Atlantic Brass Band's Recording Session

My band, The Atlantic Brass Band, just took advantage of the holiday break to record a new Christmas CD.  It seemed to be the perfect time to record.  We have just finished playing all of our holiday concerts, so all of the music was fresh in our minds and since many of the members of the band are teachers, many of us were on break.  We'll get the CD out well in time for the next holiday season, and I can't wait! 

We recorded for about 15 hours in one weekend for the CD, which was great fun since I was (and still am) getting over the horrible flu that has just swept through.  Regardless, we had some fun, especially during our breaks, and I wanted to share some of the photos from the recording experience.  I'll let everyone know when the CD comes out!

Joe, our solo baritone player, warming up.

The euphonium/baritone row took advantage of some time off to take some photos together.

 Right before we started.  

Are all percussionists this into mallets!?

  

I absolutely love this photo.  Anita, one of our cornet players, took this during a break.  I'm on the far right of the photo.

Screw Loose?

Has your instrument ever rattled when you played it?  It's incredibly annoying checking every little screw and gadget on the instrument, and if you're like me, you miss the offending part on the first pass and have to go back through and recheck everything.  I found a great article by Dave Werden on how to find what is making your euphonium rattle.  He lays out possible culprits and a good procedure for going through and checking everything.

This is a very common question on my forum. Many players experience unpleasant and distracting noises from their horns, whether the instruments are new or old.instruments are new or old. The most common cause is metal-to-metal contact where it should not exist (or where it should be buffered).

The very simplest cause can be something you are wearing. Among the items that have caught me by surprise on my own person/horn are sweatshirt zippers, buttons, and the clip of my pen (shirt pocket).

Another simple cause can be something in the room. It can seem like it's from the horn, but mostly because of the cause/effect relationship of you playing a note and the sound accompanying you! Change rooms and see if it fixes the buzz. If so, check the room for any metal contact by metal or hard plastic. I've seen this from a paperclip on a music stand, the florescent fixture or other pieces in the walls or ceiling, a metal wire handle on a metal tool box, percussion sticks on a drum head... you get the idea.

There are so many other points where buzzes can develop, that you might as well start with the ones that are easiest to reach. In order, I would try these things:

1. Lyre screw. If you can't tell if it is tight, just take it out temporarily and see if the buzz goes away.
2. If you have a water catcher under the valves, remove it temporarily and see if the buzz goes away.
3. Water key screws. The water key, or "spit valve," is held in place by a screw, which also serves as the axis for it to pivot on. Make sure the screw is relatively tight, and especially make sure that one end has not come loose. You could also try some heavy oil on the spring, which could help quiet it and keep it operating smoothly.
4. Tighten the caps on top of each valve. (I suggest trying the top caps first because you remove those to oil the valves.)
5. Tighten the caps on the bottom of each valve.
6. Tighten the button on top of the valve step. While you are at it, make sure the stem itself is secure in the top of the piston (these usually screw in).
7. If you have a trigger, check for any loose screws/fittings. If there are washers, see if they can vibrate easily and cause noise. If so, apply some heavy oil on each side. Apply heavy oil to the pivot points and to springs.
8. If you have a trigger guard (or any other parts that fasten in place and can be removed), make sure the fittings and screws are tight and that nothing has bent into a position where it can lightly touch a tube or other metal part.
9. Some horns have a simple tuning trigger, usually on the 3rd valve slide, that is a ring used to push the slide. This fastens with a fitting like a lyre screw and should also be checked. There is often a short shaft that goes into the lyre box, and it could vibrate if not tight of if it is bent. If you are in doubt, just remove the screw and the ring/shaft piece and see if the buzzing stops.
10. If you have a 4th valve on the side, and if there is a locking mechanism, check it for integrity. The flap-type can swivel and come lightly in contact with the tubing, or its set screw could be loose. And the sliding-rod type can be bent so it vibrates, improperly fastened, or have a loose set screw.
11. There have been reports that some horns with triggers (especially Besson) can buzz because of the looser fit of the main tuning slide, which is required by having a tuning-slide trigger. So hold on to the tuning slide and see if that affects the noise. If so, you could try a heavier grease.

