Posted by dennis on May 16, 2002 at 08:35:23:
I play in a brass band with about 40 players and about 6 are woodwinds. We play mostly marches and early 1900's stuff. I have played a 6/4 cc in this group for the past 2 years and now we may have as many as 6 tubas that play with us so I didn't think I needed the 6/4 so I took my 3/4 cc yam. to a practice with a shallow mouthpiece. The sound was very bright and crisp. The director at the end of practice (who had not noticed the tiny horn all night) said he didn't know why but the tubas sounded better than ever! There was only 2 of us that night. The next night everything was too loud for him (I was setting in a differant spot in the room). Next night I changed to a deep mouthpiece thinking the shallow bright mouthpiece could be the problem. Tubas recieved no coments from the director which was back to normal. So, after practice I asked him what he wanted (I know I was asking for both barrels) and he said he wanted me to sound like a string bass then he said really, I want you to sound just like Marty Erickson. Marty has played with us 1 or 2 times before but I have never been able just to listen to him. And I am not a pro. and will never play as well as Marty but I am going to work at it. So I would like help with this goal of mimicking the sound of Marty and the string bass. Really any help will be good, from how to articulate this sound, practice techniques or what ever. About the mouthpieces to help with the sound, is the deep cup on the little horn the right way to go? Do I need to try the 6/4 with a shallow cup? I have messed around with this and it's pretty cool but I haven't tryed it with the group. I would rather play the 6/4 because it has 5 valves, better range and better intonation. I hope this has given enough clues to everyone about the situation.
Thanks