[Trombone-l] The big dark bass trombone sound

[Daniel Pliskin]

> Since two or three weeks the director asks me to get a "darker" "more like a
> tuba" sound. Well. If he wants that sound he will get that sound, but how
> can I make my sound darker? I play plenty of long tones, listening to
> myself, but the sound doesn't really get darker, what to do? How practice?

It all depends on what your present tone sounds like.  If you have a blaring tone, you could mellow that out by relaxing and by blowing less air through the trombone.  If you don't sound as mellow as you could, with your present equipment, then having someone listen to you play and comment, could be very helpful and nobody would be more appropriate than a good teacher.  

If your tone is already mellow then there may not be anything you can do to make a trombone sound more like a tuba.

A mouthpiece with a larger and/or deeper cup may help, but will also make it harder to play high notes.  You might also get a more mellow tone by going to a mouthpiece with a larger backbore.  But although they will give you a more mellow tone, they will not make a trombone sound like a tuba.  

On the other hand, you could do a few things to sound less like a trombone.  Try taking a breath before every note, like an um-pah player.  Maybe you could use a cloth mute, draped over the bell.  You could come in late on every note.  You could aim the trombone away from the conductor or into the music stand.  

I know a lot of y'all play tuba and I don't want to come across sounding as if I don't like tubas. 

DanP


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