Those are the easy fixes. If none of those work, the next suspect is a valve spring that is slightly askew and touches the side of the valve casing. Most bottom valve caps have an circle inset inside. That circle is the size of the spring's diameter. The spring should be seated inside that circle. If not, it can bend and touch the side, causing a buzz. Also, the spring should be "encouraged" to seat correctly in the bottom of the piston. In addition, you must check to make sure the springs have not been bent so the top and bottom of the spring are no longer parallel with each other. Here is the basic technique I use:

1. Remove a valve.
2. Turn the horn so that valve casing is upside down, and let the spring drop out into your hand (shake the horn a little if necessary). Notice which end is top and which is bottom (sometimes they are different diameters).
3. Set the bottom of the spring on a flat surface. It should sit upright, perpendicular to the floor. Invert it so it rests on its top and make the same check. If either end is "off" slightly, the spring will lean to one side. You can either replace it with a new spring or straighten it. To bend it into shape, gently take hold of the last loop or two and bend it to make it more perpendicular with the sides of the spring. This may take repeated attempts, so go slowly and don't overdo it.
4. When you have a correct spring, put it back into the valve casing. Turn the horn so that the valve casing is exactly upright and make sure it the spring is centered in its recess. If it is not, shake the horn sideways gently and see if it "jiggles" into place. Put the piston back in the casing until you feel it contact the spring. Rotate the valve back and forth a bit, which will help the spring find its way into the correct position for the piston bottom. Keep the piston depressed somewhat as you put the top cap back on and tighten it (this keeps the spring in position).

If none of that works, you may want to check that no small bits are inside the horn. Sometimes a small piece of hard material can find its way into the bell and slide further into the horn (where it won't fall out easily) and cause buzzes as you play. It can also happen when a burr or small dab of solder come loose inside. A good rinsing out of the horn can help if this type of misfortune struck.

You may also have a loose solder joint. It could be where two pieces of tubing are joined, or it could be where a brace is attached. This is not common among brand-name horns, but it can happen. It happens a bit more often with cheap instruments (although that breed is improving gradually, at least among the better "clone" manufacturers), and now and then with happen with an older horn. If you find a loose joint, you need a good repair shop to help you.

In my eyes, the worst possibility is that the bell rim is buzzing. Most bells have a rolled edge. The metal is formed around a metal wire to form the bead. The wire may be soldered or not, depending on the make/model. But sometimes the wrap is not tight against the bead in one or more spots, which allows a buzz. A repair shop might be able to help, but it's also possible the horn needs to be returned to the manufacturer.

Those are the fixes to try when you have a problem with little extra noises. You should also engage in preventative maintenance. Take care when oiling the valves to put them together straight and to tighter everything correctly. On a regular basis, oil the joints and springs mentioned above. And get into the habit of checking the valve caps, lyre screws, and other pieces regularly. A horn that is mechanically quiet is much more satisfying to play!

A Quote to Get You Thinking

Just like most of my blogging ideas, I got this idea off of Facebook.  My friend posted this quote as her status update and within a few minutes, it had been "shared" fifteen times.  It must catch people's attention, so I thought I'd share it on my blog.  Feel free to post comments or thoughts.

‎"Artists are some of the most driven, courageous people on the face of the earth. They deal with more day-to-day rejection in one year than most people do in a lifetime... Every day, artists face the financial challenge of living a freelance lifestyle, the disrespect of people who think they should get real jobs, and their own fear that they’ll never work again. Every day, they have to ignore the possibility that the vision they have dedicated their lives to is a pipe dream. With every role, they stretch themselves, emotionally and physically, risking criticism and judgment. With every passing year, many of them watch as the other people their age achieve the predictable milestones of normal life—the car, the family, the house, the nest egg. Why? Because artists are willing to give their entire lives to a moment—to that line, that laugh, that gesture, or that interpretation that will stir the audience’s soul. Artists are beings who have tasted life’s nectar in that crystal moment when they poured out their creative spirit and touched another's heart. In that instant, they were as close to magic, God, and perfection as anyone could ever be. And in their own hearts, they know that to dedicate oneself to that moment is worth a thousand lifetimes." - David Ackert

Øystein Baadsvik's Post Goes Viral (At Least Among Low Brass Players!)

I'll never figure out how Facebook decides what to post on my wall.  After all, I have quite a few Facebook friends, and I'm sure not all of their status updates are posted on my wall each time they update.  Maybe I'm thinking too much into this, but I seem to have figured out that status updates that get a lot of attention from my Facebook friends seem to get bumped up to the top of the list.  This is how I found Øystein Baadsvik's most recent status update on Facebook.  With over 400 people "liking" it,    over 80 commenting on it, and almost 90 sharing it, I thought I'd repost it on my blog.  I figured this counts as going viral among low brass players!  Please enjoy, let me know your thoughts and opinions, and make sure to check out Øystein's website to learn more about him!

