Phantom horn switch

[KungFuCharlie]

And switch the mellows to French horns while you are at it. Along the previous line of questioning, what is the rational for mellophones vice Frenchies? French Horns weight more (more brass), but seriously, why did they go away?

My experience with a marching French Horn (just fooling around with one) is that the small mouthpiece combined with a horn pitched in the same octave as a baritone leads to a lot of missed partials. I couldn't imagine trying to play one of those things while flying around at 180bpm.

[ctbari]

As one who goes back and forth between a Euphonium (using a 51D mouthpiece) and a Mellophone (using 6V mouthpiece - I know it's small, but I love that sweet "mello" sound it gives), I can tell you it's not nearly as difficult as it seems like it should be. As someone mentioned earlier, I have also found it extremely important to put in at least a few minutes on each horn, each day. Although my "primary" practice horn may change from day to day, I always leave time to play the other at least a little. Unlike some of the others, I started with the bigger horn, and later added the smaller one. Like them, I have seen (ok, heard) a definite improvement in tone. I also learned to much better stay in tune from note to note, without using the slides. And I can play killer pedal tones on the mellophone... much to the dismay of some with a lot more experience than I have on the horn.

This is Phantom... the Buick... you know they wouldn't mess with it if they couldn't do it right.

I can't wait to see this part of their show.

[Euphscott]

Let's be honest here - you may get used to marching bari, but you NEVER get used to marching euph.

[BorisTS]

Let's be honest here - you may get used to marching bari, but you NEVER get used to marching euph.

I did.

After a while, trying to march and move a baritone just felt awkward to me.

Edited June 22, 2006 by BorisTS

[raphael18]

Once we got past everydays I never struggled with my euph again, but every morning when we'd get up and get out there - I'd pick it up, and have that sick feeling because of my aching body. We used weights to help counteract any actual problems with muscles early on, but the mental aspect stayed.

However, yes - we had one of our alternates with a bari at semis warm-up and it was hilarious. We all tried to play it, and kept overblowing. It felt like a toy in comparison to be honest.

So in one respect I got used to it, in another respect I never got used to it but just sucked it up.

[perkusi]

I'm really interested in the comments about how playing baritone can improve your sound on trumpet (centering of pitch / tone quality).

Can someone help by elaborating on this a little more? What types of exercises are best to use on baritone in order to improve the tone quality on trumpet, or is it a given that this will happen because of the muscles in the embouchure that are being used, etc etc etc?

My 1st trumpet players are using the WD1 mouthpieces put out by Wayne Downey and get a good sound, but there are times on their solos that I'd really like for them to get a fuller / thicker sound.

Will playing on baritone in any way cause difficulties in your upper range on trumpet over an extended period of time, or will it have the opposite effect, as with pedal tones?

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Rene'

[KungFuCharlie]

Different strokes for different folks. The best bet, if possible, is to find a good private teacher for your players. The whole embouchure debate can have trumpet players at each others throats over different techniques.

[perkusi]

Different strokes for different folks. The best bet, if possible, is to find a good private teacher for your players. The whole embouchure debate can have trumpet players at each others throats over different techniques.

The problem is . . . I'm in Indonesia . . . on the island of Kalimantan . . . there are no private teachers here outside of my staff. I'm just looking for some alternate methods of getting good results. You said it right, different strokes for different folks, what works for one person might not work for someone else, so it helps to have some new ideas to try out.

So I'm going to have my 1st trumpet players spend some time doing some exercises on baritone and perhaps a little on tuba. If it helps them to improve their sound, then I'll know it works.

If anyone has any other advice on this, please don't hesitate to share.

Thanks

[BorisTS]

The problem is . . . I'm in Indonesia . . . on the island of Kalimantan . . . there are no private teachers here outside of my staff. I'm just looking for some alternate methods of getting good results. You said it right, different strokes for different folks, what works for one person might not work for someone else, so it helps to have some new ideas to try out.

So I'm going to have my 1st trumpet players spend some time doing some exercises on baritone and perhaps a little on tuba. If it helps them to improve their sound, then I'll know it works.

If anyone has any other advice on this, please don't hesitate to share.

Thanks

I marched euphonium in corps, but sometimes I'd do breathing exercises, long tones, and a few passages playing on a tuba. I should've done it more, but of course there is rarely time and opportunity.

[SFsmack]

The problem is . . . I'm in Indonesia . . . on the island of Kalimantan . . . there are no private teachers here outside of my staff. I'm just looking for some alternate methods of getting good results. You said it right, different strokes for different folks, what works for one person might not work for someone else, so it helps to have some new ideas to try out.

So I'm going to have my 1st trumpet players spend some time doing some exercises on baritone and perhaps a little on tuba. If it helps them to improve their sound, then I'll know it works.

If anyone has any other advice on this, please don't hesitate to share.

Thanks

If anything, I think long sustained tones and slurs would help the most. I was a first-trumpeteer and tuba player in high school. I even did auditions on both instruments. I found that playing tuba before I played trumpet loosened up my lips to where they needed to be to focus a good buzz.... And I was able to keep a more-steady stream of air when playing trumpet after warming up on tuba. I don't think there is anything super difficult or specific I would have them work on....just some articulation and lip slur warm-up exercises that any basic brass player would do.