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Thread: Stars and Stripes Forever, euph part

  1. #21
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    Quote Originally Posted by KKORO View Post
    Since I started late in life, I hold no hope of being a good technical player. So, it does my heart well to hear such accomplished players having trouble at times.
    I agree wholeheartedly. I sit near Walter Barrett in a summer community band (Westchester County, NY). The conductor, Alan Hollander, takes S&SF at a bit over 130 BPM (the piccolo player is a joy to hear), and Walter nails the euphonium part every time. The other two euphonium players in the section are young students of Walter's, and they're pretty good, too. Until I read this thread, I thought I was the only one who couldn't keep up on this part.
    Dean L. Surkin
    Mack Brass MACK-EU1150S, BB1 mouthpiece
    Bach 36B trombone; Bach 6.5AL and Faxx 7C mouthpieces (pBone on loan to granddaughter)
    Steinway 1902 Model A, restored by AC Pianocraft in 1988; Kawai MP8, Yamaha KX-76
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  2. #22
    I've only started doubling euphonium. I have been warned by Dave and others here about SSF's range and have downloaded it and had even played at it a couple of times... It was handed to me last Monday to use for Veteran's Day in a few weeks... It's a challenge! The range is fun, I can play those higher notes but usually not as fast. I was feeling inept because of my struggles. You guys have given me some consolation.

  3. I've regarded SSF as the a good test of one's ability to play euphonium, and I like to compare how I play it from year to year to see which areas I've improved or regressed on. If I can hit the high Bb at the end after playing for an hour and a half, I consider myself to be in pretty good shape!

  4. #24
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
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    West Palm Beach, FL
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    3,853
    Quote Originally Posted by jkircoff View Post
    I've regarded SSF as the a good test of one's ability to play euphonium, and I like to compare how I play it from year to year to see which areas I've improved or regressed on. If I can hit the high Bb at the end after playing for an hour and a half, I consider myself to be in pretty good shape!
    This is one reason "Stars and Stripes Forever" (excerpt?) is on the audition list for every single branch for military bands. I hear that this is one piece that a lot of folks fail to get right.
    Last edited by RickF; 10-18-2017 at 01:18 PM.
    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)

  5. #25
    I hadn't seen this thread, but it has been great reading, and comforting at the same time! It has been a very tough piece for this amateur. As has been mentioned before, the march is typically programmed at the end of most concerts, so unless you have incredible endurance, you will probably somewhat tired before you even start. I've never come close to playing it perfectly, although I've approached 90% accuracy a few times. I'll tell you what seemed to help me very recently was to play a smaller American style euphonium. These undoubtedly take less air. Another factor might have been my mouthpiece...the only mouthpiece I have for my Olds Ambassador is my Doug Elliott I cup piece with a shortened shank for the Olds. Doug's pieces in my experience are some of the easiest playing pieces out there, and that coupled with the smaller euphonium really improved my endurance. In September I played an outdoors concert with this exact setup, and I played it the best I've ever done. And I still had gas left in the tank!

  6. Many moons ago, my navy band used to play S & S on the march for recruit graduation. Ouch!

  7. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by bpwilliams View Post
    Many moons ago, my navy band used to play S & S on the march for recruit graduation. Ouch!
    Oh, that's no problem. You just push the mouthpiece onto your face so hard it burrows deep into your skin. Then it stays put!
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
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  8. Quote Originally Posted by DaveBj View Post
    Oh, and slowing down the Trio the last time thru? JPS didn't do it in the 1920s recording that I have, with Himself conducting. Just say "No!"
    Generally I agree. However, JPS did have an aversion to recording, thinking it was a passing gimmick, and Arthur Pryor conducted a lot of the recording sessions. Also, with everything being one take and limited time, was the playing straight through a function of JPS' preference, or the limitation on the recording time, or some of each?

    I believe somewhere on another forum there is a quote from a lady that remembered hearing JPS conducting a live performance and did not slow down the 2nd time through.

    The whole point: be careful when drawing conclusions from an old recording. It may or may not have been recorded at exactly 78 rpm, due to the mechanical vagaries of early recording technology, and with limited time per side, tempo may or may not have been altered to fit the amount of recording space available. Back in the late '70's I had an issue of Stereo Review magazine that analyzed all of the known 78rpm studios, how their speed may or may not have varied from the "standard," (determined by the available worm-and-gear combinations to give proper torque for stability of platter speed to early synchronous motors), along with the different pre-emphasis curves used before RIAA equalization for records became standard.

    http://www.wgpark.com/page.asp-pid=22.html
    Last edited by iiipopes; 10-20-2017 at 02:30 PM.

  9. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by KKORO View Post
    Since I started late in life, I hold no hope of being a good technical player. So, it does my heart well to hear such accomplished players having trouble at times.

    Thanks, KKORO
    I played this during a high school field trip to Germany. The German band we played with certainly knew their stuff. It's supposed to be an embarrassment in college football when the other marching band can your fight song much better. It felt the same way here with the host band, of another country, with your own country's music, but it really did give it all my go then.

    I'm trying to relearn this. The "easy parts" are there, but could use polish. Those 16th notes are killer, and will be for a bit of time now, but it is also a bit of a boost to hear that it's not that easy.

  10. #30
    This was one of the first pieces I got when I first joined a community band near me. I thought I was joining a very low key group that played middle school/easy high school stuff. It turned out I was joining a low key group that was entering a phase where they were thirsty for a challenge. So my eyes bugged out of my head when I saw it in my packet.

    I've only been playing for 4 months so, unsurprisingly, I can't play all of it. But since it's one of the hardest pieces of sheet music I have, it has been a major indicator of my progress as a new player in a "Wow! I've never been able to do THAT before!" sort of way. Three months ago I was sitting out on the whole thing I was so overwhelmed by it. Now I can contribute about...maybe 75% of it, but the dogfight/breakstrain is still beyond me.

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