TubeNet

What's up guys. I'm tuboss2. New member here. Account just activated so I can post now haha. I also lurked her for a couple weeks before making site. Anyways, a little about my self.
in HS
Tuba player
Plays football
Really cool person

That's all for introduction, now I got some questions that I want to know I order to improve a certain aspect of my playing.

Alright, so when I try to play loud I Think I am producing a powerful sound, the issue is I'm not sure if its woofy or blatty/spready. I honestly can't tell. I know some tubas when pushed to their limit they get woofy. So my question is, how can I tell if I'm getting blatty or not? I was pretty blatty during marching season(tuba thang haha) but some of my friends were rather irritated and my directors were a bit pissed at times. So I want to Try eliminate it as much as possible. Play as loud as I can without getting woofy. And still get my sound 'out there'. This is for both my concert horn and my Sousa. Projection/volume is important to me so I wanna work on that as much as possible. If it matters(hopefully not), I have a Schimdt JHDTU Gold Plated mouthpiece. Costed me 80.00 bucks to purchase. Thanks guys. Need more info, just post and I'll provide you the information you need in order to answer my question. Thanks guys.

Tuboss2 wrote:What's up guys. I'm tuboss2. New member here. Account just activated so I can post now haha. I also lurked her for a couple weeks before making site. Anyways, a little about my self.
in HS
Tuba player
Plays football
Really cool person

That's all for introduction, now I got some questions that I want to know I order to improve a certain aspect of my playing.

......So my question is, how can I tell if I'm getting blatty or not? .....

First off.... welcome to TubeNet.

Well... you told us a little about yourself but I need to ask you a question... How's your hearing?

Seriously... I would think you should be able to tell the difference between 'blatty' and other styles of sound.

Well, my hearing is darn near perfect.
The issue is I can't tell if its too much blat or if its fine. I've been look for vids on YouTube to see if my type of sound is good.
I'd like to See some vids of powerful tuba players playing so I can compare my sound to them. All I see is 'too soft playing' or your usual group of guys honking on the sousas.(I can do that as well, but I'd like to stay away from it).

What's your goal? Why is playing excessively loud important to you?

bloke wrote:http://www.amazon.com/Orchestral-Excerp ... B0000038JE

Yes, buy this CD and pay particular attention to the tracks that are supposed to have a big sound on a contrabass tuba: Romeo et Juliet (Montagues and Capulets), The Planets, Prokofiev, Symphony No. 5, Ride of the Valkyries, etc. You can get the sheet music for a lot of the excerpts for free here: http://imslp.org/.

FWIW, I have yet to see a youtube video of a sousaphone section that is not blatty. This never sounds good.

may I humbly suggest that YouTube is rarely a source of outstanding audio quality at the source, much less at the output?

I think an expert might know.

k001k47 wrote:I think tubamaster2005 might know.

Or, perhaps, Ben Cunnings?

Yeah. . . well, my advice is to invest in a nice microphone. Things sound very different when you're not behind the mouthpiece. Work to reproduce the sound in your head. Good luck and have fun!

Todd S. Malicoate wrote:What's your goal? Why is playing excessively loud important to you?

My goal is to basically play as loud as possible without distortion. It's mainly important because in our music we are working on for UIL there's parts where us tubas gotta 'take charge'. So yes.
At everyone else: Hm. I'll check out the amazon link y'all posted. I have to say, y'all are pretty quick to reply. I like that. Thanks, appreciate the help.

Tuboss2 wrote:

Todd S. Malicoate wrote:What's your goal? Why is playing excessively loud important to you?

there's parts where us tubas gotta 'take charge'..

Ah! A rare opportunity, indeed! It sounds like fun. What piece are you preparing?

Tuboss2 wrote:

Todd S. Malicoate wrote:What's your goal? Why is playing excessively loud important to you?

My goal is to basically play as loud as possible without distortion. It's mainly important because in our music we are working on for UIL there's parts where us tubas gotta 'take charge'. So yes.
At everyone else: Hm. I'll check out the amazon link y'all posted. I have to say, y'all are pretty quick to reply. I like that. Thanks, appreciate the help.

What music are you working on for UIL?

Tuboss2 wrote:It's mainly important because in our music we are working on for UIL there's parts where us tubas gotta 'take charge'.

With my experience of a decade of marching bands and several ( ) decades of directing them, I'll echo what Northernlb said earlier. Blend and tune with your section for much more sound. Over-blowing ("blatting") and/or playing out of tune will only cause your sounds to cancel each other.

We're working on:
Imperial March(your usual om-pa 1 and 3...goodness those are boring)
Nemu Susato(we're somewhat important here)
Glaciers(we're pretty important here)
But ya, and we do a lot of accents in all 3 of these pieces so you know we gotta put some weight on these notes. Hence why I'm asking how to do these without blatting but still getting the sound out there).

Tuboss2 wrote:We're working on:
Imperial March(your usual om-pa 1 and 3...goodness those are boring)
Nemu Susato(we're somewhat important here)
Glaciers(we're pretty important here)
But ya, and we do a lot of accents in all 3 of these pieces so you know we gotta put some weight on these notes. Hence why I'm asking how to do these without blatting but still getting the sound out there).

Do you mean Crown Imperial March? Here is a nice performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKcXMpfePPY. This is not a boring piece.

Here is part of Nemu Susato http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi1S3QylXwo. Not great recording quality; but they play it well.

There is a good MP3 here: http://www.justmusicuk.com/spweb/detail ... no=JM63748.

Do you sound like the tubas in these recordings?

Tuboss2 wrote:Hence why I'm asking how to do these without blatting but still getting the sound out there).

So, basically, "how do we sound good" in a few words on a message board.

Practice. A lot. Use more air.

No just Imperial March. Forgot who wrote it but its not Crown Inperial March.

Yes we do, but we could always use more.

And thanks for the advice. I'll be focusing on that when I practice.

I'm not sure if its woofy or blatty.......

I'm guessing it's more of a woofy sound........

Many of the questions you ask can be answered by taking private lessons with an instructor who has made all or part of his or her living as a professional performer on the tuba. Many of the questions you ask are using nebulous terms such as woofy that may mean one thing to you and something else to another. You must be heard, in person, and guided by an experienced performer to improve your sound and all other aspects of your playing. Playing loudly is not most efficiently accomplished by forcing air through the tuba, but, by using large amounts of air with a slow air stream to fill your tuba with rich vibration from you lips. Also, learn to command the full range of dynamics from "pppp" to "ffffff" and everything in between. Music is an art form, not an Olympic event.

Tuboss2,

You're getting some good advice. I second the idea of private lessons. At least some feedback while you are
playing from someone you trust. Maybe your band director or some of your band mates would give you a few minutes and tell you what is loud and full versus what it just blatty. That may be all you need to get into your head. If you need further feedback, you can probably figure out a way to record yourself during practice and listen to various approaches,

You might do better thinking about a full, deep, rich sound that gets under the ensemble and supports it without sticking out. I'm about to go to Men's Chorus rehearsal and I can tell you I'd get "the hand" quickly if I hit a low note that stuck way out rather than blending. Tuba isn't any different. A sound that is rich and deep may melt into the ensemble and it may not be as easy for you to hear yourself as a separate sound, but that's good!

I think you may have loudness confused with shrillness. If you stick out and are blatty, you probably have fewer of the low partials and equalized frequency pattern that are the tubas player's glory.

If you're finding it too easy to get blatty, a different mouthpiece might give you more depth. Consult an expert.