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Thread: First time in a brass band

  1. #1

    Cool First time in a brass band

    Now that I'm fully retired, I wanted to expand my musical experience a little, so I contacted the Brass Band of Huntsville (AL). They had a vacancy on 2nd euph and invited me to sit in for the upcoming concert cycle. I had my first practice with them this past Thursday night, and it was a blast. They didn't kick me out; in fact, they gave me my own folder, so it looks like they may have liked me. The music was much more difficult than I'm used to in our community band (high concert Db's? Six and seven sharps in Bb treble clef? Uptempo jazz -[at which I have little experience]? Yikes!), but I was able to find nine of the items on YouTube and make .mp3s of them. I'm going to run them through my sound system, crank up the dbs, and try to play along.
    David Bjornstad

    1923 Conn New Wonder 86I, Bach 6 1/2 AL
    2018 Wessex EP100 Dolce, Denis Wick 4ABL
    2013 Jinbao JBEP-1111L, Denis Wick 4AM
    2015 Jinbao JBBR-1240, Denis Wick clone mouthpiece of unknown designation
    Cullman (AL) Community Band (Euph Section Leader)
    Brass Band of Huntsville (2nd Bari)

  2. #2
    Good for you! I remember the first time I had a chance to sit in with a brass band - it was a real hoot! In my case it really was a one-time deal. The band was the Wingates Band from England and they were on tour in my area (during my CG Band years). They let me sit in as a courtesy. It was a few years more before I actually started playing in a brass band regularly. That time I did it on E-flat tuba, which was fun in a different way because it gave me a chance to really develop my tuba playing. But either way, brass band music is fun, challenging, and great for the audience.
    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

  3. #3
    Forgot to mention -- first chair was absent, so I got all the solos, too
    David Bjornstad

    1923 Conn New Wonder 86I, Bach 6 1/2 AL
    2018 Wessex EP100 Dolce, Denis Wick 4ABL
    2013 Jinbao JBEP-1111L, Denis Wick 4AM
    2015 Jinbao JBBR-1240, Denis Wick clone mouthpiece of unknown designation
    Cullman (AL) Community Band (Euph Section Leader)
    Brass Band of Huntsville (2nd Bari)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Central North Carolina
    Posts
    2,368
    Quote Originally Posted by DaveBj View Post
    ... high concert Db's
    I'm always confused about what people mean by "high" (or "low") in contexts like this. I assume this means the Db that is 5 ledger lines above the bass clef staff (so the second Db above the staff). Is that correct? Definitely not seen often in community band.

    While that CAN be played on euphonium (though certainly not by me), I'm puzzled about why someone would score that for euphonium -- at least as part of a band piece. Isn't it better left to the trumpets, cornets, alto horns, or something else?
    Gary Merrill
    Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
    Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
    Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
    1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
    Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
    1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)

  5. #5
    High Db is rare indeed in section music, but it can work. There is a piece often played by military bands, Aegean Festival Overture by Makris. It goes to that note at the end of a very exciting little section for harmonized euphoniums. You'll find at starting around 3:00 in this recording:

    Aegean Festival, Marine Band
    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

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by ghmerrill View Post
    I'm always confused about what people mean by "high" (or "low") in contexts like this. I assume this means the Db that is 5 ledger lines above the bass clef staff (so the second Db above the staff). Is that correct? Definitely not seen often in community band.

    While that CAN be played on euphonium (though certainly not by me), I'm puzzled about why someone would score that for euphonium -- at least as part of a band piece. Isn't it better left to the trumpets, cornets, alto horns, or something else?
    You have it right. It's in some sixteenth-note runs in this piece:

    Oh, heck, I forgot I can't paste links. Go on YouTube and search for "brass band last call."
    David Bjornstad

    1923 Conn New Wonder 86I, Bach 6 1/2 AL
    2018 Wessex EP100 Dolce, Denis Wick 4ABL
    2013 Jinbao JBEP-1111L, Denis Wick 4AM
    2015 Jinbao JBBR-1240, Denis Wick clone mouthpiece of unknown designation
    Cullman (AL) Community Band (Euph Section Leader)
    Brass Band of Huntsville (2nd Bari)

  7. #7
    Cornets are paralleling an octave higher, up in their screech range.
    David Bjornstad

    1923 Conn New Wonder 86I, Bach 6 1/2 AL
    2018 Wessex EP100 Dolce, Denis Wick 4ABL
    2013 Jinbao JBEP-1111L, Denis Wick 4AM
    2015 Jinbao JBBR-1240, Denis Wick clone mouthpiece of unknown designation
    Cullman (AL) Community Band (Euph Section Leader)
    Brass Band of Huntsville (2nd Bari)

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Central North Carolina
    Posts
    2,368
    Quote Originally Posted by DaveBj View Post
    I forgot I can't paste links.
    ?????????? (Sorry for excessive question marks: required minimum message length is 10 characters. So now I'm safely over since I added this explanation. )
    Gary Merrill
    Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
    Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
    Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
    1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
    Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
    1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)

  9. #9
    Gary, if you were querying my comment about not being able to paste links, I can't paste anything in the quick reply window.
    David Bjornstad

    1923 Conn New Wonder 86I, Bach 6 1/2 AL
    2018 Wessex EP100 Dolce, Denis Wick 4ABL
    2013 Jinbao JBEP-1111L, Denis Wick 4AM
    2015 Jinbao JBBR-1240, Denis Wick clone mouthpiece of unknown designation
    Cullman (AL) Community Band (Euph Section Leader)
    Brass Band of Huntsville (2nd Bari)

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by DaveBj View Post
    Gary, if you were querying my comment about not being able to paste links, I can't paste anything in the quick reply window.
    What browser are you using? I had that trouble for a while on one computer using Chrome, although another PC worked fine with Chrome.
    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

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