Silence of the Lambs

ecarroll · 08-21-2005, 10:51 AM

I live almost seven miles north of a small, New England town that only has five stoplights (although it does have an Ivy League college, which keeps things interesting). It's expensive to live out of town; gas prices have almost tripled in the time that we've lived here (I won't let this turn into a political rant. Politics are out of bounds in this forum), but it's worth it for the wildlife and birdsong that surrounds us in the summer and fall, and for the silence of the winter. It's not unusual to go outside during a sub-zero night and discover that the only sound that you can hear is your own breathing. Hold your breath and you can actually hear your pulse.

Silence is vitally important to every musician. All music comes from silence and we measure our voice against it. Consider for a moment an unaccompanied piece like Takemitsu's PATHS -- the "dramatic" moments are mostly the silent ones. Many of you will be taking auditions soon at your various schools. Some are taking professional auditions as well. I suggest that you take time and listen carefully to the silence before you play. It will help you to focus your ideas and engage your imagination -- qualities that every audition committee will hear in your program and respect.

Best,
EC

"Paintings must be like miracles."
-Mark Rothko

Mzony · 08-21-2005, 01:32 PM

Hey Eddie,
I remember the great silence as we were standing outside your house listening to the great silence one evening in the dead of winter. I remember it was colder than anything previously imaginable, I remember it was darker than any darkness I had ever experienced, and I remember stepping on a piece of ice falling on my ass and yelling very loudly!

$40 to take the Dartmouth express from Logan Airport, $10 for breakfast near the college, $50 (I forget the amount actually) for a GREAT, insperational, lesson from a great mentor...A big black and blue mark on my ass that lasted three weeks...PRICELESS!

Thanks for the memories Eddie.

Mike

TrentAustin · 08-21-2005, 02:59 PM

So I'm not the only one who's fallen on Ed's icy driveway! I remember I ditched my horns into a snowbank to prevent a total disaster. I quickly got up and slithered into my car... in pain for the next few days.

My hometown in Maine doesn't even have a streetlight anymore! The town is a barren wasteland left from a woolen mill that polluted the waters and killed some local workers from cancer.

I do remember fondly pulling out my lawn chair and listening to my sound bounce for what seemed miles outside of my old house. Ah, the POWER :)!

Best,

T

ecarroll · 08-21-2005, 04:40 PM

Trent and Mike,

I made what I thought was a thought provoking post encouraging our fellow Trumpet Masters and Mistresses to engage in "deep listening"...and your replies are about butt rodeo in my driveway.

You are soooo my (former) students

EC

tpter1 · 08-21-2005, 08:46 PM

A bit more serious, as I've not done the butt rodeo jig in Ed's driveway (but have in my own!) I once heard a conductor say that the quality of your sound is equal to the quality of the silence which precedes it. Something I think about whenever I am ready to start an ensemble or begin a piece I am playing, and something I share with my ensembles at school.

Not to "kiss up", Ed, but I have a recording of yours that my father gave to me a few years back. (Masters of Leipzig, with NY Trumpet Ensemble). It, for me, is THE model of what I want to sound like on the small horns, and the articulation style I constantly try to emulate. What an honor it is to have you here.

ecarroll · 08-21-2005, 08:55 PM

Glenn,

Sucking up is encouraged, and the honor is mine.

Thank you.
EC

Derek Reaban · 08-21-2005, 11:10 PM

Ed,

Living in a city where it gets down to 32 F at most several times a year, and hardly ever into the 20s, I have not had the opportunity to experience pure silence very often. In fact, until I was a Senior in High School I don’t think I had ever “heard” true silence.

Several weeks after I arrived at Interlochen in Mid November (1983), the weather turned very cold. Another several weeks and the lake had started to freeze over, and just before I left to return to Arizona (before Christmas) I went down to the lake to listen. I was absolutely shocked. There was NO sound! I sat there for as long as I could before my teeth started chattering to soak in what absolute silence felt like. I will remember that day for the rest of my life! In fact, I haven’t experienced silence like that since 1983!

