or So Scud ead - eeeyeee me Building a Better Sound by Steven Mead Py Article by Steven Mead (a printed in Februar!March editions of Brass Band Warld Magezine) CSA Vien youanmer che telesone ote the frst shag he oer person > Proce says Hi tame, the voice willbe esayreeopvzable, When rou Play one noe on your retument. you Your muses DNA MeN ecogrzase ty you, flow tand members and prope who est you any prectce (analy family or neghbors} Maybe people ay you the empire at ta ice your sound ey eercte er sbectve deaiialtastaesid epiron chat wae do's plex on te ara fel tis atu enough Pete) fing ote rou You nay modest ard hop Seen res wih em or you ay nat. Some aeople wil o throu the musa ives ATES permarer ned by the sad they make on ele bess instrament TE ors ows avi praaepeainens {know 99% of readers wl probaly be aracers ad ssuch can abvays " S37 they dot hare enough spare me a work onthe paying et > STERLING BRASS 1 rfesseaf re Bt ech ty sou nay ro reds much tea you Bink ay u \Wies iow bas paying tho estes requirements qatar, ken in ep relied way. Ina the cates a wortanop | gv, the aes alnay cme frst for afte matey of these al posible Try sow inline ks ayn wth he bac of Ee trout open ently ceurang # seconds and ve Bow out for 4 zones, nom wer the pt closer together prosingswhoosing’ sour Repent hen wih Gierre combinations of 245,28, 42.4 45,48 ‘song bata Soe ‘hare ate many bresthing exerci to help you get the sr moving but thew gue yo starcad You righ considers breath taining device ie the popular Uirabreathe! to, to realy work te ues Now conser the sacs insde your mouth the ester resonator fr your tone. This the 2nd essential element of ‘00d tone you enoyng angng and feng wae an important par of yaw musi eraeing you wil erste around fd High vocal cavity quite ratraly | was aught to apne 39 ee star verily inside yur mouth. Trea rom PORE LSE EMMRR yous hres passes around evs soace to acieve arch tone quay # you can so meta ts een when inhaling Yeu can kcp trson ou ofthe sound too and ae less al wo squcene tha rune. Using tof hgh cal ar also Fecessiatessipport rom the rarg abdominal musces and ie to imagine os asthe moving ofa elo Bow, and es ‘Varying speeds of movement change the soured according. Cred og Crusted CartyMay low brass plryert are never lnetructed to think of changing vowel sounds when playing different teesiturs. For ime this was orly an extension of voal techniques | learned a a your la, but found it reinforced later in life in the reat teachings of Arnold jacobs ard others. In the michrange imagine the sound ‘AH’, wich a normal tongue positon (Ging ie to find chs Inthe low range'AW" and inthe upper range ‘OO! and inthe supar high range wih the ae traveling very fs, EE, Practice with" arvculations (Daw-Dah:Doo) very slow 2 octave arpeggios using the right sounds for the righ: pleches, keeping every nore the same dynamic, around ito start, and producing te best quabty sound possible. The essential element in allthis i that you are listening to yourself having fist imagined che best, sound you possitly can you have something tonlly to sim at before you psy che arto imitating that eouné can be ‘quite easy. Wher | was growirg up in Bournemouth that was how | learned, by ering wre voice and by listening and ‘tying to imitate great euphonium artsts on recordings. Another realy useful technique isto spend more of your practice time playing low nozes, for low bras payers (F you have a éth valve) fram low C to ped C. les not important that you dont use these notes too often in tre band room. My favorite warm up is to start on pel C, then soowiy ascend n ths pattern: C.Db, GD, Cb C.Eete plying a sustained "ote’ dyramic, without vbrato or inflection ‘of any kind, holding eich nore for 4 siow coures When you arrive atthe octave g0 back the other way. C.BCBD,CACAB, ete Repett daly! ¥ you have a practce mute Ure this to asthe resistance you have to blow ‘aganst wil open the backof the throat. | guarancee you will ake a biger more open tene aterwards. By pracccing below the stave you wil be simultaneously be helping yourself to play better high notes too. And finally try to keep the aperture (he epace between your ips) constant. Ie may seem an eng thing ta sty but overtime iffaciltaer so many ‘cher features of successful brass playing. Good luck, itis possible to change your muscal DNA ‘One ofthe hardest things for & brass payers to sense that your glayng s developing, getting beter, particulary ater ‘the age of say 25, when the frst push for stardom is over and you are let ro concemplate the balance between your ‘work family commitments, band and all that goes wit that. Whereis your motivation to practice to take you to the next level? Some people are naturally ambitious and to ascersin quite where ths comes from might necesiate some ‘expensive minutes on a psychiatrists couch, Some people ware a Bigger and beter house, others are happy with what ‘they have, and so itis with brass playing. So, this advie i for all whether you seem happy with your lot or you ‘cortnuilly appre to do better. The low brace fraterrity are a gregarious warm. earted breed of musicians whe chare ‘te same brand of basic humour, who appreciate