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Re: loud playing
Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 10:11 am
by windshieldbug
KingbaritoneGod wrote:Does anyone have any tips on playing louder?
I don't know it; can you hum a few bars?
Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 10:16 am
by dopey
You remind me of players i've met before.....
Blow harder, once you hear the bell buzzing, blow harder.
Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 11:47 am
by MikeMason
one tip that was omitted was to also play really out of tune.This may go a bit against the current trend but hear me out.Picture yourself at a middle school band concert.you come to a part with an oboe solo.Now you know you're really gonna HEAR that bad boy! 2 reasons-really out of tune,so it stands out from the crowd,and really bad tone quality,which also helps it stand out.which brings me to my final tip.Get yourself a really bad tone quality.It'll really help you stand out from the crowd and get noticed.Best of luck in your future endeavors.(i learned this line from an audition committee one time,really nice,caring people).
loud playing
Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 11:49 am
by TubaRay
This thread surely looks promising, and fun.

Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 12:14 pm
by GC
Tone gets in the way of playing really loud. If you want loud, you aim for the ultimate BLATTTT! If you can still tell that it's a brass instrument and not an elephant with digestive difficulties, you're not loud enough. I can tell you this from experience.
Also, if any part of the shank is more than 0.1 mm thick, your bore isn't big enough for REAL loud playing. Ream that sucker out!!!
Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 12:18 pm
by quinterbourne
Tony E wrote:Another trick of the trade is to always be slightly ahead of the downbeat, and then hold the note just a tad longer than written. You may not be able to overpower the tromones entirely, but being both early and late on each note will help get your sound "to the forefront".
Hilarious!
Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 12:35 pm
by windshieldbug
I'm surprised that this hasn't come up yet, but
USE A TRUMPET MOUTHPIECE!
(even better, on a trumpet!)
Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 1:38 pm
by Charlie Goodman
Yeah, I would probably just punch the trombone player in his face. The face is the most effective area as this is where he undoubtedly keeps his lips. With his lips punched, his volume will soon follow.
Also, try to see if you can post on Tubenet more. It's the best way to improve your playing. Ask about your equipment, and probably range. You will be able to recieve the advice that what may work for someone else may not work for you, and you may use this knowledge to improve your own sound. And volume. And sex appeal.
Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 1:55 pm
by windshieldbug
the elephant wrote:Yep, this place produces some genuine chick magnets. Except for Lisa and Mary Ann, who are genuine dude magnets. (Sorry for the sexist generalization. Hope that I corrected it adequately, ladies.)

Spoken by one who's a viola magnet...

Re: LOUDER!!!
Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 2:20 pm
by Mark
loudman52 wrote:5. Last but not least, MUSCLE EVERYTHING.
If your face isn't turning red and you can't see every vein in your neck, then your are still not playing loud enough.
Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 4:20 pm
by Tom Holtz
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Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 4:30 pm
by Rick F
Two low brass players are in the bar... one is a trombonist, the other plays euphonium. Since neither one has his instrument, how do you tell which one normally plays trombone?
The one who orders a "Blatz" beer.
Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 4:37 pm
by windshieldbug
Did you hear about the tubist on the walk from the law?
Yeah, when was the last time you saw a tuba running?
Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 6:58 pm
by Rick Denney
KingbaritoneGod wrote:HA HA hA! you guys are real funny. I appreciate the advice but some of you can't be serious. I'm just trying to get better. Tom Holtz why did you post a picture of the gay guy? Are you trying to say I'm gay? Cuz I'm obviously not... I'm not in to violence and punching a trombone friend in the lips, I just want to bury him with my sound and prove to the crowd that baritones can be as loud as trombones.
If you want to play louder, learn first how to be play with better tone. Better tone requires lots of relaxed air. The trick to playing loud is to feed air into the resonance of the tuba. If you push the air, you'll blow the resonance away. The guys who play really loud achieve so much resonance by producing such a high-quality buzz that they can feed more air into it. Most of us produce a buzz that doesn't resonate as well as it should, the that limits how much air we can let flow into the tuba. Going beyond that limit doesn't make the sound louder, it makes it wider.
Rick "who always pushes too hard" Denney
Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 7:18 pm
by MikeMason
when you bare your soul to the tubenet,there are risks.there is also a ton of wisdom and knowledge buried in the muck.search deep...sometimes its hard to tell the difference between extreme sarcasm and a sincere question.Sometimes we get it wrong...I'm still not sure if i might get punked at any moment.Keeps you on your toes

Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 7:48 pm
by tubatooter1940
Ladies and gentlemen, I am a blatweasel. I have been a blatweasel since my first football game when a cheerleader told me chicks dig it.
I lost all my teeth pressure playing and now that I'm old, my lips are beating themselves to pieces.
I still don't care. I love to hear my tuba crack with the power of a big ole blatt. I still believe the chicks dig it and that they would be leaping onto my bones if I weren't so old and ugly.
I'm sure there is a twelve step program somewhere for blatweasels but you'll never see me there. I just hope the last tuba note I ever play is the loudest and raunchiest one ever.

Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 11:13 pm
by Chuck(G)
I've had a dream about brass instruments that could be played as softly as strings; i.e. a tuba that was no louder than a string contrabass, trumpets no louder than violins, trombones no louder than 'cellos and horns no louder than violas.
Ah, well, not in my lifetime, I suspect.

Re: LOUDER!!!
Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 2:01 am
by David
loudman52 wrote:
3. Make sure that the more air you blow the tighter your embouchure is. You want the most focused sound possible, so pinch and BLOW!
I disagree. if we're talking "more volume of air", the aperture needs to be bigger to facilitate its flow in order to produce good sound. This is easy enough to demonstrate. Try playing low with a large volume of air, and a small aperture... it will sound strangled and anything but full.
The secret to playing high is not "pinch and blow." Its less air volume, more pressure with the air stream pointed downwards at the right angle (high=more extreme the angle) using your lips.
But likes its been said a few times here, the secret to playing loud is just plain old "more air."
Softly and tenderly
Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 9:32 am
by pwhitaker
Chuck(G) wrote:I've had a dream about brass instruments that could be played as softly as strings; i.e. a tuba that was no louder than a string contrabass, trumpets no louder than violins, trombones no louder than 'cellos and horns no louder than violas.
Ah, well, not in my lifetime, I suspect.

Come to Maine. I play in a Traditional Jazz band with a cornet player who regularly plays pppp. I stay in the octave going down to the pedals (Mirafone 186-4U BBb + recording bell) and we are as quiet as churchmice. It's almost eerie.
To play really softly on a tuba you need a humungous (sp?)mouthpiece (1.4"+ inner rim with a very deep bowl-shaped cup and extra large backbore). I learned how to do this when my twins were mere infants and I would tuba-lullaby them to sleep.
Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 1:12 pm
by dopey
your ability to play louder will develop over time with regular practice in all other areas.. you can't play loud well unless you can play MF with a great tone.. you just can't have one without the other...
Jacob"who can't tell if this is a troll having fun or young kid"Morgan