Sound at bell or Sound at audience??

[tbn.al]

Of course this thread applies equally as well to bass trombone, doesn't it? heh, heh, heh,

The chainsaw always gets the hand, doesn't it Bob? Sometimes before we play a note. I was having some equipment trouble at the beginning of a piece several years ago and the conductor stopped and called me out. I thought it was to ask me why I wasn't playing, but all he said was, "too much bass trombone". He was probably right though.

[tofu]

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[Jarrod]

I have had the great pleasure of sitting right next to the bell of Matt Good and Gene Pokorny during performances, and I feel like "edgy" might be a taken the wrong way here. I would say that players of this caliber, when playing loud (and low) are really "buzzing" the notes they are playing. This may seem odd, but this is my observation/explanation:

Notes can be played in the low to upper-middle register of the tuba, the player can pull the tuba away from my face (or the mouthpiece out of the lead-pipe) and not have a sustained buzz, even though it was a supported, full sound. The added resistance of the horn makes this resonance, which is why some people use a tube while mouthpiece buzzing, or cover the end of the mouthpiece with their finger to get it to buzz. The great players seem to play as though it would sound the same with or without the tuba there....that they would still be actually buzzing each note. I think this focused buzz supplies the core, and the "buzz" to the sound, if you will. In loud dynamics, especially the low register, this comes across even more.

Pros buzz notes out, others "let" notes come out. Maybe this is off the mark, or too simplistic, but that's what it seems to boil down to in my experience

[eupher61]

Jarrod makes one of the best arguments for buzzing practice.

I find that I usually drool at the sound of a bell. The audience usually applauds when I'm playing and a bell sounds, that means they have to leave due to a fire.

[sloan]

When I attend concerts as an audience member I now always try for seats in the middle of the front of the lower balcony.

Bingo! Except that I like to be just a bit stage left for those piano soloists.

In my hall, that's the Front Mezzanine, Row B (Row A is for the show-offs), seats 123-4 - our seats at every ASO concert (ask Andy - I'm in his direct line of sight). In fact, the tuba, trombones, and trumpets all seem to point directly at those seats.

I mean...you can't even SEE the tuba from the first floor seats.

But, we do have choir seating behind the stage - I really should move around to be right above the low brass some night. That wouldn't have worked last Saturday - Carmina Burana fills the entire hall with performers and there's no room left for spectators!

[MartyNeilan]

I completely agree with the playing a bit edgier to sound better at the audience. And actually, I have sort of a power sound concept I guess it goes a step further. I absolutely cannot stand a tubby sound.

One warning to some of the young'uns out there, before they start to get the wrong idea and celebrate this thread with a blatfest at next band rehearsal...
The horn will usually add all the edge necessary to the sound, especially depending on the model and the volume. Some tuba designs have gone to great length to tame this edge (aka 1st gen 2165).
When the player intentionally tries to put too much edge on the sound, what they are usually doing is playing with too much tension, choking something off, overblowing, not using enough air, using too much pressure, etc. Think of moving large quantities of air as a broad gust of wind.
Let the tuba make the edge, not the player.

[Wyvern]

I think edge is the wrong term as it implies all the wrong aspects of tone to this discussion. I think energy is a better description. A sound that is chuck full of energy at the bell is a sound that then rounds and mellows with distance.

I quite agree, but the word I would use is projection - and it cannot be stressed too much how important good intonation is to that, or the energy seems to just get lost.

I am sure the massive sound that Championship brass bands can put out is due largely to those ensemble's spot-on intonation.