View RSS Feed

All Blog Entries

  1. Dave Werden Review of Wessex Sinfonico Euphonium

    I just came up in the testing rotation of the Sinfonico, and it is a real treat to test this new horn! In 2019 at ITEC I tried the prototype for this horn and found it very promising. Now we are looking at an early production model. My impression is that that the instrument has changed quite a bit in that time (which is not surprising - that's how the process works).

    The Sinfonico, unlike the less expensive Dolce, is hand made from sheet brass. Most other brands (and the Wessex "Dolce") ...
  2. Are Professional Instruments Only for Professional Players?

    The instrument choices today make this question more complex. Some of this post applies to tuba and other instruments, but I will specifically address euphonium.

    Until the late 1970's, there was a pretty wide line between pro euphoniums (i.e. Besson and Boosey & Hawkes) and everything else. That line was largely drawn by the compensating system, but also included the larger bore of the British instruments. Today we have large-bore, compensating euphoniums that cost less than some student-level ...
  3. Improving Band Skills When Your Band Is Not Meeting for COVID or Other Reasons

    NOTE: this advice is good for "normal" times, too (but right now our choices have been unusually limited). If your available band/music opportunities have a long hole in the schedule for any reason, this is good ongoing maintenance. I think many of you have continued with a good practice schedule, but HOW you practice is just as important as how long...perhaps more so.

    I think we're all trying to remain positive during the shut-down situation, as we assume bands will be back in our ...
  4. CD: Gary Curtin - Eire Time

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	CoverFrontThumb.jpg 
Views:	23492 
Size:	40.4 KB 
ID:	8054In the connected world we live in one has a chance to hear many different, talented euphonium players from all over the world. There is YouTube, of course, but I prefer to have "hard copy" for any music I want to be sure I can still access years from now. Fortunately, there are many great euphonium CD's available now, and ordering from overseas or from the specialty shops we have in our own country is a simple matter.

    Recently it has been my great pleasure ...

    Updated 12-01-2020 at 07:57 AM by davewerden

    Categories
    Euphonium-Tuba Blog , General Tuba-Euphonium Blog
  5. Advanced Fingering Guide for Euphonium - REVIEW

    If you are a member of the International Tuba-Euphonium Association (ITEA) you may have already seen this review. It covers my "Advanced Fingering Guide" very thoroughly (and positively!). ITEA allows me to reprint reviews of my content, so here it is! If you are not already an ITEA member, I strongly encourage you to join. There are great articles in the Journal and you are helping the organization support the instruments we love!

    ITEA offers print or digital subscriptions, and they ...

    Updated 11-23-2021 at 06:56 PM by davewerden

    Categories
    Euphonium-Tuba Blog , General Tuba-Euphonium Blog , Performance Tips , Reviews
  6. New CD from Bente Illevold

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Bente.jpg 
Views:	26095 
Size:	58.6 KB 
ID:	7721Bente Illevold may be a new name to some of you, but if so it won't be new for long. She is a very fine, musical euphonium player from Norway. I got her new CD recently and I want to give my impressions.

    “Klangen fra de dype skoger” (Sounds from the deep forests) is the result of her efforts to honor her homeland in music. She has challenged five composers to help in this task, and the CD contains some of the works that resulted. The composers here are Rune ...

    Updated 06-01-2020 at 08:50 AM by davewerden

    Categories
    Euphonium-Tuba Blog , General Tuba-Euphonium Blog
  7. Using Vibrato to Its Best Effect

    Many, many, many years ago I received a compliment from Harvey Phillips after a played a recital at Indiana University. Among other things, he mentioned that he liked how I used vibrato. He said it was not just the ever-present part of my tone, but it was something I used more effectively as part of my phrasing. That was very pleasing to me to hear because I have thought a lot about vibrato and how to use it. My use/views are still changing year by year, but the core philosophy is the same: vibrato ...
  8. Review: Cronkhite Leather Gig Bag for Euphonium

    After a great of thought and study, I decided to go with a Cronkhite leather gig bag. It was a hard decision because I have enjoyed my Altieri bag, starting in the 1990's, but I'm convinced the leather Cronkhite offers better protection. This review will include a comparison between the two bags. Let me also say that my Altieri bag gave me fine service for all these years. It held up well and was very convenient to use for my own situation (the horn is always under my control, for one thing). An ...
Page 3 of 94 FirstFirst 123451353 ... LastLast