I'll give that a try today, I need to get a more open sound aswell.
I'll give that a try today, I need to get a more open sound aswell.
When shaping the sound that you want to create as a Euphonium player, it is important to know what you want to sound like. I don't know how frequently you listen to recordings of professionals, but the more that you listen to, the better. You may find yourself listening to a recording of a Euph player that you had never heard before, and may be struck by that persons sound; and you may want to sound just like that person. You may already be doing this, but if you aren't, I would highly suggest listening to as many Euphonium players as possible. For me, I an extremely drawn to Jason Ham's sound. I find that he has the perfect blend of darkness and brightness, and I have observed a very lyrical quality that he maintains throughout everything that he plays. His control and use of vibrato is also exactly what I look for.
You must be careful when you think about the use of air. While it is very important to use lots of air, and use a very consistent stream of air when you play, you have to be careful to not "force" the air through the horn. Forcing a lot of air through your instrument will actually create a shallow tone and will create lots of tension, especially in the neck, chest, and shoulders region; and tension will actually inhibit the flow of your air... causing you to try to force even more air through the instrument, causing even more tension... eventually your head will just explode..haha.. i'm just kidding. but seriously, it can be one big nasty cycle. When it comes to air, what you want to think about is a slower, wider and extremely consistend stream of air, as opposed to the "forced" stream of air that can so easily happen. The reason for this is: a slower and a wider stream of air will benefit your tone far better than a fast, forced, and thin stream of air. Not only that, but thinking about a consistent stream of wide and slow air will psychologically create less stress and tension in your body than thinking about pushing lots of air into your instrument.
So, keep your throat open and relaxed, raise the soft palette at the back of your mouth, create lots of resonance space.... and use a slow, wide, and consistent stream of air, and your tone will undoubtedly benefit from it.
that is far more than my 2 cents, so i'm done for now.
Gregory E. Lopes
Euphonium player
US Navy Band Great Lakes
US Navy Music Program, 2009-Present
Besson Prestige 2052
Everybody's face is different, so you shouldn't take any descriptions of how a particular mouthpiece plays as anything more than a general tendency. Each embouchure has it's own level of efficiency, and the mouthpiece gives a certain level of feedback to the player in the form of resistance. A very efficient player can play something with little or no resistance, something that most beginners would have a lot of trouble with. Picking a mpce., you need to look for one that gives you the sound you want, and lets you play everything you have to (flexibility, high, low, etc.) If your high register drops off with a new mpce., it's usually not the mpce's fault, you just need to train your chops to play high on that mpce.
If you like the SOUND that you get with the SM3, with good projection, tone, and blend, then stick with that, and the high register will come.
i would definently agree with greg, jason hamm's sound is phenomenal; listen to him the mostOriginally posted by: GregEuphonium
When shaping the sound that you want to create as a Euphonium player, it is important to know what you want to sound like. I don't know how frequently you listen to recordings of professionals, but the more that you listen to, the better. You may find yourself listening to a recording of a Euph player that you had never heard before, and may be struck by that persons sound; and you may want to sound just like that person. You may already be doing this, but if you aren't, I would highly suggest listening to as many Euphonium players as possible. For me, I an extremely drawn to Jason Ham's sound. I find that he has the perfect blend of darkness and brightness, and I have observed a very lyrical quality that he maintains throughout everything that he plays. His control and use of vibrato is also exactly what I look for.
You must be careful when you think about the use of air. While it is very important to use lots of air, and use a very consistent stream of air when you play, you have to be careful to not "force" the air through the horn. Forcing a lot of air through your instrument will actually create a shallow tone and will create lots of tension, especially in the neck, chest, and shoulders region; and tension will actually inhibit the flow of your air... causing you to try to force even more air through the instrument, causing even more tension... eventually your head will just explode..haha.. i'm just kidding. but seriously, it can be one big nasty cycle. When it comes to air, what you want to think about is a slower, wider and extremely consistend stream of air, as opposed to the "forced" stream of air that can so easily happen. The reason for this is: a slower and a wider stream of air will benefit your tone far better than a fast, forced, and thin stream of air. Not only that, but thinking about a consistent stream of wide and slow air will psychologically create less stress and tension in your body than thinking about pushing lots of air into your instrument.
So, keep your throat open and relaxed, raise the soft palette at the back of your mouth, create lots of resonance space.... and use a slow, wide, and consistent stream of air, and your tone will undoubtedly benefit from it.
that is far more than my 2 cents, so i'm done for now.
I contributed one of the chapters to the Brass Players' Cookbook, and mine dealt with the issue of a euphonium player trying to develop a concept of style and tone without the benefit of a professional euphonium teacher. Other euphonium chapters were done by Demondrae Thurman and Steven Mead. It's less than 20 bucks and there are 57 chapters in all by various brass players. I think the book might be helpful:
Brass Players' Cookbook
Dave Werden (ASCAP)
Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
Adams Artist (Adams E3)
Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
YouTube: dwerden
Facebook: davewerden
Twitter: davewerden
Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium
I remember Rick posted an excerpt from the Cookbook about developing a Big Sound.
I can't find it anymore...
Is this the link you were referring to?
Art Lehman on developing a 'Big Tone'
Rick Floyd
Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
YEP-641S (recently sold)
Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank
"Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
Chorale and Shaker Dance (John Zdechlik)
You're right, the link no longer works.
I think it was one of these articles:
http://www.dwerden.com/eu-articles-lehman.cfm
>>>> SEE NEXT POST
Last edited by davewerden; 09-18-2012 at 07:54 AM. Reason: Previous link is fixed
Rick Floyd
Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
YEP-641S (recently sold)
Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank
"Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
Chorale and Shaker Dance (John Zdechlik)