“Author Archive”
Stories written by Wayne DowneyWayne Downey was the first of Drum Corps Planet’s panel of subject-matter expert columnists – providing our readers with expert information and insight from the best teachers and leaders in the drum and bugle corps activity. In addition to his long-term role as Music Director of the 14-time DCI World Champion Blue Devils drum and bugle corps – where he’s won 21 Jim Ott awards for “Excellence in Brass Performance”, Wayne is distinguished as one of the finest brass teachers/clinicians and arrangers in the world. His work has been featured by some of the world’s most-respected drum corps, high school and collegiate bands – as well as the Tony and Emmy award winning show “Blast” and in feature films. In 1991 Wayne was inducted into the Drum Corps International Hall of Fame for his contributions to the Drum & Bugle Corps activity as the musical director for the Blue Devils. Wayne’s latest venture –
XtremeBrass.com provides brass players of all ages and skill-levels, as well as educators, personalized lessons and access to his championship-winning techniques and methods.
Welcome back to the land of “All Things Brass.” This installment of Brass Advantage continues to discuss brass pedagogy (the study of performance techniques specific to brass instruments.) If you haven’t read the last two Brass Advantage columns, I would highly encourage you to do so to gain an understanding of the concepts that have […]
September 27th, 2007 | Filed under Brass Advantage | Read More »
Welcome back to the land of “All Things Brass.” This installment of Brass Advantage continues to discuss the brass pedagogy (the study of performance techniques specific to brass instruments) relative to producing a characteristic tone quality. If you haven’t read Brass Advantage #11 I would encourage you to do so to gain an understanding of […]
July 22nd, 2007 | Filed under Brass Advantage | Read More »
Welcome back to the land of "All Things Brass." Over the past few months I’ve been receiving e-mails from many of you asking a variety of questions pertaining to brass technique. Brass technique or pedagogy (the study of performance techniques specific to brass instruments) is as much a science as it is opinion and preference. […]
June 6th, 2007 | Filed under Brass Advantage | Read More »
Welcome back to the land of "All Things Brass." Over the past few months I’ve been receiving e-mails concerning a variety of questions on the topic of Brass Arranging. I’ve picked two of the most interesting for you to enjoy. Here for your historic and educational pleasure are my responses. Matthew Smith asked, "How did […]
April 10th, 2007 | Filed under Brass Advantage | Read More »
Welcome back to the "Land of All Things Brass." This month’s edition of Brass Advantage is devoted to all my readers who have sent questions to AskWayne [at] drumcorpsplanet [dot] com. I’ve selected 8 riveting questions that I’m sure you’ll love… 1. "As a brass expert, what do you look for in a drummer/drum line? […]
March 2nd, 2007 | Filed under Brass Advantage | Read More »
Welcome back to the "Land of All Things Brass." This installment of Brass Advantage will focus on developing strength and control of the muscles of the face with the use of Lip Isometric exercises. Isometric exercise is a form of exercise involving the static contraction of a muscle without any visible movement in the angle […]
January 17th, 2007 | Filed under Brass Advantage | Read More »
Welcome back to the "Land of All Things Brass." With marching band season coming to an end most performers are finding themselves involved in drum corps, local, district, regional and or state honor band auditions. To help those involved in these auditions I thought it a perfect time to discuss how to achieve a high […]
November 27th, 2006 | Filed under Brass Advantage | Read More »
Welcome back to the "Land of All Things Brass." This installment of Brass Advantage will focus on the rarely discussed topic of "Slurring on the Trombone". What most other wind instrumentalists refer to as "slurring" from one note to the next, trombonists call legato. This is because where a trumpet player can slur by just […]
September 20th, 2006 | Filed under Brass Advantage | Read More »
Welcome back to the "Land of All Things Brass." This installment of Brass Advantage will shed some light on what I consider two the most important techniques in brass performance, tone production and range development. Here’s a question from a young brass player that I think sheds some light on a common dilemma young musicians […]
August 24th, 2006 | Filed under Brass Advantage | Read More »
Circular Breathing Welcome back to the “Land of All Things Brass.” With summer underway I’ve gotten many different requests for information on brass technique but the most requested topic strangely enough has been circular breathing. Information on circular breathing is hard to find and if you’ve ever looked you’ve noticed that it’s rarely covered in […]
July 6th, 2006 | Filed under Brass Advantage | Read More »