Faster, Stronger... Lower? Building a great pedal range is more achievable than you think! Bass Trombonist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, James Markey is here to spill the tea on the art (and science!) of mastering playing in the low range on trombone and other brass... and accidentally cause a few earthquakes in the process.
James plays on an Edwards bass trombone and Griego Markey model mouthpieces:
https://www.virtuosityboston.com/griego-markey-series-bass-trombone-mouthpiece.html
Note: Due to the low frequency nature of the demonstrations in this video, it is strongly recommended to listen with quality headphones or speakers. Specialized audio equipment was used in order to accurately capture these frequencies.
Audio Signal Flow: Samar VL373A stereo active ribbon (Blumlein), 1m distance. No processing aside from gain adjustments.
0:00 Opening
0:31 Intro
0:52 Today's Topic
1:23 Three Things
1:41 1. Concept
2:52 The Sound Pyramid: Warmth, Core, Brilliance
3:55 Warm Sound: Bordogni 8vb
4:14 Brilliant Sound: Ein Heldenleiben
4:31 Application of Sound Pyramid
4:55 2. Process
6:12 Aperture Control
7:10 Buckled Chin
7:38 Sound: Buckled Chin
7:48 Can it work?
8:30 Sound: Buckled vs. Flat Chin
9:08 Caveats & Terminology
10:14 Summary: Process
10:42 3. Patience
12:12 Sound: Pulling Out Bottom Lip
13:00 How it works
13:29 Sound: Standard Embouchure Out of Room
14:00 Sound: Shifting Mouthpiece Up
14:44 "If it sounds good, it is good"
15:01 Shifting from Extreme to Regular Pedal Embouchure
15:36 Sound: Shifting Embouchures
16:30 Sound: Full Register Shifts
16:50 Summary: Patience
17:58 Do you need a teacher?
18:40 Real-world Application
19:33 Sound: Ostrander Study
21:36 Conclusion
22:19 Nothing to see here ;)
#trombone #band #lowbrass #teacher #basstrombone #brassplayer #brassmusic #jamesmarkey