each others work and are happy to provide rich cones ina band ard ‘orchestra that give pleasure and simuitaneously make the others musicians sound better! That sid, there are rary ‘he lace anything lke a dilly rutin and heren lies the potential ora lack of sustainable improverert. Inthe ast artele I mentioned the importance of quality air, relaxing, ulsing the open resonant space within the mouch, vowel sounds and low tone practice. These key poinss under all we do, its if you Ike In computer speak, the default way of playing. These are there from the frst ast noves every diy “The paying positon is vital too; the cistance from the small ofthe back tothe top of the head has to be maximized, almost 2 mileary style strsightnese maxim zee the potential ofthe lang capacity. Try shi fr youre stand with your back agtnst a wall with your feet about 39 cms away, suche litle and take «big breath. You can sense the ai nee is" the Chest, 0 f you were to extale strongly your lower muscles smply wont need to function In playing terms, you will be working te facial muses too much as the support’ muscles (with ther cello-bowmation. as per the st fartele) are not being usee. Repeat thi a fer tmes. Then stand completly straight withthe bac of your feet touching ‘he wall as wel as che backside, shoulders ané head. Now exhale and fee! tie ar auromaticaly encering ower, filing up lke one fil a gas with iqud.(ah ha now you understand). As you exhale srrongy the ful use ofthe muscles can be fol and you have more air. As ito reinforce this erica poine, ey ths: tand up straight, put your arms up (al cop movie!) above your head, take a deep breath then exhale. Repeat 3 Umes each time wich your arms stretching a ictle more than before. Then return to a nora position and take a powertul breath and fee the dference tha interral ‘sretching has made. ¥ we can trace SO% of brat players problems to poor air use then surely the question of posture land good air intake is something immetiately able‘Start your dally routine with this awareness and your lips, tongue, fingers and ears will thank you always begin by ‘waking up' the low notes and then progress into a technical warm up of Clarke studies, scales and arpeggios. These may seem terribly old-fashioned to many ‘progressive’ thinkers but believe you me all the students | know who have practiced and mastered their scales are brilliant sight readers and can learn music very quccky. kt may shock you learn ‘than many players who audition at the RNCM can barely ply 2 scale to save ther lives! Snocking indeed but am | more sad for them or frustrated with ther teachers! In this push-button’ age the tmeéless discipline of reguar discipined study isnot very tend but | for one will not accept the watering down of our music education. The long lating benefits of sciles and arpeggos can steer You through a career in music or ve you the edge in reading and maintaining an even sound with whatever ensemble you play In. On & similar top, andl hate to scund Ike a dreary school master, the long note routine | adopted asa teerager I sl as useful in sound development asic ever was Using 20 seconds asthe urt of length, start on a middle Fé, then proceed alternately higher and lower, G,F, GH EA, Eb ete arriving after some minutes at octave Cs Rest for a minute then continue, Ci, low B, D, Bb, Dit, A etc. Rest after the two octave Fi, then fourth valve permiing, continuing on to high C and pedal C. Than take a few minstee ‘off and contemplate the sounds you've bean listening to. Try to pay with = beautiful raft sound ('mp! maximum) and a ile vibrato, Bresth desply and effortless on the 20 zesand mark (| hang a watch on the music sand). A metronome i ake but ean citar the beacty with iteruthlest clicking or heaping. This simle exercce has kept me is reasonable shape for over 20 years. One final point for now is the subject of vibrato. 2 much maligned feature ofthe brass players ‘exressive vocabulary. Often overdone, often predictable and distracting, when used sensitively it pus the human ‘element of warmth, beauty as well asthe creation and resolution of tersion into our music. We shoud cultivate this as ‘we do pure tone, but the two are not tobe confused Ifyou are unsure of the mecharics of vibrato ‘creation’ here isa quick ive-step guide |. Repeat over the word "Yah (lie in a German women's institute meeting) yah yah yan yah. 2. Repeat again but silence the voice so only the jaw action continues 3. Repeat again but try to keeo the lips a fixed as possible so the movement s seemingly atthe back of the jaw. 4 Repest step three but simultaneously exhale strongly «strong stream on air with the lip in the playing’ potition with the jaw ereating the massaging effec which ie the base af rich and controlled vibrato, 5. Take up instrument and play some mid range long tones using the experience of step 4 to guide you. Then listen and keep listening and refine your sound in the way an arist or sculpror wil perfect work of art So thit'si¢ for this litle piece posture, seals, long notes and vibrato all of which can help the building progress ‘whatever your age or aspirations. Enjoy your practice and make beautiful sounds. Steven Mead