Dynamics quantified

[Henry Gertcher]

Treddle,
I prefer the older style decibel meters that you have to change the range that they work in. That being said, a good mf should be around 80 decibels. Of course this will vary depending on the group that you are playing in. For example, in a large ensemble where you are the only tuba, your dynamics would be louder across the board. A teacher once told me that you have to match your dynamics to the ensemble and that is the best advice I can offer.

That being said, a great way to use a decibel meter is in conjuction with buzzing exercises. Take a short line and play it, sing it, buzz it and than play it again. Have the decibel meter on and try to keep the buzzing around 80. Notice which notes and what parts of the staff are harder to maintain the decibel level.

Now that I have rambled, there is no set level for any given dynamic. A general rule of thumb would be that it has to fluctuate with the ensemble that you are playing with. Also, go out and play and have some fun. Good luck with your journey.

Henry Gertcher

[RyanSchultz]

Agreed--

It's all relative. A FFF in Tchaikovsky have a lower decibal reading than a F in Wagner. There are too many factors involved (melody, harmony, orchestration. . .) to make this an easily quantifiable issue.

[Rick Denney]

I would like to use a decibel meter to quantify my dynamics. What are the db measurements for the dynamic range?

ppp
pp
p
mp
mf
f
ff
fff

There was a discussion a few weeks ago about the decibel meter, but I have not been able to find that thread. I would guess the measurements would be relative to the situation. What you say?

It seems to me that this is musical rather than analytical. I would suggest that fff is the loudest you can play with a good sound, and ppp is the softest you can play with acceptable projection and pitch. Everything else is in between.

Rick "who knows lots of players whose fff is uglier but not louder than their mf" Denney

[Mark E. Chachich]

There are no absolutes!

Dynamics depend on the musical situation (group, type of music, etc...).

cheers,
Mark

[Leland]

It was surprisingly loud on the C weighted scale and fairly soft on the A weighted scale.

There we go --

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/music/dB.html#log

and a picture!:
http://www.silcom.com/~aludwig/images/F ... Munson.jpg

The dBA scale is much more representative of human hearing -- that is, the lower the frequency, the louder the sound needs to be to sound as loud as higher frequencies.

Then, it also makes sense that:

Found the higher notes on the staff projected much more than what I thought.

Some people (even tuba players), I hate to say, just don't understand that the tuba voice needs to put out quite a bit more SPL just to sound balanced with the rest of the ensemble -- especially with alto & soprano instruments.