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davewerden

Video - Neapolitan Dance on Double-Bell Euphonium

Rating: 9 votes, 5.00 average.
Here is a brand-new video I made: my arrangement of Neapolitan Dance (from Swan Lake), by P.I. Tchaikovsky. Sheet music is available here:

http://www.cimarronmusic.com/search....tle=neapolitan

This recording features a 1935 Holton five-valve double-bell euphonium. The horn is a 4-valve instrument with a 5th valve that switches between the large and small bell. I used the four fingers on my right hand for the primary valves and reached around with the index finger of my left hand for the 5th valve. The mouthpiece I use is a Wick 4AY, the small-shank version of my normal mouthpiece.

For this performance I decided to fit the horn to the music instead of using gymnastics on the 2 bells. The moderato portions are on the large bell, and the small bell is used for the presto sections. The tone difference of the bells should be easy to hear.

Performers:
Dave Werden, euphonium
Sara Brunk, piano

The recording was made with a Canon digital HD camcorder for video only. Audio was recorded on a Zoom 4-channel digital recorder. The Audio-Technica AT-825 stereo microphone was placed in the third row of seating for overall sound, and the Zoom's internal microphones were very low in the front row, and were mixed low (so they just provide a little extra clarity in this large sanctuary).

Comments

  1. Davidus1's Avatar
    Excellent! Thanks for sharing.
  2. 103ace's Avatar
    Wonderful playing Dave, that's a beauty of an instrument you have.