Myself playing Sparke's Harlequin

[breid070]

I am posting this to hopefully get some feedback as to how I sound and how the piece sounded overall. The band is the Eastern Iowa Brass Band, conducted by Kate Wohlman, comprised of older amateurs as well as college students. This performance is a result of me winning the collegiate division of their Young Artists Competition. I am finishing my Undergrad at Iowa then moving on to grad school either in the states or overseas (RWCMD, RNCM), though I haven't decided yet. Any comments are appreciated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdrJgMuSHSg

(keep in mind that we played this piece 3/4's through about a 2 hour program)

Thanks!

[RickF]

Hi Ben,

Wow, what a great performance! That's a tough solo - and all from memory too! From what I can hear from the YouTube recording you have an excellent tone with nice even vibrato.

Not sure how the microphones were set up, but looks like they were a single-point source as I see a stand well in front of you. The only criticism I might have is that the band was a bit too loud in a few places covering you up a bit. Very nice performance. Kudos to you!

[davewerden]

Ben,

Nice job! When I get a chance I'll add this to my Euphonium Videos page.

Rick's comments are right on. I might give just a little thought to your stance in such a performance situation. When the band is likely to be loud it can be hard for a euphonium to cut through (without distorting the sound). So you might want to lean the horn down slightly and turn so the bell is not quite so perpendicular to the audience's line of sight. A little difference in angle can make a big difference in the way your sound projects to the audience.

It's a little like the way a pop/jazz singer has to control the mic. They might bring it very close in some passages and move it further away in others. For euphonium, the roundest sound is when you do NOT point at the audience, because it gets to bounce around the hall before reaching anyone's ears. But that works directly against you when the accompaniment gets loud.

Also, think about which kinds of passages tend to blur. If you have a lot of triple-tonguing, for example, it's a good time to point out a bit. Go to my YouTube channel and listen to a recent upload of me playing Concert Polka. There is a section just before the D.C. where it is lots of long lines of triple-tongued notes. Because I wanted to play all 16 bars in one breath, I had to keep the volume down a bit, so I pointed the bell outward for that. You can hear the change in color on the recording (I might have overdone it, but you can hear the difference anyway). In your Harlequin performance, there were a couple similar opportunities to point out more and get extra bang for your buck.

And in a similar way, you want to consider any reflective surfaces where your bell points. Some halls have a hard surface straight up from the stage lip and set at a 45-degree angle. It helps get your sound out to the hall, but it can also emphasize any fuzz in your tone/tonguing. In my own tone there is already more fuzz than I like, so I really watch for that type of reflective surface and try to point out more instead of right at it. (I didn't notice any problem in your performance, though, so this is just general advice/chatter.)

But much of this you just learn from experience in different halls and with different ensembles. It's helpful if you can get a pair or two of ears in the hall during rehearsal to give you some observations.

[highpitch]

Excellent, simply excellent!

I covet your lung capacity.

Dennis