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Jaw04
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Joined: 31 Dec 2015
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Location: Bay Area, California
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 Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2023 4:44 pm Post subject: Re: "Civilian" perception of what's upper range |
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| Croquethed wrote: | We on the inside of the trumpet community have been more or less conditioned to believe that if we top out at D or E above high C that our range is somehow inadequate.
But a question to my brethren here who gig regularly - when you are out and about on stage, is there any particular cut-off where you as a player are not particularly impressed with yourself but the audience is?
I ask because I was recently at a show where the trumpet player hit a nice strong E and the audience was mightily impressed. Made me start wondering at which point those who do not play think of us as some sort of superhero. |
I find that if I nail a nice F above high C in a solo people get excited. If I squeek out a high G above high C, while it is a higher note, they're not as excited by a mediocre sound. |
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patdublc
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Joined: 02 Jun 2006
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Location: Salisbury, MD
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| Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2023 4:26 am Post subject: |
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When I was young, my big band mentor told me that high E was the gateway to the upper register. He rarely played above an F on gigs and was a tremendously solid lead player. I think I've come to appreciate what he said in the sense that at some point in the range, you really do have to learn some additional finesse to play up there.
I've played show books like All Shook Up with written double C's. I don't have a reliable double C but I can prep to be able to do it in a show at the regional theater level. I do NOT under any circumstances have a Broadway ready double C.
That said, some of the most difficult "high" music that I've done isn't extremely high but very demanding for long phrases at a time. I recently played Singin' in the Rain and the Moses Supposes number was absolutely brutal - especially because we repeated the shout chorus for scene change music. The highest note in that piece was an E but you just played up there for what seemed like forever.
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Play Wedge Mouthpieces by Dr. Dave exclusively.
Experiment with LOTS of horn makes and models. |
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Cuso
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Joined: 04 Apr 2023
Posts: 44
Location: Cologne, Germany
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| Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2023 12:09 am Post subject: |
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I guess what I was meaning to convey is that there are expected perfomance norms for trumpet players, and depending upon the genre an audience expects a trumpet player to have the range necessary to fulfill their musical expectations.
When those expectations are met, they can "get off". When not it's coitus interruptus. Apropos; not every person that enjoyed Maynard's concerts was a trumpet player, or even a musician.
Somehow they just found that he played exciting.
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Brad361
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Joined: 16 Dec 2007
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Location: Houston, TX.
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| Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2023 6:25 am Post subject: |
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| Cuso wrote: | I guess what I was meaning to convey is that there are expected perfomance norms for trumpet players, and depending upon the genre an audience expects a trumpet player to have the range necessary to fulfill their musical expectations.
When those expectations are met, they can "get off". When not it's coitus interruptus. Apropos; not every person that enjoyed Maynard's concerts was a trumpet player, or even a musician.
Somehow they just found that he played exciting. |
Might be different cultures / countries, but I don’t find general audiences where I play, regardless of whether it’s private events or clubs, and even concerts, anywhere near that perceptive or concerned about what “the horn players” (which is about the extent of what they notice), are doing. Not even close to your perception.
I think most of this might be in the minds of trumpet players, but in reality we’re probably the only ones paying that much attention. I can say for certain though that a third ledger line E has never transformed me into a “superhero” in anyone’s mind….especially not in my own.
Brad
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Last edited by Brad361 on Wed Aug 16, 2023 2:42 pm; edited 5 times in total |
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kehaulani
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Location: Hawai`i - Texas
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| Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2023 7:15 am Post subject: |
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They can get the horn punches off of a good synthesizer and never notice.
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trumpetfarts
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Joined: 24 Oct 2022
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| Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 6:14 pm Post subject: |
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Big and fat sounds higher than high and thin. Praying and hoping to hit those high notes never comes across with the confidence needed to make it sound high, not matter how high it actually is. Need an example? Go find that old clip of Rashan Ross 'squeeking' out a tripple C at Monette's factory. It's super high for sure, but doesn't sound as high as Lynn Nicholson's dubba C an octave lower, IMO.
Big core, resonant sound even just around high C sounds high to an audience. In fact, I'd say anything above A above the staff sounds high if it's a big fat sound that sizzles the ears of the hearer.
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Last edited by trumpetfarts on Mon Sep 04, 2023 9:56 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Jaw04
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Joined: 31 Dec 2015
Posts: 900
Location: Bay Area, California
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| Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 9:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Cuso wrote: | I guess what I was meaning to convey is that there are expected perfomance norms for trumpet players, and depending upon the genre an audience expects a trumpet player to have the range necessary to fulfill their musical expectations.
When those expectations are met, they can "get off". When not it's coitus interruptus. Apropos; not every person that enjoyed Maynard's concerts was a trumpet player, or even a musician.
Somehow they just found that he played exciting. |
Absolutely. The best audience is non-musicians. Children can tell when a sound is exciting or not. Trust me, I teach middle school. If I demonstrate a high note with a full, resonant tone they freak out, and say "it sounds like you are screaming!" if I squeek out a note they look underwhelmed and politely clap. They know nothing about music or trumpet but they can feel the music as well or better than any trained trumpet player. Audiences can tell when a band is tight, in tune, balanced, and excellent even if they can't articulate it the way musicians do. |
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