Improving Darkness, Richness In Tone Quality

[DanielHdz24']

Hello, My name is Daniel Hernandez and I am a euphonium player that is a Junior in high school in the State of Texas. I missed TMEA All-State by one placement this year, which was a major improvement from me last year. But I came on this website to ask one question. How to improve my tone. I feel that I have a decent tone in my opinion, but to me, I feel that I have a bit of air in my sound, and I don't know if its because of me, my mouthpiece, or my instrument. So, How do I make my tone improve and sound dark and rich?

[davewerden]

Welcome to the forum!

I'll have a couple suggestions later today, but in the meantime, what horn and mouthpiece do you play?

[DanielHdz24']

My mouthpiece is a Demo Yamaha 53DL Large Shank and my horn is a Yamaha YEP-642II Neo Series Compensating Euphonium.

[davewerden]

My mouthpiece is a Demo Yamaha 53DL Large Shank and my horn is a Yamaha YEP-642II Neo Series Compensating Euphonium.

OK, then we can rule out the choice of equipment. Here are some thoughts.

Mouthpiece buzzing. I don't universally recommend this, but I'm going to suggest you buzz before your warmup, or at least early in your warmup. Go for the purest tone, with a rich core.

During buzzing or playing, keep the corners of your mouth "anchored" as much as possible, and do not stretch them too far apart. Focus the lip muscles toward the center.

BE SURE you do a careful warmup before practicing. That should include a good measure of low playing, down as far as you can go. That helps makes the tissue more supple.

During practice, be sure to include some songs in the low register. I like to take some of the Arban songs down an octave, but any songs will work. Ideally you would be covering from low Bb concert to pedal F concert most of that time.

I'm sure you have heard people doing very long held notes, starting at a p dynamic, getting gradually to a f, then gradually going back to p. You should do this, trying to keep your tone as consistent as possible.

Those are all fundamental steps to getting a full tone.

Are any of these steps new to you?

Possibility: ask a colleague who has a good tone to play your horn. A leak or obstruction could cause you to have tone problems.