I submitted a post at the TH several years ago entitled Don’t Drop the Ashtray!!. It’s very appropriate to include a portion of it here as well.

Quote:

My instructor shared a fantastic story with me at my lesson yesterday. He was in Daniel Barenboim’s office and they were discussing music. Before I tell the story though some preparation is required. Mr. Barenboim is a very fine piano player, but apparently he is envious of string and wind players when it comes to shaping musical phrases. The limitation of the percussive quality of his instrument (i.e. attack and decay) does not allow the flexibility to begin a sound from nothing and has certain restrictions when observing crescendos and decrescendos. With that background, here is the story…

Mr. Barenboim was smoking a cigar in his office and sitting behind his desk with a large glass ashtray off to one side. He said that music begins in silence and then returns to silence. Consider that music is this ashtray. He gently raises the ashtray from the desk with both hands, lifts it into the air slowly, and then returns it to the desk with the same motion. He says music is like the ashtray. It’s heavy and substantial, but at the same time it’s made from glass and will break if it is dropped. You must treat the music with care to display its beauty.

As brass players, the nature of our instruments leads us to produce percussive attacks almost in a default mode quite naturally. To achieve a vocal quality of expression we have to have a vast palate of different ways to begin every note, from a strong percussive approach to a delicate whisper and every variation in-between. To begin the music from silence we must strive to increase our palate of sounds and articulations so that we can truly raise up a beautiful musical product for all to see and then return it to silence with effortlessness. (I guess it’s a mixed metaphor when you think about cigar butts and ashes being the product, but you get the idea).

The rest of my post talked about the vocal approach to playing and if you’re interested you can click on the link above.

Do I get a prize for including “butts” and silence in the same post????

Great topic! Thanks for starting it!

Alex Yates · 08-21-2005, 11:37 PM

Ah, silence. And what better canvas is there to experience it than the earth cloaked in snow? While in graduate school in Rochester, New York, there were many occasions when my lessons took place at Barbara and Charlie's home. They lived in a very rural area of farms and horse ranches. Being one of those folks who doesn't like to be late, I usually arrive early. I don't like to arrive too early though and would always take the extra time as an opportunity to pull over the car, stand in the middle of a field in pitch darkness, stare at the stars and hear nothing. 'Tis a wonderful thing indeed.

ecarroll · 08-22-2005, 02:45 PM

Alex and Derek,

Wonderful posts. Please keep 'em coming...

Thanks,

EC (listening with my eyes)

08-21-2005, 10:51 AM	#1 (permalink)
ecarroll Artist in Residence Forte User Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: NH/CA/PQ Posts: 1,311	Silence of the Lambs I live almost seven miles north of a small, New England town that only has five stoplights (although it does have an Ivy League college, which keeps things interesting). It's expensive to live out of town; gas prices have almost tripled in the time that we've lived here (I won't let this turn into a political rant. Politics are out of bounds in this forum), but it's worth it for the wildlife and birdsong that surrounds us in the summer and fall, and for the silence of the winter. It's not unusual to go outside during a sub-zero night and discover that the only sound that you can hear is your own breathing. Hold your breath and you can actually hear your pulse. Silence is vitally important to every musician. All music comes from silence and we measure our voice against it. Consider for a moment an unaccompanied piece like Takemitsu's PATHS -- the "dramatic" moments are mostly the silent ones. Many of you will be taking auditions soon at your various schools. Some are taking professional auditions as well. I suggest that you take time and listen carefully to the silence before you play. It will help you to focus your ideas and engage your imagination -- qualities that every audition committee will hear in your program and respect. Best, EC "Paintings must be like miracles." -Mark Rothko

