Playing muted for 1.5 months

[GJDavis1]

Hey all,

I thought I would share this story with all of you, since I think it is really hilarious and also kind of embarrassing.

So for the past month and a half, my tuba has felt strangely difficult to play. Many notes that were not out of tune before were extremely out of tune, and I was having to use all sorts of unnecessary alternate fingerings in order to make things work. The middle register seemed really, really stuffy and I couldn't play anything louder than a mf-f in the pedal range. I turned my horn around to check if anything was inside (which was my first assumption) and nothing came out. I began to get very frustrated, but just figured that I was going through a "phase" or a plateau in my playing and that I'd just have to power through. Well, I finally got fed up yesterday and went into my lesson, and the first thing I said is: "There is something wrong with my horn...you need to play it and see what you think." My teacher played the horn and agreed that it felt very stuffy and difficult to tune. Then, he shook the horn a few times, turned it in a few different directions, and was lucky enough to get a polishing cloth to pop out of the bell. So, for the past 1.5 months (including two big concerts), I have basically been playing a muted tuba (I suppose the cloth got stuck while I was doing my mega clean around 2 months ago). Well, after the cloth came out, I've never sounded so good on the horn in my entire life. It suddenly became very easy to play FFFF in my pedal register with a great sound, and loud dynamics in all registers were a piece of cake. Maybe there is an advantage to accidentally muting my horn for 1.5 months?

Either way, I thought this story was funny. Make sure there aren't stray things in your bell!

[Tom]

For just over a year I found myself living in a condo in the "downtown" area of a large city.

I was playing fairly frequently at that time in a variety of groups at a variety of venues, so I did play outside the house a fair amount, but if I wanted to practice at home, I absolutely had to use a practice mute every time.

So, I bought a Schlipf for my Alexander and used it extensively. I also found a way to use it on my f tuba when I needed to. While I would NOT recommend that someone play using a practice mute as often as I did, I found that there were definately some unexpected benefits...

The added resistance really forced me to get my breathing together to blow through it. When the mute was removed, I could play louder, softer, longer, and more controlled phrases than ever.

Second, I think it actually did a lot for my sound development and ultimately for my pitch placement. You really had to use your ears with the practice mute or you just made "noise."

I did not, however, play concerts or rehearsals with the mute in...that sure must have been interesting!

[b.williams]

LOL!!!!! I loved your playing with mute story!!!!

[dxnmrl]

hilarious. it's like altitude training for your embouchure.

the most interesting thing i've found in my horn is a king cake baby somebody hurled in during a parade last month.

[tubbba]

hilarious. it's like altitude training for your embouchure.

the most interesting thing i've found in my horn is a king cake baby somebody hurled in during a parade last month.

Does that mean you have to buy the king cake next year so you can toss the baby into someone else's horn?

[Frank Byrne]

Arnold Jacobs told me a story about how for a period he was having trouble with his famous York tuba, and he thought that perhaps after all those years the horn was losing its legendary qualities. After several concerts he found a shoe brush lodged down in the tuba, having fallen into the horn while it was in his locker. Brush out, horn restored! Moral to the story -- it can happen to even the best of players.

[Carroll]

I actually use this technique - on purpose - with my elementary trumpet and trombone players. I have them bring a tube sock from home (or will gladly provide one from an upperclassman) and shove it up their bell. Then I have them play loud enough to make the horn rattle. After only a minute of this, they play with a much more open sound. The results are short lived, but it does give them an idea of how to use air. Usually, a few times will help the concept stick.

[Alex C]

A friend of mine played an audition at a major orcestra. The first three excerpts did not go well and he sat the horn on the floor and dropped his head, waiting to be dismissed. Inside the bell he saw his copies of the excerpts.

He told the monitor and asked if he could repeat the first three excerpts. No, please continue playing. Three more excerpts and he was gone.

---

A new euphonium student came to me complaining of a dozen difficulties. At the second lesson, I took the 1st valve and inspected it... fine. I took the second valve out and inspected it. I was about to put it back in and thought to check the number on the valve.

Sure enough, this student had been playing with the 2nd and 3rd pistons switched in the euphonium for over a year. The improvement in all aspects of playing was highly appreciated.

[Conn 2J CC]

Just like running with ankle weights on.

I did a lot of this on euphonium and it was really helpful.

Ah, LJV - Let me see if I've got this right. You did a lot of running with ankle weights on while playing Euphonium, and found this really helpful? Okay, am I missing something?

Dang, and I thought a lot of the fast paced drills DCI corps do nowadays are a workout.

With humor intended -