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amtrpt · 02-26-2008, 10:35 PM

Steve,
There are already some great ideas here. Here are two other things that I would keep in mind.

I find it helpful not only to listen to trumpet sounds that I like, but also vocal sounds. In particular I will listen to pop artist that I like. Here are a few examples. When I first started to learn how to use vibrato my teacher in high school gave me the Whitney Houston Greatest Love of All album. This may seem a bit strange but singers like that are great at using vibrato to change their sound, or lead a phrase. Opera singers are of course great too, I'm just not a huge opera fan so I listened to the music that I liked the most. Another example is Sarah McLachlan. She has a great sound for soft phrases and I like to listen to her for things like Mahler 3 posthorn, or the 6th mvt. chorale. I think the most important thing is to find music and sounds that you love and incorporate them into your playing.

The second thing and this is more technical is to be aware of how full the vibration of your lips is. This is easy to check with MP buzzing. I think we take it for granted that we are always vibrating to our fullest when in fact for a variety of reasons we often aren't. Listen to your mp buzzing for a full relaxed and even sound. Try to keep it focussed and as clear as you can. Remember that ultimately the vibration of the lips is what causes the sound and I think worth looking into. That's one of the reasons that I buzz every day.

It does take time. When I was in high school I mostly played a Schilke 13A4A mp. I got into the tanglewood high school orchestra playing this thing if you can believe that. When I got there and heard the other players it took me a long time, years, to get a sound that I was happy with. There were a lot of steps involved, equipment, listening, relaxing the air and buzzing were all important steps. I think that now it's one of the things I am most happy with in my playing. Stay patient and look for small victories. It will be worth the hard work.
I hope that is helpful.
Best,
Andrew

02-26-2008, 10:35 PM	#6 (permalink)
amtrpt Pianissimo User Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: toronto Posts: 161	Re: How to develop sound? Steve, There are already some great ideas here. Here are two other things that I would keep in mind. I find it helpful not only to listen to trumpet sounds that I like, but also vocal sounds. In particular I will listen to pop artist that I like. Here are a few examples. When I first started to learn how to use vibrato my teacher in high school gave me the Whitney Houston Greatest Love of All album. This may seem a bit strange but singers like that are great at using vibrato to change their sound, or lead a phrase. Opera singers are of course great too, I'm just not a huge opera fan so I listened to the music that I liked the most. Another example is Sarah McLachlan. She has a great sound for soft phrases and I like to listen to her for things like Mahler 3 posthorn, or the 6th mvt. chorale. I think the most important thing is to find music and sounds that you love and incorporate them into your playing. The second thing and this is more technical is to be aware of how full the vibration of your lips is. This is easy to check with MP buzzing. I think we take it for granted that we are always vibrating to our fullest when in fact for a variety of reasons we often aren't. Listen to your mp buzzing for a full relaxed and even sound. Try to keep it focussed and as clear as you can. Remember that ultimately the vibration of the lips is what causes the sound and I think worth looking into. That's one of the reasons that I buzz every day. It does take time. When I was in high school I mostly played a Schilke 13A4A mp. I got into the tanglewood high school orchestra playing this thing if you can believe that. When I got there and heard the other players it took me a long time, years, to get a sound that I was happy with. There were a lot of steps involved, equipment, listening, relaxing the air and buzzing were all important steps. I think that now it's one of the things I am most happy with in my playing. Stay patient and look for small victories. It will be worth the hard work. I hope that is helpful. Best, Andrew