Need Help Selecting a Bag for Music Accessories

[Birdfeeder]

Hello to you all,
I ask you again for help. I need something to carry to rehearsals & performances that will hold my accessories. Sometimes I need more stuff than other times, but I usually carry:
- 2.5" (6 cm) thick 3 ring binder of music
- Manhasset 2800 Music Stand Accessory Box (this is an awkward shape)
- water bottle
- small purse
- sometimes a folding music stand, which is 19 x 3 x 2" (48 x 7.6 x 5 cm)
- sometimes: small stuff like snacks, extra music reading glasses, mute, etc.

I would also be carrying my trumpet case separately, which I can carry by the handles or with a shoulder strap. Sometimes I would have to carry both bags for some distance.
I would appreciate your suggestions.
Thanks in advance,
Birdfeeder

[AVService]

This may depend heavily on the exact nature of the Music Stand Box which we have no idea at all about.
How big and oddly shaped is it?

[Birdfeeder]

It is about 10" x 6" (25 x 15 cm), with a sort of tube that sticks up to attach to the stand. Here is a picture of it on the stand:
(pic from Amazon.com)
Thanks,
Birdfeeder

[moriond]

The two bags that immediately come to my mind as possibilities are the Smart Alec and the Tri-Star, partly because of the shape of the Music Stand Accessory Box and also because of the length of the folding music stand. A Brain bag is another possibility, and might even work better, but I'm not familiar with how that layout would work with accessing your contents. I bet you could carry the folding music stand on the outside (beside where the water bottle is secured). The Tri-Star and Brain Bag each have water bottle pockets, and one of the side pockets of the Smart Alec can be used to hold a water bottle.

I'm also trying to think of how easy it is to access the music (which can get heavy to carry around). Maybe a few other forum members can chip in with thoughts, and we can iterate on this. (Also, I got distracted when I noticed that you can now get Cavallaro cases made up in colors other than black.)

moriond

[phillyfan]

I don't have a Smart Alec, and although I love my Brain Bag, I'm not sure if it would work depending on the dimensions of the folding music stand. On the folding music stand, are the dimensions that you listed "folded" or "unfolded"? If folded, the height of the Brain Bag is 18", and the Smart Alec is 18.5"; however, everything else should fit with no problems. I also have a Tri-Star, but I don't know if I would want to use it for this purpose, but that might just be me. I'd also think about how else you plan to use the bag. I use my Brain Bag everyday for work because it is so versatile. Is there another purpose you have for the bag?

[Birdfeeder]

The dimensions of the stand are folded. I don't always take the stand, so I wouldn't mind if it stuck out the top a little. I do have a Tri-Star, but I really think of it as luggage, and I don't think I need so many compartments for this purpose. I would like to keep the new bag just for my music accessories, and leave them in it. Every time I have one bag for several uses, I always lose items during transfer processes.

[AVService]

What comes to mind for me is a Synapse for the main stuff and one of the New Tripod Quivers for the Music Stand.
It seems like this is exactly the type of thing they are made for? Then the stand can come along or not as needed and should easily attach to the Synapse when needed.

I also have no problem carrying my folding Travel Angel Tripod in the water bottle pocket of the Synapse but I think the music stand may be too long for that? I will have to measure when I can but I think that tripod is more like 12" folded.

The Synapse may not be large enough though as we still do not know the exact size of the stand box?
We got 2 dimensions but......?
Ed

[moriond]

Ed, I also immediately thought about the new Tripod Quivers for the Music Stand, but it could also fit into the Smart Alec, especially with a slight tilt. I'm not sure how the quivers would otherwise be secured unless they were separately carried with a strap, in addition to the trumpet. What may be more awkward is fitting in the music stand box along with the binder of sheet music. Sheet music can be heavy! And sometimes the size of the music parts are larger than standard letter size paper. (I used to use a Cavallaro case that was about the size of the ID Bag for that purpose. Again, the problem is not knowing how the music stand box can fit into these bags, and the length (at 15.75 x 12 x 5.5" / 400 x 310 x 140mm) is too short for the folded music stand. The ID bag also has a water bottle pocket, and is otherwise well designed for some of these purposes.) The Smart Alec is bigger than the Synapse, and has the type of central, large cavity that allows you to carry oddly shaped stuff.

I do think of the Tri-Star as more of a travel bag, but the length would probably fit the folded music stand, and the sections can accommodate some depth for the music stand box. Also, access to the binder of music would be fairly easy. Birdfeeder, could you perhaps give us some feedback about how these items stack up with that bag? It would be helpful to know if the music stand box either can't easily fit into that bag, or really doesn't work well with the pocket/section designs, because at this point we're guessing about how things will work with the oddly shaped items with no references to work with apart from the dimension estimates. On the other hand, we do own a number of the Tom Bihn bags, and can probably morph the information about how things work in one bag to another.