Blending with quartet members

[Arnbone Euph]

Love my Sterling Virtuoso's ability to carry above our wind band and be heard over the the larger ensemble. However, in preparing for a Tuba Euphonium quartet performance in which I play 2nd euphonium, I notice it's hard for me to play below the 1st euph and the tubas, but easy to rise above them. Back when I played cello in a string quartet, I noticed that certain cello's I played blended in with the ensemble much more effortlessly than others. I'm wondering if this is the case with my Sterling. So I put in extra effort to try to play with more of a blending sound, but our 1st euphonium's comments are try as I may, I'm still too loud.

Player problem? or instrument problem? or both?

We are working on the Eternal Father, Strong to Save arrangement by Jim McIntyre. The 2nd euphonium plays harmony to the 1st euphonium melody (but at a higher dynamic) A to B, then the 1st tuba picks up the melody, B to C, and the 2nd tuba takes it home C to ending. But the 2nd euphonium in particular has several moving parts that while beautiful as counter melody, tend to overshadow the melody parts for both tubas and to a lesser degree the 1st euph.

Anyone played this arrangement before? Tips?

--Arnie

[iMav]

Well, obviously, your 1st euphonium and tubas need to STEP IT UP!!!

[Arnbone Euph]

Ha ha. My inner tempest agrees; but the angel on my shoulder wonders if I'm not commanding my horn properly.

[daruby]

Arnie,

While the Sterling is a heavier horn designed for brass band use, it can also be quite expressive. It does take some change in approach. I found that I tend to play with too open of an embouchure that makes very soft playing difficult. Over the last few years, I have tamed my inclination to play too loud by using faster air with a tighter (smaller?) embouchure. This makes maintaining my buzz easier at lower dynamic levels. I am now using an Alliance DC4 (a Wick 5-ish sized rim) and taking advantage of the superior responsiveness of my Adams to really "tame the beast".

I learbed that Ui could play soft and blend with my Sterling, but it is easier with my Adams.

Doug

[Pat]

My experience with my Sterling is that it blends better with small ensembles than my Besson. The Besson's focus tends to make it rise above the other instruments. Of course, that's just my experience.

[tonewheeler]

It's complicated. I discovered playing in a small ensemble, like a tuba quartet, requires a lot of sensitivity and musicianship on the part of the players. In a tuba quartet there is "no place to hide", so playing with the other musicians takes time, practice, and also ability to "command" the horn. It also could be an arrangement issue. In my quartet, the other euphonium player wrote the bulk of our arrangements, sometimes re-writing the parts so they blended together properly. Each on in my group had a different brand of horn as well.

[Arnbone Euph]

This is good advice. Everything you said seems right on, and we are a brand-new-to-each-other quartet. Also, the arrangement plays a strong factor. The nice hymn-style melody is beautiful and if the arrangement had featured each stanza part prominently, which it tries to do, without so much active contrasting figures countermelody, which seems resistant to low volume, some of our problems would be lessened. But like you said, we're all exposed and command of the instrument and musicality is paramount. The short of it is we have work to do as an ensemble in the long run and perhaps going with a less complex composition might have been wiser than what we chose. We're having our last coaching session tonight with our band director who is going to help us refine what we have. When I asked her if it is salvageable after we played it last week for the whole band, she said "Absolutely. You've already put in the heard work; we'll just focus on the parts that get a bit muddy." So any tuba euphonium gods that may be, divine intervention would be welcome.

[Pat]

Great luck with your performance!