Posted by A fellow tuba/contra on May 28, 2003 at 12:58:29:
In Reply to: Re: Marching Band Approach posted by Cale Self on May 27, 2003 at 22:03:31:
In regards to the post listed above I agree with alot of what the person is saying. The section should be forced into one idea or concept of sound. Intonation, articulation, and basically just sound like one person playing all the tubas(whatever the instrument may be) With all the sections playing in unison the next step is to mold every section into one instrument (for this i like to think of an organ).
I was fortunate enough to be involved with one of the few top notch drum corps programs out there today and I learned more than i could have thought was possible about the dynamics of the marching ensemble. We did spend alot of time rehearsing with the "like" instruments in order to sound like the original concept that the group had in mind from the start (the 1960-1980 CSO brass) However there are a few things that I disagree with. First of all, I think that if you have a section constantly rehearsing with the same section then they don't really learn what they should be learning. The more sections that you put in front of them to match and find the more they will learn and the easier it is to tune to the whole ensemble provided the musicians have a well defined concept of pitch.
And finally you can't expect a section to sound well unless they have the marching and design concept fully realized so that it becomes effortless. If someone can march effortless then the music can be concentrated on completely and vice versa.
That's just my opinion though and I know that some people could care less about what i have to say(my old high school band director who constantly asks me to help but doesn't listen) but i know some of you will atleast hear me out. Thanks
Richard