Practicing...

[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.