Breathing

Hi Luke,

A very simple trick is to actually try and breathe through the line yourself (try to take the dynamic markings into consideration), and see when you run out of breath. Obviously, there are more elements to take into consideration, but you're pretty much safe with that trick, as a wind instrument player will generally have a better breath than you.

In general, the higher the dynamics, the more air it will require. Also, for most instruments, the higher the range, the louder it gets, and the more air it will require. But that's not always true, for example, it can sometimes be difficult for French Horn players to play high notes at a loud dynamic... Also, some instruments require a lot of air to play very low notes.

 

I was quite happily breathing along to the parts in my piece but had feedback that it's wasn't realistic. I just blow into my thumb knuckle which I saw on one of Mike's classes. I'm gonna say it was the Virtuosity one. Obviously I have fish lungs

 

Yes, getting a breath controller could be a good idea. I was thinking of getting one myself but I'm also afraid I'm gonna get tired blowing in a piece of plastic for hours. Plus, I've been following Mike's advice and worked a lot on my modwheel technique; so I don't wanna swap it for another controller that I would have to train with, because breathing is definitely a skill

 

I have my own pros and cons for using a breath controller - but in general I would say it's not needed. If a breath controller worked more like a real instrument i would say it's invaluable, but I haven't seen it yet.

I did make a short video though, on how to work with brass phrasing from my Neanderthal understanding. I still vocalize phrases often - I think this is essential for figuring out how to "spend" your air during a phrase... in my case I'm pretty sure this method is harder on the lungs than actual brass breath support - So you the plus side is that it will be written in a way that doesn't require the lungs of a king. One of the things I learned early on writing choral music is that throwing an 8th rest at the end of a measure does NOT work pleasantly. It'll get rushed to either get cut off early, jump the gun on the next measure or come in late. If you give them a full quarter they don't get frantic and have time to get some air and reset before the start of the next phrase refocused.

 

Get the TEC breath controller Luke, they're cheap (€100 I think) and quite good fun. As a bonus you get to realise how unfit you are ( OK, I got to realise how unfit I was...)

 

It's interesting to see how we turned a conversation about orchestration into a conversation about getting a new piece of gear.

 

Fool me 17 times shame on you... fool me 18 19 20.. 27 28 29... 87 times, shame on me

I was financially irresponsible about my purchases before it was cool

 

A) Get to know a woodwind/brass player. B)Transcribe many well written pieces for woodwinds and take a note of the patterns. C) Learn to play the instrument yourself.

 

- Generally speaking, wind players will be able to breath (quickly) between phrases if need be, so it shouldn't be a problem. (Unless your phrases are impossibly long)

- These breath marks can be notated in the score, with the use of an apostrophe, or left up to the performer.

- Also, the dynamics/articulations/range should not change the amount of air required, as a professional player will be using the same amount of pressure throughout no matter the music.

 

I don't think the last part of your statement is physically possible... the only wind instrument I have at my disposal is a melodica, maybe a recorder somewhere, and my voice all of which require more air to create more volume


I'm not sure where you got that information, there just isn't a way I can rationalize that physically, or based on personal experience

 

I completely understand that this may seem contradictory and it definitely goes against what you naturally would do!

From personal experience, I can assure you that the performer should keep the same airflow throughout regardless of the notes/dynamics/etc.

In reality, the amount of air "let-into" the instrument is actually controlled by the embouchure, rather than the lungs/diaphragm. The process is similar to a valve/hose, where the pressure remains constant from the source but is controlled at the top. (valve)

This misconception is quite common and most novice players will not provide enough air for quieter/lower passages which ultimately creates a muffled, unclear sound.

 

well speaking from a singer's perspective I can tell you that many noobish singers waste like 90% of their air just leaking/breathiness, so I get the "wasting" 100%. but I don't think a reasonably professional player would have that issue...

for instance, the tenor part here gets rough if you make a mistake, you'll be turning blue:

that's without taking breaths not afforded to you. If you do it correctly - you should be able to keep volume and last the phrase, but you're running out of gas and drifting into the gas station before the last few chords.

 

that's also a good example, notice the play between the tenor and the bass at 1:40, was an excuse to give the tenors a breath, while adding some textural interest

 

There are two main situations when you run out of air.
The first is an endless row of notes without rests (like the typical mockup ostinatos).
The second are too long notes (tied over several bars).

All more or less 'musical' situations are no problem. Brass and wind players will find a place where they can shorten notes and breath fast. 'Musical' means phrases - like sentences in speech. You don't have to think about breathing while talking. But count loud from 1 to 100 as fast as you can and you'll get out of air and have to interrupt your rhythm. Count to ten and then from 11 to 20 and everything is ok.

Lower instruments need more air. The bass trombone more than the tenor trombone. The tuba more than the bass trombone. Baritone sax more than the altos. Bass flute more than piccolo.

Beside breathing brass instruments need rests. Playing brass is like holding a cup of coffee with a stretched out arm. No problem to do but after a while you need a rest. A few seconds rest is enough.

If you change comping patterns either in rhythm or instrumentation every few bars you'll have a more colorful arrangement and will very rarely run into breathing problems.

 

So far I've only worked with amateur and semi-pro players, and one of my close friends is a clarinetist who I often write for. I can defenitely tell you that the amount of air required changes according to range/dynamics/articulations. And even though the amount of air is controlled by the embouchure, it doesn't change the fact that more air goes into the instrument; therefore the player may run out of air quicker.

That said, I don't think we have to worry too much about that, as most experienced players know how to control their breath. Correct me if I'm wrong but, again, I think that the "Breath it yourself" method is pretty safe...

 

Didn't think about arms getting tired