SIDEBAR to horns/auditions, yada, yada, yada
Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 10:29 am
I don't think anyone is looking at the other post about horns/auditions as tantamount to a buying guide, but I think it would be interested to see what, if any, trends might emerge over the long range (i.e., 1960s to the present) for horns used in winning auditions.
I agree wholeheartedly with the statements already made regarding the ability of the player, not the horn, at earning the right to sit in an orchestra.
I have long told students, "It's a tuba...not a magic wand."
But I've also told them, "It's a megaphone; it only amplifies what you're creating. The horn doesn't *give* you a bad sound or a good sound, it only projects the sound you create."
However, in the past, I noticed an interesting trend.
All through undergrad and grad school, I was lucky enough to play on the world's best HB-2P. (I know it sounds like an exaggeration, but, IIRC, every other person who ever tried it who was the current owner of an HB-2P would try it and say, "Wanna trade?") Anyway...Like a lot of tubas, I found that it was quite receptive to the mouthpiece that was put in it, insofar as color, overtones, variations in what was projected, etc.
As I would prepare for an audition or any other performance event, for a relatively small period of time, I would ask friends if they would be my "outside ears," to sit at a distance and offer their thoughts. Quite a number agreed to help, both tubists and non-tubists. I had a few different mouthpieces that different things for me on the HB2P, and couldn't really decide on one, so I thought I'd ask for input on what was sounding the best to others, out of curiosity's sake.
WITHOUT FAIL, the mouthpiece that would be chosen as the "best sounding" was NEVER the same, tubists vs. non-tubists. Never once did a non-tubist pick the mouthpiece that tubists told me thought gave me the best (i.e., fullest, best-projecting, nicest-to-hear) sound, and vice-versa. I found it quite interesting a situation, especially in light of the fact that audition panels rarely include a tubist, from what I understand. In the least, the tubist would be in the minority in the panel, versus non-tubists, that is.
So while comparing which "tuba" achieved success at each position might seem a triviality to some, I would find it interesting to see what, if any, trends revealed themselves over time. Has there been a change in "the sound" that the other members of the orchestra (read: "audition panel") expect to hear from the back row? A short while back, I was runner-up for a regional orchestra. By a fluke, I wound up in the parking lot at the same time as a member of the panel. I didn't know he was, certainly not with any certainty (there were other things going on there that day, it seemed), I just happened to notice a sticker on his car from my alma mater, so I said, "(college cheer)." He responded by saying it back, then said, "Hey, were you number X by any chance?" I said I was. He complemented me on a job well done, and relayed how hard the decision was. Ultimately, they made it based on the fact that his (one particular excerpt) was "a little more aggressive." So I was fine with not winning, because I've never thought that particular excerpt should be "aggressive," while I know some do. I've thought it noble, deep, expressive, etc., but never aggressive. So I was good with it.
Ultimately, the best audition advice I ever got was over a beer with Ron Bishop. He said something to the effect of (it was a long time ago), "You just go in there and play your best. You play it the way YOU think it should be played. You do your homework, you study the score, you practice your butt off, then you go in and play it down. You can't guess what it is "They" are going to want to hear. You just can't know. If you go in guessing, you'll always be guessing. You'll guess going in, and you'll second-guess coming out, especially when you don't win. And that's no way to go about it. You do your thing, and, one day, if everything works out, what you're doing is going to be exactly what they're looking for. And it'll be that much better."
So, in a nutshell, younglings:
1) Ultimately, not the horn.
2) Do your homework, on the horn and AWAY from the horn.
3) Be yourself (but a properly-prepared, educated, respectful, self).
But I'm still eager to see any long-term trends.
I agree wholeheartedly with the statements already made regarding the ability of the player, not the horn, at earning the right to sit in an orchestra.
I have long told students, "It's a tuba...not a magic wand."
But I've also told them, "It's a megaphone; it only amplifies what you're creating. The horn doesn't *give* you a bad sound or a good sound, it only projects the sound you create."
However, in the past, I noticed an interesting trend.
All through undergrad and grad school, I was lucky enough to play on the world's best HB-2P. (I know it sounds like an exaggeration, but, IIRC, every other person who ever tried it who was the current owner of an HB-2P would try it and say, "Wanna trade?") Anyway...Like a lot of tubas, I found that it was quite receptive to the mouthpiece that was put in it, insofar as color, overtones, variations in what was projected, etc.
As I would prepare for an audition or any other performance event, for a relatively small period of time, I would ask friends if they would be my "outside ears," to sit at a distance and offer their thoughts. Quite a number agreed to help, both tubists and non-tubists. I had a few different mouthpieces that different things for me on the HB2P, and couldn't really decide on one, so I thought I'd ask for input on what was sounding the best to others, out of curiosity's sake.
WITHOUT FAIL, the mouthpiece that would be chosen as the "best sounding" was NEVER the same, tubists vs. non-tubists. Never once did a non-tubist pick the mouthpiece that tubists told me thought gave me the best (i.e., fullest, best-projecting, nicest-to-hear) sound, and vice-versa. I found it quite interesting a situation, especially in light of the fact that audition panels rarely include a tubist, from what I understand. In the least, the tubist would be in the minority in the panel, versus non-tubists, that is.
So while comparing which "tuba" achieved success at each position might seem a triviality to some, I would find it interesting to see what, if any, trends revealed themselves over time. Has there been a change in "the sound" that the other members of the orchestra (read: "audition panel") expect to hear from the back row? A short while back, I was runner-up for a regional orchestra. By a fluke, I wound up in the parking lot at the same time as a member of the panel. I didn't know he was, certainly not with any certainty (there were other things going on there that day, it seemed), I just happened to notice a sticker on his car from my alma mater, so I said, "(college cheer)." He responded by saying it back, then said, "Hey, were you number X by any chance?" I said I was. He complemented me on a job well done, and relayed how hard the decision was. Ultimately, they made it based on the fact that his (one particular excerpt) was "a little more aggressive." So I was fine with not winning, because I've never thought that particular excerpt should be "aggressive," while I know some do. I've thought it noble, deep, expressive, etc., but never aggressive. So I was good with it.
Ultimately, the best audition advice I ever got was over a beer with Ron Bishop. He said something to the effect of (it was a long time ago), "You just go in there and play your best. You play it the way YOU think it should be played. You do your homework, you study the score, you practice your butt off, then you go in and play it down. You can't guess what it is "They" are going to want to hear. You just can't know. If you go in guessing, you'll always be guessing. You'll guess going in, and you'll second-guess coming out, especially when you don't win. And that's no way to go about it. You do your thing, and, one day, if everything works out, what you're doing is going to be exactly what they're looking for. And it'll be that much better."
So, in a nutshell, younglings:
1) Ultimately, not the horn.
2) Do your homework, on the horn and AWAY from the horn.
3) Be yourself (but a properly-prepared, educated, respectful, self).
But I'm still eager to see any long-term trends.