Re: Re: Re: Re: major intonation flaws


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Kenneth Sloan on May 17, 2001 at 09:33:46:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: major intonation flaws posted by Matt G on May 16, 2001 at 15:27:59:

I didn't get much chance to play with the brand new Besson with the flat 2nd partials last night, but I did learn a few things. First, it was shipped with a 7C - and even with the 7C it was obvious that the interval between the 2nd partial Bb and the 3rd partial C (or even the B natural) was *way* too big. It played a very nice C major scale though! (not much written in C for marching band, is there?) We'll try it with the entire collection of small-shank mouthpieces RealSoonNow.

I was right about my son's normal "marching" mouthpiece - it's a Schilke 50. And, his band director wants him to stay with that, rather than switching. His "concert" equipment is a VMI euph (recent school purchase - replacing an aging King 2280) with a Schilke 51D.

Ignoring the "low register" and simply reading those notes up an octave appears to be the best solution. My son (of course?) wants to read *everything* up an octave (these are high school marching band parts), but I suggested to him that it would usually be best to play what was written, except for the clunkers. I'll let him negotiate with the band director on this one on a case-by-case basis. If he insists on playing everything UP, perhaps I'll make him spend some time with Finale and re-write everything in tenor clef - might as well get some educational benefit!

Of course, if he were a tubist, he'd probably prefer to take the 2nd partials DOWN an octave - but we didn't explore those notes on the Besson...yet. Maybe tonight.

Ken "Band Parent..feh!" Sloan


Follow Ups: