trumpet blower88

Hi, I thought since you have had the experience playing on rock and pop albums that you might be the one to ask this question to.

I'm getting a ska band put together (if you don't know what that is, it's basically a rock band with a trumpet, trombone, and saxaphone). All of my playing up this this point has mostly been in a concert band, orchestra, or marching, and I've always worked to develop a nice, warm, dark, richer sound. However the ska style is a lot brighter and sharper (not as in pitch, but in style if that make any sence). Almost like a lead player in a big band but a bit... i don't know, differant...

I guess my question is, what do I need to do to get a brighter, rock style sound? Is it an emboucer change? Airflow change?

If you don't understand what kind of sound I'm looking for, I post some clips of bands like Reel Big Fish, or the Mighty Mighty Bosstones if you need.

Thanks,
David

ALLCHOPS

What kind of gear do you play on now, Horn/Mouthpiece?

Vulgano Brother

Think compression, a laser-like projection that will make it to the microphone, and let your sound guy deal with the rest. That way you can play four hour gigs Friday and Saturday nights and still be able to play Gabrelli at a church gig on Sunday.

kadleck

Hi David -

As a brass player, anytime you are playing with elec. guitar, elec. bass, elec. keyboards, there is always potential "chop danger"! That being said, I've played with many rock bands (no ska, but I have two friends who play tpt. in ska bands), and the key is to be able to "cut" through without hurting yourself. To some degree, you are at the mercy of the person running the sound board & monitors. However, I sometimes use a slightly shallower mouthpiece to get some "edge" on the sound. (I believe that might be what Tony G., -aka allchops - might be referring to.) Also, many companies make gadgets that hook onto your mic or mic stand that will reflect your live sound back to you. It may take a while to achieve the proper placement, but those things have been life savers for me!

Tony

P.S. Again, you might check with Tony G. I know that he's very experienced with this kind of thing.

trumpet blower88

Thanks for your help. I'm deffinatly going to work on the "laser-like" sound and compression that was mentioned, and I'll run down to the music store this weekend to check out some shallower mouth pieces. Right now I'm playing on a Bach 1 1/2 C with a Holton MF trumpet.

Any mouthpiece suggestions?

Thanks again,
David

ALLCHOPS

Right on Tony K.... It took me a few years to get the sound where I believe it's effective for this genre!

You need to beable to cut because of the other things going on around you, loud guitars, bass, drums, keys etc.... Inless you wear in-ear monitors you'll probably blow much harder just to generate a tone that can compete with your surroundings! Your looking to achieve a commercial sound and that kind of combination takes some experimenting! Your Bach 1 1/4 may be difficult to achieve this but some guys can do it! I'm not one of them! If I were you I would contact GR and go through the interview/survey process with them, they do an excellent job!

Having played mostly in these situations I have also found that the blend and tone of the other horns in the section also shape the overall sound. For instance, if your sax player is using a jazz setup creating a darker more mellow tone, that can have at times an almost subliminal effect which will makes you work harder to compensate for his lack of cut!!! I hope I explained this correctly.

I would also suggest listening to a bunch of Ska/R&b/R/R and begin by trying to emulate the trumpets that you hear... look for live recordings if at all possible, I think those will give you a true example of what your trying to achieve in a live situation....

Hopefully this example gives you an idea!

http://www.theburners.com/media/audio/vehicle.MP3

Good luck with yourself!

Tony G

Schwab

Sounds good Tony!

TrentAustin

On really loud gigs (something I'm unfortunately playing more and more) I also put earplugs in. At least one and then that is used as a monitor. If they can't hear me that's their problem. I'm not sacrificing my chops on gigs for the sake of volume!

PS: I also agree with Tony G about checking out GR. Since I found my 65Z* with the t-72 backbore my Eclipse horns cut EXTREMELY well. What a combo!
-T

ALLCHOPS

Thanks Dylan.....

Here may be a better example! IMO, a great example of what I'm taliking about in a live situation!

Watch the video after the commercial!

http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/player....om=/overdrive/

Tony G

trumpet blower88

Thanks so much!