Taking a breath?

[Michael Bush]

I always try to minimize the sound of my in-breaths.

But I'm sitting here writing out a test to allow some students in a non-musical subject succeed if they can tomorrow morning, and I'm listening to our fellow tubenetter "Northern" play some music I'll never be able to play.

I must say, he truly does not seem to worry about breaths as much as I do. There are some prodigious breaths on this recording.

It's perfectly fine with me. Anybody who sounds like he does between breaths can breathe as often and as audibly as they want.

But it does have me wondering: should we mortals worry about this, or are breaths just "production sounds" that are allowable without penalty?

[sloan]

I always try to minimize the sound of my in-breaths.

But I'm sitting here writing out a test to allow some students in a non-musical subject succeed if they can tomorrow morning, and I'm listening to our fellow tubenetter "Northern" play some music I'll never be able to play.

I must say, he truly does not seem to worry about breaths as much as I do. There are some prodigious breaths on this recording.

It's perfectly fine with me. Anybody who sounds like he does between breaths can breathe as often and as audibly as they want.

But it does have me wondering: should we mortals worry about this, or are breaths just "production sounds" that are allowable without penalty?

There are a lot of sounds that you can hear in a recording with "close" miking - sounds that never make it past the front lip of the stage (if you are sitting in the back row).

That said - I will be ecstatic when the worst criticism of my playing is that my breaths are too loud. Most players don't move enough air - they don't need yet another excuse to take slow, shallow, silent breaths. I say - keep sucking in air until someone actually complains, and then figure out how to move the same amount of air just a bit more quietly.

[peter birch]

breathing is a fact of life, a big sound from a brass instrument requires big breath, and if listeners or conductors or fellow musicians don't like it, they should just get over it. the last time I went to the ballet I was struck by the grace and power of the dancing - and the racket the dancers (men and women) made when they landed on the stage. I have the Rostropovich recording of the Bach cello suites, and his breathing in time with the music is clearly audible, let us not even begin to talk abour Glenn Gould!
how listeners, whether in an audience or an audition, expect player to make a great sound on the out-breath with an inaudible in-breath is quite ridiculous. All music has extraneous sounds, piano keys, paper rustling instrument movement, dropped mutes, water, as well as breathing. it is part of life and should be accepted as such

[MileMarkerZero]

A loud breath doesn't bother me, really. But what i've found in my own playing is that if i am making a lot of noise when I'm breathing, I'm not doing it as efficiently due to excess tension (usually in the throat). The more open I am in breathing, the quieter it is, and the breath I get is correspondingly fuller.

But even then, we're talking in relative terms here. IOW, there's no way to move 50-100 liters (or more) of air per minute in and out of your lungs and be particularly graceful or quiet about it.

Don't worry about how loud the breath is, just worry about its effiency.

[Stefan]

I don't have a problem with audible breaths and I don't think there's a problem, necessarily, with doing it. However, the sound of the breath means that there must be some friction someplace - therefore reducing the efficiency of the inhalation. If you are getting in plenty of air and you have a great sound - that's wonderful. But if you are having trouble getting in air quick enough, you may want to reduce the friction.

Stefan

[bort]

Being overly cautious about the sound of your breath is thinking, and ironically, a distraction from the real purpose of *creating* sound. Don't be noisy for the sake of being noisy. But if no one else complains, don't change it. Get noticed for the right things.

[windshieldbug]

I will be ecstatic when the worst criticism of my playing is that my breaths are too loud. Most players don't move enough air - they don't need yet another excuse to take slow, shallow, silent breaths. I say - keep sucking in air until someone actually complains, and then figure out how to move the same amount of air just a bit more quietly.

Word. And for non-resistance instruments (tuba, flute) you need an unbelievable amount of air to support properly. For a tuba on stage, the closest someone will be to you (normally) is about 50', and they RARELY use tuba for the quiet, tender passages...

[Rick F]

I never thought about this until this past year when I found myself sitting in front of a T-bone player who breathes in through his horn! There's a big whoosh sound like he's using a megaphone. I can't imagine what that air must taste like.

[Tubaryan12]

To the OP: Excellent question. I have always thought about this as well. So much so, that it is probably the primary reason I don't take in as much air as I should.

[wrobotuba]

A couple of things:

1) What we do, as brass players, is about as un-natural as you can get. Nothing we as humans do (in the natural world) to sustain life requires us to buzz our lips.

2) Far too often, we become enveloped/overburdened in what happens BEFORE we begin tone production (think this, open that, breathe with this, lower that, etc., etc.)

If we think of breathing and buzzing in their most basic terms, it is simply stimulus and response. What we all should strive for is what Northern has achieved. He has minimized the gap between stimulus and response. To the point that there really is NO gap. It is, for lack of a better word, totally natural.

To look at it another way, think about the gas you put into your car. Better gas, better performance. Less residue, the injector ports stay open. and efficiency is increased. You maximize the use of what you have.

Efficient breathing is exactly that. Don't try telling your body to do this or that. Let it happen naturally. If you know that you need to play loud and low, your body will now how to accommodate. Through simple experimentation, you will quickly be able to discover what works and what does not.

One way to experiment would be to record yourself playing a melodic etude. Something with no extremes (dynamic, melodic, rhythmic) which allows you to play in your most relaxed, most natural state. Then, take a piece which has extremes. However, approach it in the same manner as you would the melodic etude. Reduce the speed, play it very mezzo, and if there are range issues, alter the range to make it easily playable. CREATE a very beautiful version of Fountains of Rome.

Listen to your recordings. Now, during this second creation, is when you can evaluate your performance.
Listen to the quality of your breath and your sound.

Is your breathing creating sound to the point where you can really notice it? In other words, does it detract from your overall musical statement? If yes, what do you notice about the sound of your (instrument's) voice--- how does your sound compare from after your first breath to the sound after your second breath? Away from the instrument, let your ears guide you.

As stated in an earlier post, sound=friction=inefficiency

If you imagine a yawn, then you will have the right feeling for your inhalation. Obviously, as dynamic levels/tempi increase the rate at which you must replenish your air decreases. The result is that there is going to be an increase in the sound of your inhalation. You can minimize this, to be sure. However, there will always be SOME sound.

Having had many opportunities to sit next to Northern and his colleagues, one of the (many) great things I learned was to just be natural and make the breath an integral part of the music.

wrobotuba