Brass Staff

[JohnHoekstra]

"Welcome to the Pit!"

:P

OH YEAH!!!!!

Dennis...you crack me up. b**bs

[Danielle]

I was going to say...not enough breath support if flat, and pinching too much with the throat and/or lips possibly with still not enough air support if blowing sharp....

[Tom D'Bomb]

Do you ever find yourself trying to tune the line and you come upon guys that are still flat with tuning slide pushed all the way in, and others are sharp when they are pulled out rediculously far?

Take his mouthpiece and try again next week.

[Browniebrick]

Do you ever find yourself trying to tune the line and you come upon guys that are still flat with tuning slide pushed all the way in, and others are sharp when they are pulled out rediculously far?

The Carnival has come to town !!! It sounds like the three ring circus is in full bloom in Seattle !!!

First off, you might want to tell your woodwind playing members that they can't blame the mouthpiece when all else fails.

Secondly, you might want to begin a public marketing campaign for some legit Brass player's !!!

If all else fails, put a mute in the bells of the offending members and tell them to sign through their horns rather than actually playing. Taking their mouthpiece from them would also do the trick !!!

b**bs B) b**bs

[TicTickyTic]

The Carnival has come to town !!! It sounds like the three ring circus is in full bloom in Seattle !!!

First off, you might want to tell your woodwind playing members that they can't blame the mouthpiece when all else fails.

Secondly, you might want to begin a public marketing campaign for some legit Brass player's !!!

If all else fails, put a mute in the bells of the offending members and tell them to sign through their horns rather than actually playing. Taking their mouthpiece from them would also do the trick !!!

b**bs B) b**bs

I didn't say that this was a problem I regularly encounter. I just wanted to know what experiences, and solutions people had.

You say you want me to have them sign through their horns?

I'm giving you a sign right now. They should make a smiley for it. ^OO^ This one uses the wrong digits.

I kid......I'm a kidder

[Browniebrick]

I didn't say that this was a problem I regularly encounter. I just wanted to know what experiences, and solutions people had.

You say you want me to have them sign through their horns?

I'm giving you a sign right now. They should make a smiley for it. ^OO^ This one uses the wrong digits.

I kid......I'm a kidder

I am just kidding you as well. Just a random thought about working on member tuning would be to have the individuals or ensemble do a series of lip slurs on the partials right below, right at, and right above the pitch being tuned to. This will enable the various members to better slot the pitches as a whole and work on making individual adjustments in relation to the ensemble as a whole. It might also be prudent to have the various out of tune members buzz the desired pitch on their mouthpiece only while using the tuner. Once they are able to buzz the pitch in tune you could then have the member translate the pitch to the instrument/mouthpiece combined.

Hopefully this is helpful.

Good luck ... and good tuning !!!

:) :) :)

[Lasallemello73]

Take his mouthpiece and try again next week.

I don't know...I've been known to play without the mouthpiece on occasion..

[idontwan2know]

Usually somebody that far out of tune has some kind of major embochure issue which should be fairly obvious.

If they don't, start looking for problems with the horn. Leaks and improper mouthpiece fit are a good place to start. Swap horns and/or mouthpieces with another player who plays in tune to isolate the problem.

If it's the player, individual lessons either with you or somebody else are needed, preferably outside of corps rehearsal time.

[G-horns]

You realize your playing Dynasty horns ^0^

I vote for this answer - especially if they are two-valvers.

[Shadow_7]

Sometimes it is just the horn. I mean a marching brass designed to be played in tune pushed in all the way on a 12C in 90F at sea level. Is NOT going to be sharp at altitude, at 30F, on a 6 1/2AL.

I have a King 1141SP BBb Tuba that plays flat when it's cooler than 90F. I doubt it's me as I have a Conn 20J that I'm pulled more than halfway out on. And on that King, the difference between all of the way out and all of the way in is about 15 cents. So I don't even have the option of playing an AA tuba.

There are things you can do to help the horns. Replacing the spit valve corks has raised the pitch as much as 5 cents on my horns. Not enough on a horn that plays 10 to 15 cents flat pushed in all the way to bring it in tune, but it helps. You can use a smaller mouthpiece and/or smaller oral cavity to raise the pitch, but that doesn't yield optimal tonal results. There's not much I can do about manufacturers that design Euphoniums around a small Jazz Trombone mouthpiece.