of the new machine far exceed the inadequate machines used in the Waconia space. Jason begins the long journey learning to use the software and machine. The added speed and capacity of this 13,000 pound high tech super-machine quickly reduces workload to a manageable 2 to 3 month waiting list with nearly one new trumpet built per day.
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Autumn 2010 - finished building new modular fixture/jig system and began cutting HT parts
- built first SWE tuning slide milled from two solid brass bars
- moved production of following parts to new machining center:
- elliptical & ergonomic finger rings
- Bravura, Summit, HT3/4/5 braces
- mouthpiece receivers for all instruments
- all custom milling & engraving
- new jigs and fixtures used with other production techniques
- prototyped bracing for new Bravura Flugel coming summer 2011
Winter 2010 - completed 5th generation revision of SWE tuning slides for Summit trumpet and 2nd generation SWE tuning slides for Gravity. Seven generations total in around 6 months accounts for the majority of my time this period. Learned new software to increase artistic production limits.
2011 Jason is invited to be a featured clinician at the ITG Conference in Minneapolis, MN. His lecture on "Trumpet Innovations" delves into his designs and theories on efficiency as well as his lifelong learning as a teacher, performer and inventor. Jason and Jen attend the Satchmo Summerfest in New Orleans, LA. Jason is invited to give a lecture at the Satchmo Festival in 2012 where he will auction off the Satchmo Single edition Trumpet donating all proceeds to the festival. Harrelson Trumpets goes on the road for the first time ever, meeting with clients and enthusiasts along the way. The trip was an overwhelming success...it's so good to meet our wonderful clients! Designed & Built latest Summit Art Nouveau (a major undertaking), Summit ONE (stylish, lighter and more efficient), built first SWE leadpipe (2 milled bars), created dovetail magnetic lock leadpipe and bell system and dovetail modular finger ring system. Development of the Elliptiphone is put on hold to purchase and learn new software that promises to greatly increase production while minimizing programming and setup time. SWE tuning slides for non-Harrelson trumpets are deemed not profitable since most clients sell their Bach or Yamaha to purchase a new custom trumpet. The SWE tuning slide project is cancelled due to lack of interest in standard trumpet upgrades making this technology only available on the Harrelson Summit & Gravity. The first two Bravura piccolo prototype trumpets are built with five more on the way. Summit M (dovetail modular system) moves ahead with an expected launch in 2012. Jason took delivery of an amazing piece of machinery, a 6-axis main and sub-spindle cnc mill/turn center capable of cutting parts from both ends of round stock up to 42mm in diameter with full bar feed. Orders from other mouthpiece manufacturers and interest from hundreds of trumpet players immediately demonstrated the need for the new 5MM Modular Mouthpiece System, which is a 5-part Modular Mouthpiece with interchangeable rims, cups, throats, backbores/shanks and outer SWE Sleeves that will work with the new AGR (Adjustable Gap Receiver).
2012 Harrelson Trumpets upgrades the shop with a new CNC Lathe, which is a full 6-axis turn/mill center giving us more control over every bit of instrument construction! Major advancements in this year alone include: Bell couplers, Tuning slide couplers, modular finger button system, Harrelson Water Keys, stylized trim kits & bottom caps, advancements in finger ring design, modular leadpipes, mouthpiece receivers, tubing etc. Jason traveled out East to shop for a new machining center. Jason spoke at the Satchmo Summerfest in New Orleans, LA. Schmitt Music in Brooklyn Park, MN. McNally Smith in St. Paul. Harrelson Trumpets partnered with Schmitt Music of Minnesota to be the first Harrelson Trumpets dealer ever! Schmitt also has exclusive rights to the Bravura "S" Model.
Harrelson Trumpets built and donated the "Satchmo" Summit Trumpet to French Quarter Festivals Inc. that was auctioned off at Neal Auction Company on November 17th in New Orleans.
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Jason speaking at the McNally Smith Brass Symposium on SWE Technology in the Spring of 2013 |
October 2013 - Harrelson Trumpets opened a second location in Denver, Colorado
November 2013 - Harrelson Trumpets hosts first even Harrelson Trumpets Summit @ Jazz Central Studios in Minneapolis
April 2014 - The Harrelson Summit Trumpet was reviewed in the Toolshed section in Downbeat Magazine
August 2014 - Harrelson Trumpets attended the Satchmo Summerfest in New Orleans to connect with Clients and Friends. Every year Harrelson Trumpets donates a one-of-a-kind "Satchmo Trumpet" with all profits going directly to French Quarter Festivals Inc.
May 2014 - Harrelson Trumpets is a sponsor and attends the ITG Conference in King of Prussia, PA.
June 2014 - Jason Harrelson and Harrelson Trumpets are featured in the ITG Journal
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Spring 2014 - Harrelson Trumpets was featured on Rocky Mountain PBS Special "Arts District" |
April 2015- Harrelson Trumpets presents Kermit Ruffins w/ the Satchmo Trumpet at French Quarter Festival
The Adjustable Gap Receiver is released- revolutionizing the way trumpet players manage and experience mouthpiece gap.
http://whyharrelson.weebly.com/agr-adjustable-gap-receivers.html
Mod 2 Finger Buttons
Extra Wide Finger Buttons
Bell Crook Brace
Ergonomic Finger Rings w/ Hook
Gap Solution Kit
Machined Leadpipe
Extra Wide Finger Buttons
Bell Crook Brace
Ergonomic Finger Rings w/ Hook
Gap Solution Kit
Machined Leadpipe