Posted by danny on June 20, 2003 at 16:45:16:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Is it me? posted by On Euphonium Sounds on June 20, 2003 at 12:28:20:
I know what you mean about the difference in sounds between British and American. I spent a year in Britain, and you're right, Steve's sound is much different than the traditional brass bander sound. I do believe that a majority of euphonium players go for a more, shall we say, compact sound. Not smaller, but more concise and a tighter package (I use the word tighter very cautiously, as it's not a "tight" sound, but in comparison, it's the only thing I can think of....). The brass banders that I played with project their sound a lot more, and with that comes a larger, and to American ears, almost more spread sound. Once again, I caution the readers not to take the "spread sound" literally, but it's the only conceptual way of explaining it. It took a while for me to adapt to the sound of British players, maybe three months before I could sit in the section with Steve Miles, Dave Thornton, or Mike Howley and not sound out of place. As a fall-out from that, I find myself moving a little more towards their sound. I guess I'd like to combine the two sounds, and see where that takes me. To my ear, that's kind of what Steve Mead has. Although I can't say what he sounded like when he was just banding 15 years ago, I'd make a cautious guess that he sounded more like the other banders. Through his work around the world, his sound has become more "American" but it retains many of the qualities of the British style. This begs many questions, like, is the sound of the British player dictated by the massive dynamic ranges neccessary for any given piece, and years spent blowing solos out in front of the band. Where, the American euph player doesn't have that much of an opportunity to experience that, so his sound development comes from playing less-prominant parts in wind band and playing solos in recital halls, where the massive force of sound is not needed? Chicken or egg? Which one came first?
Danny