* Chat on forums
* Watch brass videos
* Read blogs
* Look for info about mouthpieces/horns
* Something else?

All of the above, as well as trying to find out where/when people are playing so I can go and see them. Called me old fashioned, but there's nothing quite like live music; as marvellous as it may be to be able to watch numerous videos of gigs...

Oh, and did I mention teaching?

Aside from performance listening and viewing, I really love to lurk in the forums and spot guys/gals who are going through the same challenges as I am. A "misery loves company" sort of thing. Every now and then, there is a brilliant nugget of info that gets gleaned from this, and I take it directly into the practice room and can make a little progress. It's funny how often the revelatory bits of info come from the students rather than from the 'pros' who chime in, but I'm sure that has a lot to do with my own maturity as a brass player.

Lately, though, I've felt mostly like a brass "bystander", but that's because of a learning project I've been hitting pretty hard. For the last six months I've been learning sound engineering in my free time. Equipment set up, mixing board technique, live band mixes - pretty neat and challenging stuff, since I've never been involved with it before.