Tone

[bigmamabadger]

Help!
Coming back onto Eb horn after 10 years, I find I still have most of my range but I have a poor tone. I've tried one technique for improving tone but it decreases my range quite considerably. And if I'm not careful I sound like an angry trombone....
What can I do?
Tuneless of Northwich
xx

 

[Keppler]

Work with a practice mute / cloth in the bell
Concentrate on width of sound (think wide!) A sound doesn't have to be loud to project - think of pushing the airflow all the way past the bell, as if you were blowing up a balloon attached to the end of your instrument..

Range will come back, but IMHO it should be built on top of a secure wode tone.

(Kepps Body Stretching Method)


Best of luck

 

[neiltwist]

I do an excercise where you try to bend a note (say 'bottom' C below the stave) down a semitone, then play the next one down (B), and bend that , then the next etc.

Then when you've done that, try going as far as you can, and tone is improved. try progressing on to bending a tone, then tone and a half etc.

It worked for me, but that's no guarantee it will work for you.

 

[VenusTromster]

Don't worry about being careful, stick to the angry trombone sound, you can't beat it!! :wink:

 

[WoodenFlugel]

Use a practice mute regularly, and also try the bending method neiltwist suggested. When ever I'm out of practice the first thing affacted is my tone and I use both methods to get it back up to scatch. Oh and try playing pedal notes with a big fat tone too - I find that works.

IMHO tone is crucial - get a reasonable tone and build from that.

 

[bigmamabadger]

Excuse my stupidity, but can you get practice mutes for horns? Where?
Also what kind of cloth is best if you go down that route?
BMB
xx

 

[Accidental]

I always go back to big wide pedal notes - nothing works better for me.

Tenor trom. mutes work ok - either the black metal type (Denis Wick? I've got one and don't know ) or Yamaha silent brass.
This is going to sound completely ridiculous, but if you haven't got a mute, a small teddy bear works better (for me anyway :wink: ) than a cloth down the bell!!

 

[Keppler]

or failing the availability of a small teddy-bear, try LittleBabyBadger...

 

[WoodenFlugel]

You should be able to get one from any decent music shop or Normans or somewhere like that. It may well be for Baritone / Horn (mine is for Flugel / Trombone). Mostly their Denis Wick but I think Humes and Berg are doing them now too.

As for a duster, well the good old yellow duster with the oddly coloured stains on it, as found in most brass players case is as good as anything! :wink:

 

[WoodenFlugel]

:shock: Just read my last post....by oddly coloured stains I meant ones caused by valve oil and polishing!

 

[jameshowell]

We believe you... :roll:

 

[Keppler]

Excuse my stupidity, but can you get practice mutes for horns? Where?
Also what kind of cloth is best if you go down that route?
BMB
xx

being slightly more helpful..
http://www.bandsupplies.co.uk/StockItems.asp?SubCategory=100

A tenor trombone mute will fit tenor horn.
if you're using a cloth, you'll probably need a small towel. Tea towlk or golf-towel would be ideal. Anything smaller is in danger of getting lost down the bell, or not providing enough resistance to be useful.

 

[Naomi McFadyen]

A tenor trombone mute will fit tenor horn.

Not sure this is true actually... This came up in band rehearsal on Monday and Dave King said tenor trom mutes don't fit tenor horns... but Bass Trom mutes do...


With tone- Play long notes... loads of 'em, and listen to the sound you produce... eventually you'll get you're tone back again...
Either this, or the mouthpiece you use can change the tone a great deal, as I've been finding out... so try borrow and have a go at other peoples mouthpieces, and find the one that suits you...

Hope this helps

 

[MoominDave]

A tenor trombone mute will fit tenor horn.

Not sure this is true actually... This came up in band rehearsal on Monday and Dave King said tenor trom mutes don't fit tenor horns... but Bass Trom mutes do...

Other way round with our set! I'm sure David King is used to a superior class of mute though.

 

[Despot]

A tenor trombone mute will fit tenor horn.

Not sure this is true actually... This came up in band rehearsal on Monday and Dave King said tenor trom mutes don't fit tenor horns... but Bass Trom mutes do...

We've been doing the other way around....all these years, all those lost contests! :lol:

I think you'll find a normal black Denis Wick practise mute will fit a horn.

I'll have to experiment the bass trom mutes tonight!

 

[Keppler]

and of course every band has tons of bass-trombone mutes in various materials, flavours and colours...

Have personally fitted a DW straight into a Besson 700series tenor horn, and it seemed to fit ok, so that's what I'm basing my statement on. I admit, I can't definitavely say for the practice mutes.

I'm sure if you have a few hundred quid to blow you'll be more than willing to buy several to find the best fit..

 

[Naomi McFadyen]

lol- yea, well I thought it was a rather expensive way of fitting mutes... but this was with cup mutes though, so as u say, prolly different with practise mutes... bound to beable to get them all for tenor horns themselves anyway ;-)

 

[WoodenFlugel]

It has taken ages to find this - no wonder people are confused!! Anyway try this:

http://www.boothsmusic.co.uk/acatalog/denis_wick_mutes.htm

Bass trombone / Tenor Horn is DW5528

Hope this helps :wink:

 

[Aidan]

yup naomi, was straight mutes. but normally straight mutes are the same too... bass bones more suited to t horn whereas the tenor trom ones fit flugel better. The mutes we were on about in band were trom cup mutes anyway, not horn cup mutes.

 

[Accidental]

Dunno about regular mutes, but for practice mutes the Denis Wick Tenor trom. one fits perfectly. (I have a bass trombone mute left over from my days on bari, and its way too big for horn - just tried it!!)

Now where can I get a littlebabybadger.....