Hi,
Ive played soprano for about 6 weeks. I was playing second cornet, a position I'd held for around four years. Its taken me a while to get the right mouth peice etc, and for a whlie I struggled with various mouthpeices to find the right one.
After 2 weeks of rehursals on the new text peice and hours of practice, I've found Im probably to be dropped in favour of a player from another band. I'm about to do my second rehursal with my new mouthpeice, my problem is combining volume and accuracy.
Can anyone give me any tips on playing which will help me?
Tiggs
Stuggling Soprano
Stuggling Soprano
Last edited by tigger908 on Mon Aug 22, 2016 12:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Usually 6 weeks isn't long enough fully to move from one brass instrument to another, 6 months is more like it (there are exceptions that prove the rule, but the above is true for most people).
Nigel Horne. Arranger, Clinician, Composer, Typesetter.
NJH Music, Laurel, MD. ICQ#20252325 twitter: @nigelhorne
njh@bandsman.co.uk https://www.bandsman.co.uk
NJH Music, Laurel, MD. ICQ#20252325 twitter: @nigelhorne
njh@bandsman.co.uk https://www.bandsman.co.uk
update
Still hanging on in there.
I'm experimenting with a denis wick s mouthpeice, initially its given me a better tone while making some of the higher stuff quite hard. My bach 10 3/4 EW was brilliant for high stuff but my tuning seemed bad. With the wick if i tune the c to my tuner, none of the registry is out of tune by more than a fraction. With hte bach anything over a top g was -25 ? whatever than means on these electronic tuners.
Tiggs
I'm experimenting with a denis wick s mouthpeice, initially its given me a better tone while making some of the higher stuff quite hard. My bach 10 3/4 EW was brilliant for high stuff but my tuning seemed bad. With the wick if i tune the c to my tuner, none of the registry is out of tune by more than a fraction. With hte bach anything over a top g was -25 ? whatever than means on these electronic tuners.
Tiggs
Last edited by tigger908 on Mon Aug 22, 2016 12:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sacked :-(
Friday night the comittee of the band approached me and said i was to be given the soprano seat. There was another guy trying out with me who had more experiance but I was favoured as he has other comittments and is about to join the army.
Two players in the band who give the other bloke a lift to band stromed out after rehursal and contacted the acting chairman to say they'd quit if the other bloke wasn't signed on soprano.
Ive been asked to step aside, but Im keeping a soprano cornet which I intend to play for the jounior band I help out. I am expected to go back to playing second cornet, but Ive done that for 11 years and there's not really a seat there for me to go back to. Becides Ive spent £100 in mouthpeices to get the right one and practiced for more hours than I care to even concider!
Several other players offered to resign so that I could be reinstated but I think that would only make things worse. Though Id have given anything to see their faces when 5 key players including the solo corent offered their resignations on my behalf.
The really sad part of all this is that the comittee is now defunct, if players can hold the band to ransom like this then what is its function. It has no power to make decisions.
Stabbed in the back,
Tiggs
Two players in the band who give the other bloke a lift to band stromed out after rehursal and contacted the acting chairman to say they'd quit if the other bloke wasn't signed on soprano.
Ive been asked to step aside, but Im keeping a soprano cornet which I intend to play for the jounior band I help out. I am expected to go back to playing second cornet, but Ive done that for 11 years and there's not really a seat there for me to go back to. Becides Ive spent £100 in mouthpeices to get the right one and practiced for more hours than I care to even concider!
Several other players offered to resign so that I could be reinstated but I think that would only make things worse. Though Id have given anything to see their faces when 5 key players including the solo corent offered their resignations on my behalf.
The really sad part of all this is that the comittee is now defunct, if players can hold the band to ransom like this then what is its function. It has no power to make decisions.
Stabbed in the back,
Tiggs
Last edited by tigger908 on Mon Aug 22, 2016 12:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Anyone know of any 3/4th section bands in the area who'll let me have a blow on sop. Im not brillian or experianced but I'm working my guts out to get better
Tiggs.
Tiggs.
Last edited by tigger908 on Mon Aug 22, 2016 12:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sharing Soprano Seat
Hi
Im now sharing the seat after several members of the comittee and the chairman asked me to return. My experianced and learned friends suggest that this will only damage the band as the other guy will not be used to playing on his own and tuning will be terrible.
However the experiance is benificial to me
Tiggs
Im now sharing the seat after several members of the comittee and the chairman asked me to return. My experianced and learned friends suggest that this will only damage the band as the other guy will not be used to playing on his own and tuning will be terrible.
