dizforprez

Ed,


How would you suggest developing the ability to change the characteristic of sound?

I feel that I right now I have basically two hues to work with in my playing, a normal sound vs a darker sound. They are both good sounds, I feel like they leave me a limited palette. For years I have been working to develop a good resonate sound; now that I have it what do I do with it?


How would you approach this? Who are some trumpet players that I can listen to that would help develop this concept?


Thanks,

Jason

Derek Reaban

Jason,

Sorry to jump in before Ed, but I’m afraid I’ll forget to do this if I don’t answer now.

When you mention changing the characteristic of sound when you are playing, you seem to be limiting yourself to only focus on the tone quality. While manipulating the tone is one way to change your overall sound, there are so many other ways (vibrato, articulation, decay, etc.) that you may want to consider these other possibilities (in addition to modifying your tone).

Please go to the Yamaha web site and watch the video with James Thompson called How To Manipulate Sound Quality. You will need to click on “Video” in the bottom left corner and then scroll down to find Jim’s masterclass topics.

When you’ve watched his presentation, consider some standard literature that you have played on different instruments. Now, get your C trumpet and try to sound like you are playing the opening to the Hummel on your Eb. Choose a good cornet solo from Arban and explore getting that specific characteristic cornet sound on your C trumpet.

If this sound picture in your mind is strong enough, you will be able to make these differences. I didn’t think that I could do this. I talked to my instructor about it and he had me go through this little drill. I was amazed that I was actually able to change the “tone” of my horn to pretend I had a smaller horn in my hand.

Exploring vibrato, articulation style, etc. will modify your sound much more dramatically than just changing the tone alone.

I hope these ideas help!

__________________
Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

dizforprez

Derek,


I have seen that video several times, it seems that Jim Thompson is breaking it down to two main ways to change sound, a physical change, i.e. vibrato, articulation etc, or an overtone change.

I feel that physical change is fairly obvious/easily done, and it is also something everyone seems to do. I hear very few people change both! That is why I asked Ed about it.

Derek Reaban

Jason,

I’m glad that you’ve seen the Thompson videos. They were really helpful for me.

One other thing that I’d like to share is from the ITG Article about Mr. Herseth (on page 12):

MT: As we talk about your philosophies of staying in shape and of playing, I have to comment on your ability to do so many things with colors of sound. Tell me how you achieve this.

AH: You know it’s amazing that you bring this up because I had a conversation with Danny Barenboim about this. We were performing the Mahler Five with him for the first time. He called me in after a couple of performances and was really flipping. He says, “It’s blankety-blank unbelievable what you are doing. You have one tone quality for this passage, and a different one for that passage. How do you do that?” I had to answer that I don’t have the faintest notion! It just happens!


He continues with some examples in the article but this really sums it up when he says, “There are unconscious changes going on in my head”.

After just attending the concert that Charlie Vernon gave in Arizona on Monday, I can certainly understand how powerful great sounds can impact a player. When I am near great players, I play better (Man, Charlie makes everything look so easy!) After years of hearing the finest sounds on the planet with the CSO, Mr. Herseth’s “unconscious” reserves were so deep, and so clear, that he simply imagined what he wanted to hear and it came out.

When he was able to “shock” a conductor like Barenboim with this ability, it clearly indicates that, as you mention, “very few can change both”.

Great topic!

__________________
Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

ecarroll

Diz and Derek,

Good question and discussion so far. Thank you both.

Color change starts in the mind/ear, obviously, and I certainly wouldn't limit my listening to a bunch of trumpeters. Listen carefully to the way Yo Yo Ma or a great singer (perhaps even a better model since it's so closely related to what we do) manipulate their color. It's a function of equal parts resonance (featuring overtones in the middle, below *dark* or above *bright* the core), intensity or relaxation, and magic. I use the last word carefully as it's an intuitive relationship. Some arrive at these different balances naturally and others have to search and experiment far and wide.

Deep, deep listening in a variety of acoustics will help.

I'll stop at that and rejoin after more have responded.

