Posted by GC on May 20, 2003 at 09:27:29:
A couple of weeks ago, I put up a post complaining that some people who I play with say that I play too loudly and use too much air, while several tuba players have told me that I need to support my sound more and should use more air. I figured that I would get some comments about the differences in taste or approaches between tuba players and other instrumentalists.
Instead, I got several replies about the old Jacobs "slow, thick column of warm air" idea. I first thought that the respondents had missed the point, but I finally realized that it was I who was missing it. I've been struggling with my playing since coming back from a 25+ year layoff, and in the two years since I took up the tuba again, I've never been satisfied with my sound. I've played too loudly trying to compensate for a weak, bright, airy tone. I run out of air extremely quickly. I decided to concentrate totally for a few days on changing to the slow, warm air approach.
It didn't take a few days. It only took a few seconds to see where I had been going wrong. I belatedly realized that it was the same thing that I had done in college to get a solid sound. My tone fattened up and centered in all registers. It took much less air to get a far better sound. Instead of overblowing to get a sound I could hear well, I could back off and get a sound that I could feel as well as hear; my tone actually filled space instead of just taking up space. Everything from intonation to articulation to range came more easily. When I would backslide into my old habits for a few seconds, I was immediately reminded how my bad habits had hurt my playing.
Later that week, I had a brass band rehearsal and concert. The change in my sound changed the sound of the bass section tremendously. Instead of sounding like two really good players and a duffer, we sounded like a solid section. It was wonderful to go from being a liability to being a contributor.
I was amazed how one simple, fundamental change in approach made such a difference. Everything about playing the instrument became easier. My musical self-confidence got a tremendous boost. To the responders to the original post who told me what I needed so badly, thank you very, very much.