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FRobertson
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 Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 7:10 pm Post subject: Prelude to Bizet's Carmen (Act 1) |
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Hello all!
I am playing the prelude to Act 1 of Carmen for college auditions next fall. I haven't looked at it much, but I'm looking or some advice on it before I dig in.
Anything will be helpful, and than yo in advance!
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zackh411
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 8:14 pm Post subject: |
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creative use of alternate fingerings and third valve slide for the low F. Also, it's probably best played on Bb.
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JRoyal
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| Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 9:48 am Post subject: |
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It is a nice little excerpt, a few things I would suggest:
Play on B flat in A, so transpose down a half step, if you are totally new to this the transposition will probably be tough,so practice it a lot. You will need a very good sounding low concert E flat, many people will have some type of longer stop rod, or other means of extending the 3rd valve slide. Typically, you can throw the slide all the way out during the last beat of bar 4, re finger bar 5 ( 12,3,123,3), the pull the slide back in on the rest in the next bar. Practice the low notes with a tuner, most people are sharp and do not get far enough down for that note. Make sure you listen to several recordings, having a good sense of style, a solid low range, an fluent transposition will all be needed.
I am sure someone will point out that technically you could just pull the slide out on your B flat trumpet to put it in A with out transposing, but I would not recommend that for anything but emergencies, for a college audition they will probably want to see you transpose. |
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trombahonker
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| Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 10:14 am Post subject: |
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| JRoyal wrote: | | ...pull the slide out on your B flat trumpet to put it in A with out transposing... |
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JRoyal
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| Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 10:22 am Post subject: |
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| trombahonker wrote: | | JRoyal wrote: | | ...pull the slide out on your B flat trumpet to put it in A with out transposing... |
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Did I miss something ?  |
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andybharms
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| Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 10:27 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Did I miss something ? |
Have you tried it?
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zackh411
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| Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 10:30 am Post subject: |
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| andybharms wrote: | | Quote: | | Did I miss something ? |
Have you tried it? |
that's cheating
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JRoyal
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| Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 10:30 am Post subject: |
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| andybharms wrote: | | Quote: | | Did I miss something ? |
Have you tried it? |
Yeah, it sounds pretty bad for me, does it work for you?
Last edited by JRoyal on Wed May 23, 2012 12:12 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Derek Reaban
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| Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 11:02 am Post subject: |
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This post might be helpful. And this was a follow-up to clarify how long the new throw rod should be:
| Quote: | | The new third valve slide threaded rod on my horn is 2 and 5/8 inches. My repair guy made some low profile nuts (he turned them down on a lathe), and the fit is just perfect. I would suggest that anyone knowledgeable in horn repairs could help you with this "retrofit". I continue to be amazed everytime I play this excerpt at how great that low F sounds! |
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JRoyal
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| Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 12:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Derek Reaban wrote: | This post might be helpful. And this was a follow-up to clarify how long the new throw rod should be:
| Quote: | | The new third valve slide threaded rod on my horn is 2 and 5/8 inches. My repair guy made some low profile nuts (he turned them down on a lathe), and the fit is just perfect. I would suggest that anyone knowledgeable in horn repairs could help you with this "retrofit". I continue to be amazed everytime I play this excerpt at how great that low F sounds! |
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I have tried the ones you can buy already made to fit Bach horns and never been happy with them. They bend and hang very easily. The best solution I found was having a stop screw added. |
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Derek Reaban
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| Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 1:26 pm Post subject: |
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| JRoyal wrote: | | Derek Reaban wrote: | This post might be helpful. And this was a follow-up to clarify how long the new throw rod should be:
| Quote: | | The new third valve slide threaded rod on my horn is 2 and 5/8 inches. My repair guy made some low profile nuts (he turned them down on a lathe), and the fit is just perfect. I would suggest that anyone knowledgeable in horn repairs could help you with this "retrofit". I continue to be amazed everytime I play this excerpt at how great that low F sounds! |
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I have tried the ones you can buy already made to fit Bach horns and never been happy with them. They bend and hang very easily. The best solution I found was having a stop screw added. |
Another nice option Jason. I think the important point is that there is an equipment modifiction needed for a standard Bb trumpet to make this except work better when using the alternate fingering approach. When I realized the equipment part of the equation, it made the except far less treacherous than using that little extension slide at the end of the 3rd valve slide that could fall out and lead to distaster on this excerpt!
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JRoyal
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| Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 2:20 pm Post subject: |
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Derek,
I totally agree, getting the equipment issues figured out(regardless of what route a person goes) seemed to be more than half the battle. After I got a handle on that it becomes a fun little excerpt. |
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irith
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| Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 2:26 pm Post subject: |
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Once I got one of the Osmun extended stop rods this excerpt was smooth sailing. There's absolutely no reason to try and bother with pulling out the extension slide - risky and harder to push back in in time than just pulling the slide back. You don't come across a ton of low F's for Bb, but when you need it, it's invaluable. Carmen and the ending of Ein Heldenleben are the first two that come to mind.
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trombahonker
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 7:32 am Post subject: |
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| JRoyal wrote: |
...pull the slide out on your B flat trumpet to put it in A with out transposing... |
| trombahonker wrote: | |
| JRoyal wrote: | | Did I miss something ? |
| andybharms wrote: | | Have you tried it? |
| JRoyal wrote: | | Yeah, it sounds pretty bad for me... |
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maccluer
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 6:30 am Post subject: |
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I play it on A trumpet as written with all the slides pulled out a bit. This is the old school way, and works fine if your fundamentals are good.
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gringoloco
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 7:16 am Post subject: |
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Plus, if you use A trumpet by extending down to low F natural you can play the low D concert on beat one where there is a rest thereby playing the whole melody.
This works for the overture to Don Giovanni too.
Rob |
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Maarten van Weverwijk
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 7:50 am Post subject: |
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| maccluer wrote: | | I play it on A trumpet as written with all the slides pulled out a bit. This is the old school way, and works fine if your fundamentals are good. |
+1.
In concert I've always done it like that, but like has been mentioned before, if it's for an audition they probably expect you to transpose half a step down on Bb-tpt.
A friend of mine (principal in another orchestra) actually uses an old Conn 80A in A for it, which sounds absolutely stunning.
MvW. |
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Peter Bond
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 5:53 pm Post subject: |
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My 2 cents on Carmen prelude:
Don't play too loud.
Play in tune.
Play with a clear, focused tone (it's not a Chet Baker solo).
Play in tune.
Play the dynamics.
Play in tune.
Play melodically, not like a machine.
Play in tune.
I take off the 3rd vs stop nuts altogether and use a string or a bit of fishing line adjusted to the correct length (+ a little 1st vs) to play the lower notes.
Note: Clear nylon fishing line is square in profile and will scratch silverplate. It doesn't seem to bother lacquer, though.
Pulling the slides to create an "A" trumpet is fine, too, if you can...PLAY IN TUNE. |
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