Best,
EC

mahaberio

I'm a big advocate of simply knowing exactly what you want whatever you're playing to sound like and doing it. The way to develop different concepts of sound is simply to listen....a lot. And not just to trumpet players, listen to everything you can get your hands on. Then, when you start to learn a new piece of music, really sit down with it, study it, and get an idea of what you want it to sound like (hopefully paying attention to the composer's intentions as well). Do this for everything from Hummel to Stockhausen. Repeat as needed.

beartrumpet74

I think one of the best ways to learn to control your sound and acheive whatever type of color you want in any piece and in any style is to simply get away from the MICRO-VIEW of a piece and into the MACRO -VIEW as I like to refer to it.
Simply stated, we are so concerned at times with specific musical phrases and technical issues that we fail to really understand the totality of a piece of music , and the statement it is trying to make. If you are able to step outside the micro-view you will be able to better inform yourself as to what sound is required or what sound you want to produce. It makes no sense to learn the hard parts of a piece so well that they are the only thing that stands out as performed well. Get the overall view... that is the way I look at it. This will help you change your own sound in the ways you desire.
Matt

Derek Reaban

Great stuff here!

I remember something very interesting that I read in “Arnold Jacobs: Song and Wind” by Brian Fredericksen. One of his instructors at the Curtis Institute was Marcel Tabuteau who taught a course on phrasing. Tabuteau wrote,

• “A fine oboist can produce as many as fifty different tone colors on one note, just as a singer can vary the colorings of the voice in an infinite number of ways. Therefore, the oboist must think vocally.”

I took this advice to heart and found two study sources that help me to really explore sound colors. In a post called Most beautiful melody? I highlighted recordings by Jay Friedman and Cecilia Bartoli paired with standard literature for trombone and voice. Hearing these amazing performers interpret this music and then playing it myself has allowed me to explore colors that I had never considered in my own playing before this “deep, deep listening”.

Another thing that I have been doing with the Rochut trombone etudes is to trade phrases with my instructor at the beginning of every lesson. We do two or three before moving on to anything else and it allows me to dovetail into his sound. This has been a long-term practice (literally several years now), and I’m amazed at how similarly I have started to approach playing these etudes in alignment with my instructor.

If you get a chance, follow the link in the above post to something else that I wrote called Don’t Drop the Ashtray. It gives some additional things to think about that were very helpful to me.

One last thing. In “Song and Wind” Jacobs said, “Tabuteau formalized the concept of controlling phrasing and dynamics by a numbering system. Each dynamic would have its own level, depending on the instrument. During the class, Tabuteau would have us play at various dynamics by asking for ‘oboe, number five’ or ‘tuba, number three.’ It was magnificent training.”

When I found Marcel Tabuteau Lessons, this CD puts a tangible perspective on these concepts (recorded by Tabuteau himself). I would highly recommend getting this CD.

Hope these ideas are helpful!

__________________
Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

Manny Laureano

I don't know that color on trumpet can be manipulated in any way other than through mental conception. In other words, if you have the talent to mimic voices like a half-assed impressionist (imitating celebrities, politicians' voices) then you have the ability to change color. If you hear a person's unique voice and can't imitate it you may be hard-pressed to create different colors on the trumpet.

A good exercise might be to get recordings of 4 or 5 recordings of very different trumpeters. Arbitrarily let's say the following: Doc Severinsen, Herb Alpert, Rafael Mendez, and Miles Davis. Play a tune that they play and try to imitate it. If you can hear the differences that make them not only unique unto themselves but also to each other, well, you're on your way. If you can't hear the difference, no amount of physical manipulation will be successful.

I find the Herseth quote to be rather fascinating, Derek. At the time Herseth first played Mahler 5th with Barenboim for the first time he was still playing his Monette. So much for the notion of those old horns being one-dimensional and incapable of allowing a player the ability of playing with a wide variety of sounds. I guess Bud didn't have any problem. Don't mean for this thread to go in another direction, I just find that funny in light of the comments people were making when THEY played those horns. Sorry, couldn't resist pointing that out.

ML

Derek Reaban

Manny,

I had an immediate flashback to the masterclass that Jens had in Arizona last year (Lindemann Masterclass in Arizona (Overview!)) when I read your post. He did voice after voice during his class and had us all cracking up. From Gabriel Casone at the NTC, to a generic radio announcer, to his Mother and Father. And all of them were VERY different and very believable. This one was especially memorable:

When I asked my question in his masterclass about finding ways to “hear the sound vividly in my head” I tied it directly to the voices that he had been making throughout the class. He said that imagination is the key, and Jens simply uses that great imagination (and amazing perfect recall) to have lots of fun as well as make some fantastic “colorful” music.

Nice tie-in Manny!

__________________
Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona