Belgian trumpet soloist Jeroen Berwaerts combines immense technical prowess with beautiful sensitivity across a huge range of styles. His CV is extraordinary, boasting solo appearances with orchestras across the globe, teaching commitments in Hannover and London, as well as a really interesting relationship with Yamaha.
What first drew you to the trumpet? Who or what were your early musical influences?
My father was the key. He played euphonium in the hometown band and brought a trumpet home. He did teach me the first notes. About half a year later I had my first real teacher at a music school, he was a Horn player , very much focused on a nice round and warm sound, that sound idea never left me. I also switched to the cornet at the beginning years because that trumpet was too heavy for me.
You had significant success as a young soloist – at what point did you know that you wanted a career as a trumpet player?
I cannot remember that I ever wanted to become anything else in my life. After hearing and seeing a concert of the Philip Jones brass ensemble in Kerkrade (Holland) I told my father on the way home , that’s what I wanna do. I must have been around 9 or 10 years old.
Your early competition successes must have helped to open some doors for you? How did this success influence the pattern of your current working life?
I realize now that these competitions at young age, as well as concerts or performance situations, are the best base to have for security on stage later on. Due to the fact that I have always performed or competed, the stage as well as the challenge to conquer pieces feel very much like home for me.
You have received critical acclaim for your interpretations of many different musical styles – do you find it difficult to ’switch gear’ between them?
With the right equipment and the correct mindset it’s not really a problem. I find ‘variety’ one of the most beautiful sides of being a trumpet player.We can compare it with being a Decathlon athlete. It’s very challenging to switch between styles, instruments, including many different colors and moods, but it’s never boring 🙂
Do you have any regular practise routines that you use?
Oh yes, I have my favorites like Charles Colin lip flexibilities and vincent cichowicz. But also Caruso, Arban….. some of them are always around and some come and go 🙂 I like the balance between a secure feeling (what we now) and new challenges (the unknown). But most important for me, when I practice I probably sing about 50% of the time and play 50%. I see the trumpet as my own voice-extension.
Do these routines change a lot depending on what repertoire you are working on?
When I am working on a big program or physically demanding works (so practically all the time :-)), I try to never neglect the “sports” aspect of the job.The actual work I am doing is a combination between high-performance sports and musicianship. And yes, there are great routines to support different issues that come up depending on the works we play.
To what extent does your equipment need to change depending on what you are working on?
I have never been too much into trying out thousands of mouthpieces and trumpets, I need equipment that I trust, that’s it. The mouthpiece I play is a 30 year old 1,5c Bach. It’s so old that my friends at Yamaha have to change the head of the lead pipe when I am trying out there newest babies.
What key advice do you have for today’s young and aspiring trumpet players?
Practise, practise, practise ! And read the “ten rules for students and teachers” from John Cage.
Can you please talk a little about your relationship with Yamaha and how you have worked to develop the right instrument and mouthpiece combinations for you?
The most important thing for me, working with Thomas, Timo and Eddy is that they understand my language. Talking about sound is mostly very abstract and at that point you need a good understanding, that works great. Like I wrote before, I was never so much into changing material but last year, we worked on a Bflat and I have never played an instrument that good. It speaks as if I can just sing in it.
What are you currently working towards? Do you have any up and coming projects that you would like to talk about?
My personal challenges are a program in April where I will play Michael Haydn C-Major concerto in combination with a very demanding work by Viennese composer HK Gruber. And in May another challenging program together with Reinhold Friedrich where I will perform rather modern works by Hindemith, M.B.Watkins, Ligeti and Hosokawa.Before these events I’ll have the pleasure to be working with the brass sections of several nice orchestras in Germany, mostly in a “lead/play” function.
We will be performing (mostly streaming for now) original works for brass by Tomasi, Grieg, Britten, Henze and many other composers. Between these soloistic pleasures there is the red wire of education. As much as I love to perform and be on stage, it is always the greatest pleasure to work with my students in Hannover or to come to London to the RAM and work with our students there. I find education such a wonderful field, it’s demanding at one side but you are also able to learn so much yourself continuously. Maybe THE most meaningful profession.