However the experiance is benificial to me
Tiggs
Last edited by tigger908 on Mon Aug 22, 2016 12:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I Can Relate
I have been playing sop for about 2 months. I have been struggling with producing a warm sound (cornet sound). I am a trumpet player in Canada and everything I play on the Sop sounds "trumpety". Having been a cornet player as long as you have... do you have any advice on how to warm up my sound.
Any exercises that you might know of would be great.
Any exercises that you might know of would be great.
My sound started off very bright and 'trumpet like' but has slowly returned to being more like the sound I had on the Bb cornet. That being said, with a shallow mouthpeice my sound is still harsh. What shape is the cup of your current mouthpeice, i found the the strigh sided one rather than the cup shape. Such as the Denis Wick S and the Yamaha soprano mouthpeice gave a much better tone than the shallow cuped mouthpeices I'd been using. I think once your lip gets used to playing in the high register you can aford to get a V shaped mouthpeice as aposed to a U shape and get that warmer sound.
I'm no expert though, Ive not played sop for very long, and my experiance in banding was mainly standing still and not learning very much.
To complete my story, Ynishir are now asking me to play Bb cornet or (even more convinetly for them) timps. However I have found a local band in need of a soprano. So it looks like I'll soon be joining the ranks of Llywdcoed which beleive it or not is easier to spell than ynishir. Seems a nice place and a very good band, I only hope I can prove worthy.
I'm no expert though, Ive not played sop for very long, and my experiance in banding was mainly standing still and not learning very much.
To complete my story, Ynishir are now asking me to play Bb cornet or (even more convinetly for them) timps. However I have found a local band in need of a soprano. So it looks like I'll soon be joining the ranks of Llywdcoed which beleive it or not is easier to spell than ynishir. Seems a nice place and a very good band, I only hope I can prove worthy.
Ynishir have really dropped me in it now 
As soon as I told them I'd agreed to sign for llywdcoed they turned around and asked me to stay and play soprano. Im a little confused, I think this is just because I've got a better track record that the other guy who's got commitments else where.
I'm not sure now weather I should stay at Ynishir or move to Llywdcoed, there are good and bad point to each and whoever looses out will be upset. It's difficult to weight up, which is going to be best for me as a player, YWB would provide a more challanging folder of music but there is no support there. LB have offered the support but the folder (being 2 sections down) it likely to be alot less challanging.
I think its something I'll have to concider over the next few days, but if anyone has any advice I'd like to hear it.
Tigger
As soon as I told them I'd agreed to sign for llywdcoed they turned around and asked me to stay and play soprano. Im a little confused, I think this is just because I've got a better track record that the other guy who's got commitments else where.
I'm not sure now weather I should stay at Ynishir or move to Llywdcoed, there are good and bad point to each and whoever looses out will be upset. It's difficult to weight up, which is going to be best for me as a player, YWB would provide a more challanging folder of music but there is no support there. LB have offered the support but the folder (being 2 sections down) it likely to be alot less challanging.
I think its something I'll have to concider over the next few days, but if anyone has any advice I'd like to hear it.
Tigger
Must be nice
In Canada, we have very little choice if we want to play in a brass band. Here in Winnipeg Manitoba, there is one brass band with full instrumentation (I'm actually playing tenor horn in that group) and one band that is struggling to start up. I will play tenor horn in that one too until our numbers are up. When we start filling out our instrumentation I will be moving back to soprano.
I don't really have an idea of the context of the situation that you are in, but it sounds to me like the band you are currently with is kind of "playing" with you. Play Timp... Play 2nd Cornet... Play sop... It sounds like the band that wants you to play sop (I won't try to spell these names
) really needs you.
Food for thought.
Good luck with your decision.
I don't really have an idea of the context of the situation that you are in, but it sounds to me like the band you are currently with is kind of "playing" with you. Play Timp... Play 2nd Cornet... Play sop... It sounds like the band that wants you to play sop (I won't try to spell these names
) really needs you.Food for thought.
Good luck with your decision.
Soprano playing.
Hi,
I've been playing in my band for about 11 years and been on Sop for about 7 ish years.
Obviously how well you play is dependent on how often you practice coupled with what you practice (that may sound obvious, but people tend to practice the things they're good at). Also on Sop it can depend on the model of instrument you have and the mouth piece type.
I have been using a yamaha sop all the time, which is ok, I havent played anything else so I would know, but you can get better ones, with brighter sounds but they beome very expensive.
