Resonance

[danzfat]

I have played for a while on tuba know and my technical ability and everything else is up to. Its just my sound it doesn't have that full sound that makes a tuba player sound so good. I play a Conn Helleberg and was wondering if any one has any suggestions.l

[hurricane_harry]

well it could be a number of things that your not doing right to get a good resonace out of your horn, it could be air support it could be a closed throat, i remember for years just air conrol alone was a thing i worked on for a good tone, as for your throat, before you play you might wanna feel your adams apple and drive it into your chest. but remember thses are just what pop into my mind at the moment, there are many neuances to playing a horn properly but these are what work for me, hope this helps.

[Rick Denney]

I have played for a while on tuba know and my technical ability and everything else is up to. Its just my sound it doesn't have that full sound that makes a tuba player sound so good. I play a Conn Helleberg and was wondering if any one has any suggestions.l

Here's what you do: Take your current mouthpiece and scrub it with dishwashing liquid. Then, make sure your valves are oiled. Next, put the tuba and mouthpiece in a case and take it to a pro tuba player for a lesson. The final step is doing what he says.

I could tell you that your problem is that either you don't have enough air going through the instrument, or you are doing something to keep that air from having its effect. But you could do so much more with the advice you would get from someone who can show you rather than just tell you.

Rick "who has always benefitted more from ten minutes with a teacher than from hours of discussions about tuba playing" Denney

[Dylan King]

All of the technical advise is sound, but they key to a good sound is knowing what a good sound it. There are many great CDs out there to listen to. You need to hear that tone in your head and match it with your body. Sometimes if you don't think about what you are doing but just do it, it works.

Of course there are other times if you just do it your shoes wear out pretty fast.

[JayW]

I totally second RD's advice. one addition might be to do a little singing as well.... I have a teacher who is big into the vocal thing and it has helped so so much. It allows you to realy center in on the pitches and sing through the horn. A recording of Arnold Jacobs wouldn't hurt either.

[Lee Stofer]

This is a good discussion, and I second Jay W's comments. I grew up in a vocal environment, not starting to play a brass instrument until I was 15. But, what I had learned about pitch, resonance, projection, intonation, etc., from vocal music made the transition much easier. I still love to sing - my church choir did one piece this morning a capella, where we just made the room vibrate - oh, what fun - resonance is what it is all about.

On the two occasions I sat in a band under the late William Revelli, I noted that he was big on vocalization. My undergrad tuba teacher, Dr. F. Kent Campbell (who was also my wind ensemble conductor), told me that I should try to imagine that I was a huge operatic bass (vocalist) as I played the tuba. That concept has stayed with me, as an operatic bass is at once both powerful and artistic, full of resonance and control, and enjoys a complete command of the entire range of his voice. When we can get to that point in our playing, that is where things start to get really interesting and exciting.