Lower Instruments

Violoncello all the way...I still suck at it, though...:(

anyone i need help playig extremly loud on a crappy tuba can anyone help me or give me some like things i could do to play louder

TONS of air. Why do you want to play loud? Marching band? A tuba itself should be plenty loud for indoor ensembles. I'm learning tuba right now, Sousaphone actually. How crappy is the tuba? Even if it has a small crack ( air leaks ) you can still get very loud. What are you looking for, very loud, or extra loud with that brassy edge? If you want extra loud and brassy you really have to punch it. Try repeating slow quarter notes on different open-fingered notes (like low Bb, F, and high Bb for a BBb tuba/Sousaphone), and really punch each one, not stopping until you get what you want. You may have to tweak your embourchure until you get the right sound. Start quiet, though. Make sure your cheeks aren't puffing out, I know its hard, but you have to. Also, support. Breathe from the diaphragm, not from your chest. Check this by making sure your shoulders don't rise when you inhale and you stomach seems to expand instead of your chest.

And what use is it to be very loud if you can only do it for a half of a second? Do breathing exercises to train yourself to take in as much air as you can and let it out slowly, in say, 16 or more counts at BPM = 60 - 100. Practice holding a note at mezzo-piano or mezzo-forte as long as you can, it really helps after a while.

Hope this helps any. :thumbsup:

I like bass instruments.

I'm currently learning the clarinet, but I really wanted a bass clarinet. Unfortunately those are hard to come by on my budget so I opted for the clarinet.

I'm hoping to get a cello soon too. I'd actually like to have a double bass, but once again, the budget ditates that I start on an inexpensive cello or nothing at all.

Well, I used to play the violoncello and I still consider it my primary instrument. Otherwise, I usually favour soprano/alto instruments.

The extracurricular concert band at school (... which is rather small for a concert band, too) is severely lacking in bass instruments. I think we had one bass clarinet and one trombone for half the year last year.

Oooh, that hurts. There's nothing worse than a top-heavy band. My marching band is like 180 members, and I am one of three tubas. We have 6 baritones and 6 trombones, though, so it's not too bad, but seriously lacking in basses.

Yeah, just adding one bass clarinet made quite an immediate difference.

We ended up playing with another half a band for half the time we spent on stage at the concert, though, so we had a few trombones at least. (Apparently the lower-level band classes were really awful this year, and our band director ended up having to take most of them out. And our band classes are divided by academic level, by the way—which doesn't really work if one has prior experience, but meh.)

Band's not very popular at my school or in my area, apparently. Heck, they haven't had any classes in the fourth/fifth year for a few years, I believe—apparently we should this year, though. (I hope ;_; ).

Haha. Eupho is my primary instrument. But I have also played tuba, horn, bassoon and play trombone and cello too. I tend to favour bass, although trumpet was my first "band" instrument.

I remember when I first started high school we had a lot of bands;

3 concert bands,

3 stage bands,

a string orchestra and 2 sax ensembles.

But then the year after we lost one stage and concert band because music is becoming less popular. =[. But I'm in them all anyway so it doesn't really matter much. haha.

cello and tuba. (and piano, but that doesn't really count as a 'low' instrument.)

I play tuba as my primary too, and a crap load of other instruments for my secondary,

yeah keep on playing the tuba It's get's pretty exciting after awhile.

Heck, it's exciting just to carry the thing around in public. Especially without a case.

"Whoa...... look at that....... "

"Is that a tuba???"

"Dude, what kinda horn is that? That's a big horn!"

"Man, you know that thing's all dented up, right? Is that from having sex with it or what?" <- :w00t:

Yeah, carrying a tuba around is a great social experience. :thumbsup:

I am a cellist first.

In regard to Zhou's comment, no instrument is easy to play or easier than another.

It's amazing how instruments like the tuba are famous for being low, whereas in concertoes (is that the correct plural?) the composers seem to delibrately make the tune as high as possible... maybe it's because my high register is non-existant, so it becomes a lot less obvious...

concertoes (is that the correct plural?)

I'm guessing it's of Italian origin, so that'd be "concerti"."concertos" is also acceptable according to the dictionary—not "-toes" likely due to its foreign origin.