I changed my mouthpiece a year ago partly because I just couldn't get high enough as I wanted. From what I know everything is a compromise with mouth piece choices, you can get a brighter sounding one, but is really hard to play quiet (impossible) and your tone doesnt sound so good or you could have the opposite.I know of some brilliant sop players in other bands, but in a quiet piece they do not have the ability to play quiet, so you have to compromise somewhere, unless your got natural talent for it.
I use a bach 7D at mo, 7C is the most widely used but D is lil shallower as I'm not the loudest of players anyway. I found this out from resources on internet and two great PDF documents which give you lots of info on bach mouthpieces.
To read them you need Adobe Acrobat Reader. from www.Adobe.com
1) Different mouth piece models and info:
http://www.normans.co.uk/pdfs/Vincent%20Bach.pdf
2) History of Vincent Bach, Mouth piece info and a lil more in depth:
http://www.selmer.com/products/accessor ... hmouth.pdf
Hope this helps.
Cheers.
I've been playing in my band for about 11 years and been on Sop for about 7 ish years.
Obviously how well you play is dependent on how often you practice coupled with what you practice (that may sound obvious, but people tend to practice the things they're good at). Also on Sop it can depend on the model of instrument you have and the mouth piece type.
I have been using a yamaha sop all the time, which is ok, I havent played anything else so I would know, but you can get better ones, with brighter sounds but they beome very expensive.
I changed my mouthpiece a year ago partly because I just couldn't get high enough as I wanted. From what I know everything is a compromise with mouth piece choices, you can get a brighter sounding one, but is really hard to play quiet (impossible) and your tone doesnt sound so good or you could have the opposite.I know of some brilliant sop players in other bands, but in a quiet piece they do not have the ability to play quiet, so you have to compromise somewhere, unless your got natural talent for it.
I use a bach 7D at mo, 7C is the most widely used but D is lil shallower as I'm not the loudest of players anyway. I found this out from resources on internet and two great PDF documents which give you lots of info on bach mouthpieces.
To read them you need Adobe Acrobat Reader. from www.Adobe.com
1) Different mouth piece models and info:
http://www.normans.co.uk/pdfs/Vincent%20Bach.pdf
2) History of Vincent Bach, Mouth piece info and a lil more in depth:
http://www.selmer.com/products/accessor ... hmouth.pdf
Hope this helps.
Cheers.
I would recommend you read Dr. Downings Cornet and Trumpet technique doctor by Bram Wiggins. I have been playing since 1969 and was surprised to realise how many bad habits I had got into. Dr Downing has got a web ste but I don't know the address, I got my book from a local music shop, perhaps you could find it through Google.
It appears all my hard work and financial investment have paid off. This saturday in Ebbw Vale our band came in third, this was followed on sunday by a win in Weston.
There was alot of pressure on both days, more so on the sunday with the heat I felt close to passing out on a few occasions but managed to play everything. I think I was so worried about falling off the stage I wasn't all that worried about what I was playing and that helped the tuning. I wasn't even mentioned in the adjudication
Thanks to everyone on the forum who gave of their advice and encouragment that I could come thus far. Now onwards and upwards
thanks
Tigger
There was alot of pressure on both days, more so on the sunday with the heat I felt close to passing out on a few occasions but managed to play everything. I think I was so worried about falling off the stage I wasn't all that worried about what I was playing and that helped the tuning. I wasn't even mentioned in the adjudication
Thanks to everyone on the forum who gave of their advice and encouragment that I could come thus far. Now onwards and upwards
thanks
Tigger
It appears all my hard work and financial investment have paid off. This saturday in Ebbw Vale our band came in third, this was followed on sunday by a win in Weston.
There was alot of pressure on both days, more so on the sunday with the heat I felt close to passing out on a few occasions but managed to play everything. I think I was so worried about falling off the stage I wasn't all that worried about what I was playing and that helped the tuning. I wasn't even mentioned in the adjudication
Thanks to everyone on the forum who gave of their advice and encouragment that I could come thus far. Now onwards and upwards
thanks
Tigger
There was alot of pressure on both days, more so on the sunday with the heat I felt close to passing out on a few occasions but managed to play everything. I think I was so worried about falling off the stage I wasn't all that worried about what I was playing and that helped the tuning. I wasn't even mentioned in the adjudication
Thanks to everyone on the forum who gave of their advice and encouragment that I could come thus far. Now onwards and upwards
thanks
Tigger