Higher than the top of the beat

[BopEuph]

On sticking valves the old Besson three valve Eb that I have had intermittent sticking valves, that sticking has been cured with: repeated cleaning of the (inside of) the valve casings, repeated cleaning of the valves, clearing of (tiny amounts of) muck and burrs from the casing keyways, plenty of oil, and plenty of use (playing). Your valves springs are likely to already be OK but a fresh set won’t be expensive, ’always’ oil your valves before a performance; sticking valves are almost always and an avoidable impediment.

Yeah, I'm thinking I need to run something through that casing again tonight, but we really only get a half-hour of prep before downbeat, and because the horn is set up with the mic, I just leave it there. I think when I get home, I'm going to try to flood the leadpipe to main slide with vinegar, and see what that does in the way of helping.

In terms of oil, I remember seeing something about basically going "overboard" with lamp oil, in a way that it coats the inner tubing of the horn to help protect it. @bloke , do you know what I'm talking about? Because I'm not sure I have it right.

Currently using classic Hetman, but hoping to ship the valves off after this run to a guy for a full rebuild. There's some pitting/plating wear on the valves, and the slides have some alignment issues, so I'm going to just bite the bullet and get them fixed for a fraction of what a new 3/4 BBb would cost me.

[bloke]

Last night, I played a very easy job - other than driving back-and-forth from the two rehearsals and the performance.

All I was asked to contribute was the Star-Spangled Banner and a sort of noisy directionless fanfare written by Hailstork.

That having been said, with this large B-flat - with less characteristic “front” in the sound - I was even more “on it” - time-wise – than normal. Without boasting - if you’ve heard any of my recorded performances, i’m not one to come in late.
I never accomplish this by “anticipating“, and I discovered this during the rehearsals - since we’ve been talking about this.
Rather, I accomplish this by listening and making sure that the corporate sound is not heard before my sound is heard. I just don’t think there’s a more accurate way to do this.

I played a little game during the tuning notes, to see if I could come in exactly with the bass trombonist when he sounded his A. Again, this is new to me instrument is a little different from the one I’ve been playing for so many years.
(I later apologized to him, and explained what I was doing… He told me he actually didn’t even notice.)

[Mary Ann]

Well, today I played "as if a grace note" before the top of the beat and did not get any funny looks. I will continue unless told otherwise. He DID say my sound was late getting to him, so I think this is likely my best bet if if I can just get used to it. Funny it has not come up before, but also I never actually asked a conductor before about it. And amateur groups, they pretty much take what they can get and someone who can hit the notes and be musical is welcome.

[BopEuph]

Something I teach to all of my students is clapping with the metronome. When a percussionist practices time, many of the best timekeepers start by practicing quarter notes with a metronome. Even the best drummers start with slow fundamentals! The object being to hit the drum so perfectly in time with the metronome that you cannot hear it at all. Doesn't even have to be loud. Because of that, clapping works.

I have my students clap quarter notes and strive to clap so on the beat that they cannot hear the metronome. The first few times I did this, I panicked and thought the metronome stopped, but it never did.

Once they get to that point, they get a quarter note exercise with the same task. Brass players get the exercise below that Paul Ebbers had me do way back in 1999. I still do it myself to this day, with a metronome as a part of my 90+ minute daily routine (sometimes up one and down one octave). I really credit this one exercise (as well as commercial genre bass transcriptions) to helping me play tuba in time, as well as really honing articulations.

[Mary Ann]

I remember teaching an amateur horn player how to play with the metronome -- and he was technically proficient on the horn but did not understand how to play with a metronome. He would play "just after" he heard the metronome and swear he was with it. After I demonstrated by clapping, he exclaimed, "Oh you are not supposed to be able to HEAR the metronome." And then he had it. Light bulb for a person who had majored in horn in college for a couple of years and was now 60, and who had never been taught that particular thing.

[BopEuph]

I swear, it's infuriating when playing with an orchestra with click, because they seem to do exactly that.

[Mary Ann]

And just for the record, I was electric bassist for a gigging country-like band way back when, and we made what was then an LP. I also played electric bass for the community college band when I went back in my 30s for my BSEE, because I was not yet a brass player and they supplied the equipment. That was after the five years of teaching private lessons on violin, piano, and guitar. So tuba is not my first bass instrument.