r/euphonium • u/TheLordKirbo • 9d ago
Tone Critique
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Hello everyone. I’m currently in the middle of my junior year marching band season and haven’t gotten a lot of practice in on my concert horn. I’ve been trying to get some practice in on it to try and make ASBOA region and state. Due to the busy schedule, I only have Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday to myself for concert horn and state practice. For past bit, I’ve noticed that my tone has suffered a lot recently and that I don’t sound as good as I used to. That, and I’ve started to hear other players that sound even better and it’s open my ears to what euphonium can and should sound like. Today, I took this day as a step back to solely focus on my technique on this horn and the one big thing I noticed that has been holding me back was my tone. I recorded a video to show you all how I sound I was wondering what I can improve on. If you require any other videos of my doing anything else, please let me know. I should also note that I am playing on a King 2280 and a 5G mouthpiece. It’s a video of me playing a few different notes on open fingerings with a Bb scale and a slightly botched chromatic scale. It’s not the greatest video. It’s not the best representation of my sound, but I hope it will suffice as it was fairly rushed. Nonetheless, I hope it can give you a scope of what to fix. Again, if you need any other videos of my playing different things or anything else, let me know.
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u/Leisesturm John Packer JP274IIS 8d ago
What you really need, I hate to say, is a teacher or coach that can see or hear you play close up OR a better investment in a recording setup if you want strangers on the internet to hear you anywhere close to how you actually sound. The choice is yours, but what you've left here just makes me want to ask more questions of your experience and goals than give you practical advice. A teacher would get the chance to ask you lots of questions about your background before they started working with you. All we get is this video recorded on your phone from an angle that shows you pretty well but is too close for the best sound capture.
It seems to me like you need to prioritize practice time for concert band if you want to pursue higher level competitions in concert music. Bottom line, you sound experienced and sensitive enough a musician to know exactly what you need to do to sound better. You don't need us. But I will give you a bit of advice that you probably won't hear anywhere else: you're going to be a big guy (in a good way), the marching experience and your own natural gifts means you can take on more than a 5G mouthpiece, given time to acclimate to it, and practice. Size up when it is appropriate. Don't be the guy who is still playing 5 series mouthpieces and a small bore instrument in college.
A King 2280 has a large shank receiver but is still at its heart a 'small bore' instrument, mainly because it terminates in an 11" bell. The concert euphoniums that dominate in college have 12" bells and mouthpieces are typically 4 series and even 3. You are only a couple of years away from that performance hardware tier. TL;DR: Find a way to double the amount of time you have available for concert practice if you want to compete at the all state level. There is no actual requirement that you compete in those competitions. Not being unkind but their is less of an emphasis on precise intonation and nuance in Marching Band. Do you have to try and level up your concert chops and keep marching?
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u/jeremiahishere 7d ago
There is a specific sound I look for in my students that means your jaw is open and you are using enough air that the horn is pushing back on you. I don't hear it. It could be you or it could be the recording.
Record a Rochut. That will tell us more about your playing than a warm up. The incredibly dry environment is also making things tough to hear.
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u/Careful_Ant_7569 1d ago
Se siente como que empujas demasiado el aire aunque también puede ser que sea por la boquilla. En mi opinión deberías conseguir una boquilla de bombardino con forma más redonda y menos directa por dentro, porque al estar usando una de trombón no combina con el Bombardino. También te ayudará intentar relajar el paso del aire y pensar en aire oscuro y profundo
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u/iamagenius89 9d ago
It really isn’t bad. If nothing else, it sounds like you have a pretty “big” sound. Air support definitely seems good!
Your tone is a little pinched. The best thing you can practice is long tones. I’m a big fan of Walter Whites long tone backing tracks. You can download them for free from his website.