How you sound to yourself vs. what others hear

[one.kidney]

So I have a question. I am at all-state today, and this came to my attention after seeing several posts on here. I've never gotten a definitive answer, so here's the question. Do you sound worse or better to others than you do to yourself? Also, is your projection actually greater than you are hearing, since you are underneath the bell? I'm sitting next to a fantastic bass trombone player, and I'm already upping my volume level to match up with him. I guess it's since I come from s school that doesn't have s very strong low brass section, so I'm not used to having to balance their sound with mine at a loud dynamic volume. Anyways, any answers to these questions would be GREATLY GREATLY appreciated. Thanks.

[swillafew]

Excellent question, and one that is tough to answer unless you record yourself. Then, recordings are limited too. Ask your friend on the trombone how you sound and you'll have a good opinion.

One way to tell if you sound good is people will start to compliment your playing (or not).

[Lars Trawen]

My experience tells me that you always sound much better out in the hall than underneath the bell.
As long as you project and tune well the sound in the hall is good independent of what kind of tuba you use.
Good luck,
Lars

[tubeast]

A short and simplistic answer to Your question might read: Your experience of Your own sound is different to anybody else´s. But it´ll be neither better nor worse.

Keep in mind that one part of your own sound that you hear comes from the bell and travels through the air to Your ears, while another portion is conveyed through skull- and jaw bones directly to Your inner ear. Because of that, You´ll get an Impression of a somewhat darker, fuller sound.

For a start, compare the sound of Your voice as recorded versus Your own usual impression versus speaking with Your ears covered by Your Hands. The differences are quite drastic.

I wouldn´t worry too much about this, because there´s nothing one can do about it. Ask Your band director or anybody else that You trust for Feedback, if You like. Then You´ll get an idea of adjustments to Your playing that You may want to pursue.

Have fun with the new experience !!

Hans

[Biggs]

my mom thinks I sound great

[Three Valves]

my mom thinks I sound great

Anyone accusing my Mother of being biased is obviously a hater.

[PaulMaybery]

Recently I heard a tuba player warming up in the pit. From the mezzanine, he sounded awesome. I was a bit taken back by how enormous and focused the sound was. OK. During intermission I wandered down to the pit to get a glimpse of the equipment and get a take on what was going on. The horn was an F tuba. They do pack a punch. He was warming up again, and I noticed he was in the corner and half under the stage so the sound was being reinforced and propelled up and out. Also in the pit, the tuba is the only brass instrument that points up an out of the pit. I was standing with my ears literally about 4 feet above the bell. The sound coming out was rather rough sounding. Don't get me wrong, it was all there a very fine player. What struck me was how the complex of factors all played together in the context of the full orchestra. By the time the bass trombone either doubled or complimented the tuba sound in octaves or unison, when the full brass section blew and the chords were in tune and full sounding, it all sounded magnificent. Would I want to be 4 feet from the bell as a member of the audience? Definitely not. I believe if the tuba were to produce a pretty little sound that was "lovely" to hear at 4 feet, the job it is required to perform in a large orchestra would never get done. This is not to say that a player should strive to sound rough. But in those high performance situations that is often a byproduct. It does get filtered out in the big scheme of things. Some of the elements of that rough sound are a prescence of higher harmonics, the 'chiff' at the release point of the tongue, and the laser type focus of the player to hold the sound together in the efforts of projection. At some point the tuba is the "friendly giant" in the orchestra and needs to be appreciated as just that.

[windshieldbug]

How you sound to yourself vs. what others hear has many variables.
1. You are under the bell (or behind it), not in front of it.
2. The resonance of the stage can have a great effect, too. Note where your bell is pointed; offstage, up in the scrims, to the othe side of the stage, etc. Use the where and change it to your advantage as you want to tailor your sound.
3. What you hear and feel within a close radius can be different than you are heard out in the hall. I've found that light/heavy equipment, lacquer v. silver v. bare brass have a big effect on the sound to me, but doesn't make it out to the seats.
4. Intonation has a huge effect of amplifying of deadening your sound; even in a pro orchestra I've found a huge difference playing with multiple bass trombonists. You're playing in tune, but even on the same wavelengths sound can multiply or cancel, depending on where the wave starts. This is not something you can control so much.
5. Some of the best advice you've been given is to listen to GOOD recordings or have ears you trust out in the hall. Digital recording is better than the old analog, but you still need wicked good mikes that can handle bass. I was lucky in that the same engineer that recorded the Philly orchestra was he one that did our archival recordings.

So the answer is, to a large extent yes, but only if you know what the difference is likely to be. As you suspect, it's not exact by any stretch.

[Mark Horne]

4. Intonation has a huge effect of amplifying of deadening your sound

I have found this to be probably the most important factor when it comes to sounding good and being heard. Of course the rest of the ensemble needs to be in tune as well, but when the tuba's fundamental and overtones line up with the other instruments playing higher, and in the right hall, there is nothing more satisfying. Like the amateur golfer who can occasionally hit that "perfect" shot (and thus keeps returning to an otherwise maddening game), creating these beautiful moments on a consistent basis should be a primary goal for the tuba player. Of course, professionals have learned to do this continuously and this is why so many of them are known to have a remarkable sound no matter what horn they are using.