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Why is it that every last time I go to practice inside a less acoustically stable building (my house), not only do the notes obviously not sound as good BUT I CANT EVEN GET THEM TO SPEAK !!!! I lose my whole high range, any thing about forte goes SUPER airy and sounds like im playing with my spit valve open ARRGHGHHHHHH it ends ALll my rehearsals early with frustration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

/rant

The practice rooms at my school have pianos that are so horridly out of tune that every note on my tuba resonates a pitch on the piano that is a quarter step away... annoying. Rooms that suck acoustically generally make me hold back with air subconciously, which kills tone and pitch. I was practicing bydlo in a practice room once and couldnt get the G# to speak.. until I played it in a big room. Then I just remembered what I had to do to get the note, and did it in the practice room. Problem Solved. A smaller room will not decrease your range, but will do strange things to your air usage and sound production if you let it effect you.

I wouldn't want to say the practice pianos and rooms were "issues" at my undergrad, but a standard Hamilton upright pianos could barely fit, and the building was so old there was a two to four element steam radiator in every room, and usually with the window to each room open all the time as well.

Made you want to sing, "Kill da Wabbit, Kill da Wabbit, Kill da Wahahahahahahahahbbbbbittt," and do likewise.

Truly, pissing, me , off

Try buzzing. It all starts there. Seriously

TMB

I thought it was pretty well established that practicing exclusively in a great sounding room (like an actual concert hall) can actually be detrimental as well because you will get used to it (not a problem if this is the only acoustical environment you perform in, but I would assume that is not reality for most of us here). My problem at home is not with the sound quality or the out of tune piano but with the deadness, specifically as if effects my perception of intonation. Because there is almost no resonance, the sound is gone as soon as I release the note. I can self-evaluate my intonation very well without using a tuner if I am playing in a live room because the sound reverberates; with the horn to my face, I sometimes can't hear some very large discrepancies.

You need a fairly high ceiling (about 17 feet, I think) for the sound of a tuba to even begin to develop. I play with different bands six days a week and the rooms make a real difference in how I sound. Funny, though.... it's often more of a matter of how you sound to yourself than how you REALLY sound. Try recording yourself in different rooms or areas.

The old hot air ducts in this house vibrate and buzz when I play a good Eb. I like to take horn out in the back yard. I can hear the echo off a house two lots down the road.

OldBandsman wrote:The old hot air ducts in this house vibrate and buzz when I play a good Eb. I like to take horn out in the back yard. I can hear the echo off a house two lots down the road.

Ab on most of my horns makes a the grill in my free-standing gas ventless fireplace vibrate!

When I hit a big low "A", at least ten cars in the street outside slam on their brakes at the same time.

Funny, when I hit a nice double high 'A', everyone in the neighborhood starts yelling at the trumpet player next door...

Try playing with earplugs in for a while. I have done this before when I have been very frustrated with how I sound.

I even did this a bit during making a tape to get invited to an audition; I had gotten to a point where every little mistake/inconsitency was begging me to throw my tuba at a brick wall, and the earplugs removed that "demon" from my situation.

Good luck.
It's not easy sometimes!

CJH

earplugs to deaden sound or to eliminate hearing yourself all together? lol

Both, or a combination of both.
It's mostly to get the judgemental player out of the driver's seat, and concentrate on the flow of music making.

PM me if you want more advice and/or reasoning, as I am a slow typist. (maybe I should get one of them "dictaphone" things!)


Yep!
CJH

I understand that is the sound that comes out of my bell!! That is NOT what is frustrating, its not the sound, its the fact that its Hard to make sound! regardless of air!!!! gGrr anyone here I can relate to???? My tone is fine..................when i actually get the notes out fully, its just my range and air is being pushed back at me , as ifthere is twice the back pressure.

Yes, welcome to the world of compression, rarefaction, and standing waves due to the wave length being mathematically related to the size of the room.