Practicing...

[mTaUrBkA]

That happens to me on occassion.......it's in spurts. For some reason, I just think I was best when I was in 8th grade than I am now. At one time I will work my butt off and get lots of work done.......then for another while I realize I have no competetion in my area and I don't work at it. All the other tuba players at my school can't read bass clef......and I hafta write in fingerings. Thjey are my pals though...I love them!

[chevy68chv]

You might be thinking about your mistakes too much when youre playing. Think about what youre going to play in the music that is coming up. if you continue to concentrate on mistakes you've already made you are only going to screw up more.

[Ryan_Beucke]

This happens to me whenever I come home for breaks. The acoustics in my room suck the life out of my euphonium. Just remember that you're sounding better than you hear it. Practicing should not be trying to sound better than your previous best sound, but making your CURRENT sound better over the practice session. If you have a bad day and you're in a bad room, then work towards sounding and playing better than when you started. It'll be an improvement even if you don't feel like it.

Also, learn to take advantage of your good days. It's good to play every day, but if you're having a bad day and everything sounds crappy, don't frustrate yourself too much. Play some maintanence stuff, play some easy stuff to make yourself feel better, and then put it away until tommorow. That's how people get sick of playing, they stop enjoying what they're doing and think of it as a chore.

[LauriH]

I've had that same problem you were talking about Oric. I practise in small room and sometimes the sound is really crappy. What I have done is to sound best I can when I'm practising. I've noticed that all bigger rooms that I'm used to makes me sound lot better. It might be frustrating to practise all the time in small room and sound crappy, but it's very pleasing everytime you get in to bigger room and see how wonderfull you sound.

I think the same problem of crappy sound arises if you were playing outside. I heard of one professiol trumpetist who used to practise in stadium everyday and he said that it was the reason he sounded so good indoors.

[Donn]

I get out into a more open part of the house, when no one's around to mind. Low notes on the tuba, in particular, can have long wavelengths - C below the bass clef is 8 feet long - and you have to expect some trouble cramming that stuff into a small room.

But it's practice, not performance. Once I realized that the room had this effect, it became somewhat irrelevant.

[mTaUrBkA]

haha I practiced for allstate in my basement! It sounded better than my room. Where I played my audition had decent acoustics though. However....in the school where I had my audition......in the hallways there were no ceilings!

[iiipopes]

I've played on and off for over 30 years, and I still don't like the sound of a tuba when I practice in the spare room, which is a bedroom with a closet for my music instruments. The fundamental just doesn't develop. All you hear are the mid range overtones. But this is a good thing. With the fundamental attenuated, you can really hear how your tone develops, and you can work on your embouchure, mouth cavity and relaxed throat much better. For example, play a long mp 2nd line Bb, and as you are doing it alternatively arch completely then flatten as low as you can the back of your tongue. What you will hear has almost the character of an electric guitar with a phase shifter.

Along with that, the carpet, drapes, and bedspread are soaking up the high end completely. This can help you with your intonation and attack, as without all the hiss, you can really tell what your tongue is doing against your teeth and palate.

So don't worry about how your tone is coming out, use this bit of natural frequency shaping to focus on areas of improvement. I believe you will find it to your advantage in the long run.

You are not alone. I used to play a lot more electric on weekends. The vocalists, especially, insisted on all the effects going out front to be in their monitor mix, to "hear" what was going on, instead of having a dry mix so they could tell how they were sounding -- dry it bothered them in the same way!

Heh, heh: THEN REALLY SERENADE THE FAMILY ON THE STAIRS! Yeah, let'm have it with some good Wagner, Sousa or other famous march counter melodies, your tryout pieces, etc.

Good luck!

[Bob Mosso]

One idea, could you stay late at school and practice there? No loud siblings to distract you, better acoustics, ...

[LauriH]

Lauri- you're from Finland? That's awesome. I'm a language nerd, and Finnish is an especially cool language.

