tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8810592925338095630.post8630999384768266806..comments2021-06-10T10:33:31.583-04:00Comments on Music Therapy: Horn DiaryLyle Sanford, RMThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11312150272934828223noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8810592925338095630.post-50867167282444643302010-03-17T07:46:02.300-04:002010-03-17T07:46:02.300-04:00Jonathan - As always, thanks for the comment. Glad...Jonathan - As always, thanks for the comment. Glad to hear your thoughts on brassy tone. Somewhere on one of the horn blogs I remember a dismissive comment about the VDC mouthpiece and the tone it creates. Of course, I'm such a contrarian, going against the grain comes naturally.<br /><br />Want to do some more posts on tone - thanks again for all the info and ideas there. One thing I've realized is that I don't have as clear a grasp of what the dynamic markings mean for me on the horn as I would descriptions of the tone quality desired. There's a huge overlap between the two I hadn't realized until you pointed it out. That sort of explains the lack of talk about tone in band, along with the incessant pointing out of the dynamics.Lyle Sanford, RMThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312150272934828223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8810592925338095630.post-85415176192525425692010-03-16T09:47:59.197-04:002010-03-16T09:47:59.197-04:00I'm relieved that you've returned to a con...I'm relieved that you've returned to a conventional seating posture, and that you have stopped having your valve slides pushed all the way in.<br /><br />Stand firm on looking for a smoother less brassy tone. You can always make the tone more brassy for effect when particular occasions demand it, but brassy all the time gets boring to listen to. If the composer wants a brassy sound in a tenor range, he would give the part to the trombones.<br /><br />But the best news of all is that your band director is looking to get the band to play softer! Playing loud is easy. Playing soft is hard - it requires that everybody trusts everybody else also to play softly. It doesn't come naturally. But if you can play softly when required, you can make so much more of a contrast when you do come to a loud bit!<br /><br />The general principle is that when you don't have the tune, then unless instructed otherwise you should play 2 notches quieter than the written dynamic - so if the music is marked mf, you play p. If you are sharing the tune, you play the written dynamic, and if you are solo on the tune, you play one or two notches louder than written. If everybody adheres to that, then you'll find the texture of the sound suddenly becomes wonderfully clear, and the band director then has the opportunity to bring individual details out from the background - asking the players of some particular countermelody or other flourish to play out a bit.Jonathan Westhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00527063732905729010noreply@blogger.com