Sound is nothing. Music is everything.
I am SICK and tired of all the emphasis on sound quality in music competitions.
What is a beautiful tuba sound anyway? Put a damn paper clip into your mouthpiece to distort your sound, but play musically and you have won my heart. Play with the "worlds best" tuba sound but unmusically and you leave me cold.
Unlike in an orchestral audition where you need a specific sound to blend with the orchestra the OPPOSITE is true in solo playing. As a soloist you need to stick out, to have a voice that is heard. You need to be able to change your sound constantly to serve the music. Sometimes beautiful and singing, sometimes ugly and harsh. Sometimes featherlight and delicate, sometimes solid as a rock. Rather than sound quality, we should be talking about sound control.
To claim that one sound is better than another is as ignorant as saying that green is a better color than red. Good music requires an infinite variety of sound colors.
About 0,0001% of the worlds population plays tuba and "knows" what a good tuba sound is.
If you intend to play for these guys you might be able to impress a few with your perfect sound.
If you intend to reach the other 99,9999 % they don't have a clue what a tuba should sound like, and they could not care less. What these people do care about, is not getting bored. And that happens really, really quickly with the "perfect tuba sound".
Now, go and kick the next guy that uses the phrase "good sound" in his butt!

Would You Work For Free?

I just came across a blog by Elisabeth Hobbs that I'd like to share.  Her blog is in response to an article in a British newspaper urging musicians to "showcase their talents" at the Olympic games for free.  Her blog introduces some of the reasons that we might, as a culture, see it as reasonable to ask musicians to share their talents for free while most other professions' payment isn't called into question.  Check it out!

There Is No Gesture

I have many discussions with my fellow band members at Atlantic Brass Band about the subject of musical gestures in brass band contest music, so I thought that there may be some people out there online who might also find my opinion interesting.  Whether you agree with my thoughts or not, hopefully reading this will get you to think about your own philosophy on the subject.
In my mind, there are a lot fewer musical gestures out there in brass band music than we might think, or want to admit.  To me, modern brass band contest literature seems composed so that the very best of the best (sometimes, I think theoretical) band can play it perfectly.  The rest of us fall somewhere in varying degrees short of that often theoretical perfection.
In these most incredibly difficult test pieces that are coming out for championship-level brass bands today, there are plenty of passages that seem simply "unplayable" after a glance or even a month's worth of work.  I think that many people label some of these passages as "gestures," or sections of the piece to get the gist of and move on.  However, when musicians label a difficult passage as a gesture, I see an important mental change happen in the preparation of that section of the piece.  That musician's work on that passage will stop when they get the general idea of the passage, instead of working to get as close as possible to the originally intended notes because it's been labeled a gesture.
I see parallels between test pieces and college admission standardized tests.  Only the very few smartest students and best studiers will get a perfect score on their ACT's or SAT's.  Many students, however, will study on their own or get tutors before they take the tests because even though there will be seemingly impossible questions on those tests, the most diligent students will still want to get the highest score possible.  Simply saying that parts of the test are impossible really isn't the best option for a good score.
In contesting, I try to look at these nearly impossible passages that occasionally appear as more of a "weeding out" passage.  The composer knows that these sections are nearly impossible and put them there to test the ability of the performer.  If everyone could play every note in the whole piece perfectly, it would be impossible for the judges to score.  In reality, the best bands will fall somewhere at the top of the continuum while the struggling bands will fall lower.  The important thing, to me, is to never give up on getting closer to that gold standard of perfection.  I understand that we'll never play every note how we wanted or even sometimes play all of them at all, but we should keep trying.  I also do understand that there are some genuine gestures in contest music, even if I don't think they're as common as we think.  In the end, the word doesn't really even matter.  If a musician can call a difficult passage of music a gesture and continue to work on it to get it as close as the composer intended, great.  But, if it's a mental game of looking at what many would call a musical gesture and refusing to see it as such in order to become a better player, then repeat after me: "There is no gesture."

Where's Your Audience?

I just stumbled upon a great blog that my trombone-playing friend from undergrad just posted.  I think most of us (at least musician folk) understand the usual deal when it comes to bands playing in clubs.  The band gets either a flat rate or a percentage of the door from the night.  There's almost always an added catch: the band has to bring a certain number of people in to the club for the night.  The author of the article, Dave Goldberg, brings up some great points.
First, he points out that the great bands are gigging pretty much every night, so it would be impossible for a band to get their friends and family out to the club every night.  In fact, he says that often it's the newer bands that don't play many gigs that can get their whole entourage to show up.
Second, he says that even if many people do show up, they're following the band, not the venue.  The smart business owner should fill his/her venue up with great acts night after night and build a venue following.  This way, people will keep coming back to the venue and trust that whenever they are there, a great band will be playing.
Lastly, he brings up a good point about the big double standard that musicians have to face.  Does the bartender need to bring his or her friends to the bar?  Does the chef need to have a certain number of people eat his or her meals?  Yet bands have to play for meager pay ($25 a night!?) so that they can get "exposure."
Please read Dave Goldberg's blog post "Why LA Club Owners are Totally Lost and Some Advice for them from a Professional Musician."