Re: BAT-Specific Playing Techniques? Rick D?


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Posted by Rick Denney on December 30, 2002 at 12:30:17:

In Reply to: BAT-Specific Playing Techniques? Rick D? posted by MP on December 30, 2002 at 12:12:55:

You have to make a distinction between what I am pleased to get and what a top pro might be fishing for. A horn that goes where I point it with great ease, but that sounds like air production is better than it really is, is what I want. A top pro would benefit from those as well, but may employ special techniques to do even more with them.

I can tell you what I've heard. Mike Sanders told me about a year after buying his Yorkbrunner than it had taken him some time to learn to relax and let the horn do the work. My paraphrase: He had been accustomed to micromanaging his Alex to get the various effects he wanted, and the Yorkbrunner responded better with less supervision.

I distinguish between BAT's that are easy to blow and BAT's that are not easy to blow. A top pro can get similar results from both, perhaps, but only one qualifies for Jacobs's description, "an old man's tuba." The easy blowers are quite accessible by amateurs like me, while the difficult blowers need the skills of a top pro. I have no idea what makes a BAT fall into one or the other camp, but they seem to. I suspect that the difficult blowers require all sorts of special techniques that are beyond me.

As to the variations in color and projection that top pros worry about, I have no clue. When Gil tells me I'm too loud, I play softer. Sometimes he tells me that not because I'm really too loud but because I'm blowing too hard and making a bad sound. I suspect he won't be presented with that reason as often with the Holton, but time will tell. That's about as far as I can go at present.

Rick "looking forward to seeing more qualified answers" Denney




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