08-21-2005, 01:32 PM	#2 (permalink)
Mzony Pianissimo User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Honolulu, Hawaii Posts: 75	Hey Eddie, I remember the great silence as we were standing outside your house listening to the great silence one evening in the dead of winter. I remember it was colder than anything previously imaginable, I remember it was darker than any darkness I had ever experienced, and I remember stepping on a piece of ice falling on my ass and yelling very loudly! $40 to take the Dartmouth express from Logan Airport, $10 for breakfast near the college, $50 (I forget the amount actually) for a GREAT, insperational, lesson from a great mentor...A big black and blue mark on my ass that lasted three weeks...PRICELESS! Thanks for the memories Eddie. Mike
	__________________ Zony

08-21-2005, 02:59 PM	#3 (permalink)
TrentAustin Forte User Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Boston, MA Brand: they have brand names? ;) Posts: 1,330	So I'm not the only one who's fallen on Ed's icy driveway! I remember I ditched my horns into a snowbank to prevent a total disaster. I quickly got up and slithered into my car... in pain for the next few days. My hometown in Maine doesn't even have a streetlight anymore! The town is a barren wasteland left from a woolen mill that polluted the waters and killed some local workers from cancer. I do remember fondly pulling out my lawn chair and listening to my sound bounce for what seemed miles outside of my old house. Ah, the POWER :)! Best, T
	__________________ Trent Austin Van Laar B4, Vintage Conns (6A, 28A, 36B, 38B)...Wedge 3 series mouthpieces http://www.trentaustin.com http://www.onlinejazzimprovisation.com http://www.myspace.com/trentaustinmusic http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=jazzmanta check out the new clips I added 5/5/08

08-21-2005, 08:46 PM	#5 (permalink)
tpter1 Forte User Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Northern New York Brand: Lawler Posts: 2,309	A bit more serious, as I've not done the butt rodeo jig in Ed's driveway (but have in my own!) I once heard a conductor say that the quality of your sound is equal to the quality of the silence which precedes it. Something I think about whenever I am ready to start an ensemble or begin a piece I am playing, and something I share with my ensembles at school. Not to "kiss up", Ed, but I have a recording of yours that my father gave to me a few years back. (Masters of Leipzig, with NY Trumpet Ensemble). It, for me, is THE model of what I want to sound like on the small horns, and the articulation style I constantly try to emulate. What an honor it is to have you here.
	__________________ -Glenn "Roses have thorns; shining waters mud. Clouds and eclipses stain the moon and the sun; and history reeks of the wrongs we have done. After today, after today, consider me gone."- Sting

08-21-2005, 11:37 PM	#8 (permalink)
Alex Yates Forte User Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA Brand: ECLIPSE Posts: 2,401	Silence is a wonderful thing indeed Ah, silence. And what better canvas is there to experience it than the earth cloaked in snow? While in graduate school in Rochester, New York, there were many occasions when my lessons took place at Barbara and Charlie's home. They lived in a very rural area of farms and horse ranches. Being one of those folks who doesn't like to be late, I usually arrive early. I don't like to arrive too early though and would always take the extra time as an opportunity to pull over the car, stand in the middle of a field in pitch darkness, stare at the stars and hear nothing. 'Tis a wonderful thing indeed.
	__________________ Alex Yates - Eclipse Artist The Virtual Trumpet Studio

08-21-2005, 04:40 PM	#4 (permalink)
ecarroll Artist in Residence Forte User Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: NH/CA/PQ Posts: 1,311	Trent and Mike, I made what I thought was a thought provoking post encouraging our fellow Trumpet Masters and Mistresses to engage in "deep listening"...and your replies are about butt rodeo in my driveway. You are soooo my (former) students EC

08-21-2005, 08:55 PM	#6 (permalink)
ecarroll Artist in Residence Forte User Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: NH/CA/PQ Posts: 1,311	Glenn, Sucking up is encouraged, and the honor is mine. Thank you. EC

08-22-2005, 02:45 PM	#9 (permalink)
ecarroll Artist in Residence Forte User Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: NH/CA/PQ Posts: 1,311	Alex and Derek, Wonderful posts. Please keep 'em coming... Thanks, EC (listening with my eyes)

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