| Swinging back to the Projecting vs, hearing yourself thing
this has been something that has been on my mind for many years, listening to recordings, the Basie band when Byron Stripling played lead, anything with Roger Ingram, anything with Conrad Gozzo etc.etc. you get the feeling they are blowing their butts off so your next rehearsal you try and do the same, thinking, "that is what they are doing so I must do the same" Many of our trumpet playing problems, I believe, can be related to this approach ie. intonation, definite ceiling to your range, endurance etc.
I remember reading an article where I believe Bobby Shew was describing playing in a section with the great Bud Brisbois, he said sitting near him he didn’t see what the big deal was, he didn’t seem to be playing that loud ( I wish I could remember exactly what he said) but when you got in front of the band he was just burying the group.
A few months ago I had a lesson with Roger Ingram and sitting next to him I asked him to play at a volume and intensity he would use say on a shout section, it didn’t really blow me away. After talking with him about it it confirmed what I always believe, we are sitting on the wrong side of the instrument to make many judgment calls on sound and volume. The greats seem to understand this and have mastered it. In our practice room we need recording equipment with a good mic and a good friend that will give us honest feedback on how we sound.
Nate |