Yep, I'm a Finn. I have to say that I don't think our language is cool. It's hard to learn, there are very much strange rules that you have to if you wan't to write or speak it well. Can you add in what way you think our language is cool? It would be nice to hear more thoughts of our language

[Ryan_Beucke]

I just want to point out that when you're practicing in a smaller room, it's not that the high notes are actually not playing well, it's that you hear yourself differently and adjust without even thinking of it.

In a small room, dynamics get compressed, so that when you try to play soft, it sounds very similar to when you try to play loud. So often we will subconsciously try to bring our dynamics down further and further, to the point where our breath support is suffering, which causes notes to crack and not come out (especially higher notes). Just try to think about supporting, and getting a nice big sound regardless of what is coming back to you. It's tough to work with a small room, everyone has this problem.

[tubafatness]

This is a long way off of the original post, but here goes. You said that you're sound gets crappy after awhile, and my suggestion is simple :relax! There's no way you can create a big sound with a tense body. Think of something nice, like puppies and sunshine, or some nice girl/boy you know. Anyway, I also suggest trying not to physically exert more air through the horn. Just let your body naturally put more air into the mouthpiece and horn. It works for me, might work for you.

[tubatooter1940]

Oric, my music room is small and I am disappointed with my sound in there but I find that if I work with the sound I am hearing in there and get the best I can on it, I am improving my tone overall. When I get into a larger place, I sound better and being so concious of my tone helps because I perform with the same effort I did in rehersal to get the best tone possible.

[LauriH]

Well, for me it's a problem to get the "right" sound in a small room. I can make different kinds of sounds I like or dislike, but I'm not certain what is the best. Usually it's much more easier in bigger rooms where there are enough space for the sound.

[Carroll]

This is... my suggestion ...:relax! Think of ...some nice girl/boy you know.

Oooh, I find that ANY girl/boy I think of just causes more tension.

[tubeast]

When playing flugelhorn, I even used to go out and practise in the car for a part of the practise session, just to experience that "dead" sound. Embrace it! You´ll be pointed towards any flaws in your tone or attack, because the room won´t do anything in your favor. Especially so if you record your sessions.

[Leland]

Well, for me it's a problem to get the "right" sound in a small room.

Of course, because the room is smaller than the sound. It's smaller than the wavelengths you're producing, so it'll really mess with things.

Go ahead and work for a consistent sound, but besides that, spend the rest of your effort to play clean. Don't worry about mistakes, just think about playing clean, in tempo, and with stability.

Whenever you can, go to a bigger room and play for sound. Get some spare time in the band room or on stage.

The risk of spending so much time in a small room is that players often end up with a small sound. Any volume that's large enough for the stage is simply too painful in a small space. Some players avoid this somewhat by wearing earplugs, even though they present their own obstacles.

Practice the same material wherever you are, but understand that different rooms have different problems, and adjust your focus for each room. Always work to play well, and work around each room's drawbacks (and benefits) to practice efficiently.

[adam0408]

Eh, dont put too much faith in practicing in different places. You are probably just uninspired right now. Take some lessons from a new person, get a recording that inspires you, do something differently.

Change the way you look at your instrument, try to do something you have never done before. The important thing to do is find a way to have fun doing what you are doing, because who wants to do something that isnt fun?

As far as breathing excersizes go, find the "breathing gym"

[WilliamVance]

I hate the way my concert tuba sounds in my apartment so I tend to practice on my sousaphone. It sounds great as long as you're not facing a wall.

I have to fully agree with the others who advise you to work on hearing yourself in a smaller room and improving your tone quality as best you can in there. It leads to a better tonal center when there's a bunch of other instuments playing along with you in an ensemble. Last night at Tubachristmas there was a lot of just feeling you were playing the correct pitch.

Don't fucus on that one note so much it keeps you from progressing on the rest of the piece you are working up. Come back to in later or the next day. Some days can be better than others just like anything else, so just hope you have a good day on a performance or an audition.