Re: Re: decibels during practice


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Posted by Klaus on February 26, 2002 at 08:38:51:

In Reply to: Re: decibels during practice posted by DRS on February 26, 2002 at 07:45:57:

The reflection from hard surfaces is a major factor for the intensity of the sound coming back to the player. When sax players are warming up simultaneously before a big band rehearsal, they can be seen playing directly against the walls to get an idea of their own playing.

So the curtain suggestion is good when it comes to quantity of sound coming back to the player.

The use of practise mutes for warm-ups plus the practising of articulation intensive stuff like scales and multiple tonguing also can give some mechanical relief of the ears. Extra bonuses are, that fulness of sound and ability to a flexible handling of intonation weirdnesses improve. As does exactness of articulation.

Practise mutes by default reduces the volume of sound, But it also takes some of the coherence of the sound away. The natural, at least for musical minds, response to that is to improve the quality of the airstream: wide, solid, working against the obstacle. When the mute is removed, the instrument sounds much fuller to the player. For two reasons: the obvious one is the immediate comparison to the muted sound. With time the improved playing abilities also will be a real and constant factor.

Intonation with practise mutes can exaggerate bad intonation tendencies like flat 5th partials (with their fingered derivatives). Handling them in muted playing gives one a surplus in mental and technical areas. Might even develop some physical strength of embouchure. Mutes can also have some intonation quirks of their very own. The Denis Wick practise mute stretches the upper register on my YEP641. Adapting to that can give some quite flat top notes, when the mute is out. So I prefer my Yamaha Silent Brass.

Articulation with practise mutes gets less even and less reliable, so that the player has to develop a surplus in this area as well. The DW mute mentioned above is rather "swampy", so it is very good for developing clarity in the low range.

Klaus


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