Staying warmed up after an intermission

[imperialbari]

Interesting and relevant question!

When your are well warmed up, you are performing at the peak of efficiency in these fields

mental attention/focus

breathing

embouchure response and flexibility

During the service you very likely feel very bored, because you are not involved familywise.

Your mental attention drops off rapidly, and what is left of it acts erratically (last summer on the beach, the new car model to be released, syncronised swimming at the Olympics in Mexico 1968, alls such irrelevant stuff flashes through your mind).

Your breathing drops down to the level needed just to sit still, the residual capacities are not taken into use, the muscles stiffen away from their optimal flexibility.

Your embouchure muscles stiffen in a way, which calls for extra capacity and control of your breathing to achieve the results of a well warmed-up embouchure.

The remedy is to try keep up the efficiency of the breathing apparatus during the break between the two periods of playing (a little lip stretching wont't hurt either).

Try to stretch your exhaling and inhaling periods as long as possible, so that the residual capacity is kept active. I advise strongly against holding your breath in the full position for any lenght of time. That will induce tensions in the breathing muscles as well as in the throat area.

Try to plan the programming so, that the first piece played after the break will allow you to play moderately, not wildly, loud. Pay extra attention to the efficiency of your breathing in attacks and releases to compensate for the stiffer embouchure.

Playing moderately loud in a not too exposed high register should act as sort of a second warm up.

Playing very soft in a high register as an opening of the second set will be just about the worst you can do. You thereby will exaggerate tensions in all involved areas mentioned.

Orchestral brasses often have to provide exposed and tricky entries "cold". The best ones certainly can do it amazingly well, but I am not convinced, that they really love such situations.

Klaus

[Dylan King]

You're at a wedding. Have a few drinks and loose up before the next set. Warming up is for wimps. Go for the tequila!

[Dan Schultz]

I don't follow any sort of warm-up routine. For years, I have worked very hard at being able to pick up the horn and play the very first note in tune and with the right dynamic. I suppose it's OK to follow a warm-up routine before a performance, but don't make it such an obsession that you can't do without it.

I've seen guys warm up to the point that their chops are shot by the time it's time to make the money.

[Steve Marcus]

What sort of folks are hiring tuba quartets for weddings? Honestly, I cannot think of any sort of person who would do that...except, perhaps, a tuba player marrying a tuba player with all of their tuba player friends in attendance.

As previously posted...

[Leland]

(3) the group not being focused on each other sufficiently in the second half of the gig to play well as an ensemble.

That's my vote, with the understanding that I don't know how well you guys retain your focus normally.

You might be able to rehearse the situation, too. Do your regular rehearsal for a while, then take a long break. Nobody touch the instruments, everybody leave the room and do something else -- get a snack, watch TV, play chess, whatever. Then, come back in, sit down, and launch right into a few tunes, familiar or not, without stopping.

I was asked to play 2nd tuba in a performance of Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique, and I practiced the entrance by staying away from the horn for half an hour, mouthpiece in hand to keep it warm, then sitting down to honk out my opening lick. The first couple times I tried it, I sucked. After a few tries & sessions, though, it turned out just fine.

In a barely related way, I've had an instance when my college quintet played at a Christmas get-together for the chancellor's friends (the things we do for "royalty"... ). After roughly a half hour of music, we had some time to hobnob with the guests, and there were some buffalo wings among the hors d'oeuvres. "Sure, fine, them are some tasty hot wings," I thought, until we sat back down to play and we all realized that out lips were almost completely numb on the surface.

It took a few more songs to get back to normal, but until then, it took a lot of concentration to not suck.

[kegmcnabb]

Well,

I need to switch constantly between electric bass, percussion and tuba in the marimba band I play in. A good warm-up before hand helps but is a luxury that doesn't often occur in real world, casual gigging situations. Plus, whatever warm-up (if any) I do manage may have substantially worn off by the time we get to the tuba tunes. What does help is my Kellyberg. Having a mouthpiece that is neutral temperature-wise helps some (although certainly not a substitute for a good warm-up). For what it's worth.

Craig McClelland
Craig@sonicabsurdities.com
www.sonicabsurdities.com
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Marzan BBb
Kubicki Ex-Factor Bass