TrumpetMaster - View Single Post - Yamaha YTR-6310Z

rowuk · 05-01-2008, 05:01 PM

It is funny that some of my students came to me with this model and also thought it played tight, but were in love with it after one single lesson. The problem is between our ears, not with our chops or wind.

The tight sensation is a function of what we THINK that we are getting out of a horn in relation to the energy we THINK that we are putting in. Once we figure out why that the horn is more efficient, the "tightness" goes away.

When I test trumpets, it is ALWAYS from the bottom up (don't we always get told that we are too loud anyway?). How does the horn speak at pianissimo, how vibrant is the tone at lower volumes? Then some healthy mezzo forte testing, second movement Haydn for instance: how even are the registers to play, how easy is it to play long phrases, lipslurs and the like. How the horn responds at the upper end of the volume scale I only try in large sized playing spaces. Why? The more efficient the horn, the more a small room will "resonate" back into the horn and give us that impression of tightness. In a practice cell or music store efficiency will lose almost every time because the player doesn't know where the problem is!

If we are talking about "quality" instruments, resistance is one of the most misunderstood phenomenons (or is that phenomina?). Even without having played that particular horn, I know that the symptoms do not represent the REAL playing qualities of that horn.

This does not mean that Robin said you should buy that horn. At the end of the day, we all need to play before we pay. I think it is useful to know that when we understand what is REALLY going on, we often have a new appreciation for a particular horns playing characteristics. Tightness is in the brain, not the trumpet. The fact that the thread owner had no comments on tone quality, response at low volumes, response to articulation, ability to phrase and all of the other things that I know this horn does VERY well, makes me assume that we have an opportunity to highlight the typical horn audition deficiencies. Get this horn into a concert hall and then put it through its paces, from the bottom up. I am sure that you will experience something MUCH different.

I think $1000 is a bit steep for this horn.

05-01-2008, 05:01 PM	#7 (permalink)
rowuk Moderator Fortissimo User Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Germany Posts: 4,383	Re: Yamaha YTR-6310Z It is funny that some of my students came to me with this model and also thought it played tight, but were in love with it after one single lesson. The problem is between our ears, not with our chops or wind. The tight sensation is a function of what we THINK that we are getting out of a horn in relation to the energy we THINK that we are putting in. Once we figure out why that the horn is more efficient, the "tightness" goes away. When I test trumpets, it is ALWAYS from the bottom up (don't we always get told that we are too loud anyway?). How does the horn speak at pianissimo, how vibrant is the tone at lower volumes? Then some healthy mezzo forte testing, second movement Haydn for instance: how even are the registers to play, how easy is it to play long phrases, lipslurs and the like. How the horn responds at the upper end of the volume scale I only try in large sized playing spaces. Why? The more efficient the horn, the more a small room will "resonate" back into the horn and give us that impression of tightness. In a practice cell or music store efficiency will lose almost every time because the player doesn't know where the problem is! If we are talking about "quality" instruments, resistance is one of the most misunderstood phenomenons (or is that phenomina?). Even without having played that particular horn, I know that the symptoms do not represent the REAL playing qualities of that horn. This does not mean that Robin said you should buy that horn. At the end of the day, we all need to play before we pay. I think it is useful to know that when we understand what is REALLY going on, we often have a new appreciation for a particular horns playing characteristics. Tightness is in the brain, not the trumpet. The fact that the thread owner had no comments on tone quality, response at low volumes, response to articulation, ability to phrase and all of the other things that I know this horn does VERY well, makes me assume that we have an opportunity to highlight the typical horn audition deficiencies. Get this horn into a concert hall and then put it through its paces, from the bottom up. I am sure that you will experience something MUCH different. I think $1000 is a bit steep for this horn. __________________ Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.