We are living through difficult times in the midst of COVID-19 lockdowns across the globe. How has this affected your preparations and projects?
Of course there was a period where most concerts where cancelled but I tried to re-orientate immediately and see where the possibilities are. I am very grateful and lucky to not needing so much to be motivated. Trying to motivate others is actually the best motivation for me.
And of course being on the road so much it was a new and fantastic feeling to be home and in one place for such a long time, I forgot how that felt.
Sign up here for new blog articles emailed direct to your inbox:
A renowned soloist and educator, Eric Aubier is held in the highest regard by musicians around the world. He talks to me here about being a child prodigy and breaking into the industry at a young age, his trumpet heroes, his glittering career so far, and the challenges that we must all face up to as we navigate our way through this global pandemic…
Can you give a little background to your relationship with the trumpet? What were your early influences?
It could be summed up with this statement: “I did not choose the trumpet; it was it who chose me”.
In fact, I started the trumpet by pure chance! I come from a modest background and we lived in a working-class suburb of Paris. My parents were looking for a cultural activity to do during the schoolchildren’s free day in France. It turns out that we had a neighbour in our building who brought his children to our city’s music conservatory, which had just opened. I started doing music theory with my older brother for several months. I was 6. When the principal asked us to choose an instrument, my parents didn’t have the money!
So it was not possible to buy! Luckily, a neighbour had an old Couesnon trumpet in a cupboard at his house and he offered to lend it to us. My brother and I started like this! Also, there was no trumpet teacher and we started with a horn teacher.
At that time, I had no notion of music and was not particularly attracted to it! I just obeyed my father who was rather bossy! The beginnings in music theory were difficult, I did not understand anything, but on the trumpet, it worked straight away! It was easy for me! This is the first contact with the trumpet. So, it was not the trumpet that I liked but more the fact of being highlighted. I saw my father’s satisfaction there. Obviously very early on I was made aware of the great master of the trumpet Maurice André and I started listening to his recordings on vinyl records.
You could say that all my early years were influenced only by Maurice André.
In conclusion, in this time I did not particularly like the trumpet or the music but the importance it gave me. I really discovered the music and the instrument much later.
When did you decide that you wanted a career in music?
It’s very simple, never! It just happened on its own, without having to think about it as if there couldn’t be any other way. This is due to the fact that I joined Maurice André at the CNSM in Paris very early on. I was barely 14 years old. I got my Trumpet award when I was just 16 years old (Masters equivalent today).
In fact, in my youth, I would have liked to do scientific work. I was very interested in sciences like astronomy, molecular biology, nuclear physics, all things in the world infinitely large and small. Later, I almost became a racing driver or restaurateur! But this is another story!
To sum up, I didn’t choose the profession of musician, it’s not that I was against it because it worked pretty well for me, but I would never have dared to tell my father that I would like to do other things. So, the question never really arose.
What styles of music have you listened to most over the years?
My early listening was for years mainly Maurice André but also Sydney Bechet and Louis Amstrong. I actually listened to what my parents bought or liked! It wasn’t until my teenage years, when I attended the CNSM, that I was introduced to other genres of music by my classmates.
It was the heyday of Bill Chase and Maynard Ferguson who became my “secret” idols hahaha. I loved Count Basie and the big bands too.
I can say that I really “discovered” music when I entered the Paris Opera, I was 19 years old. Then I traveled to many countries, entered trumpet competitions and discovered other worlds and other paths that made me who I am today. Now I love the violin, I love lyrical art, jazz in general but especially to compensate for my frustration of not being able to express with my trumpet what can be expressed with a violin, a human voice or a freedom of improvisation whether in phrasing like Clifford Brown, in colour like Chet or Miles or in the humanity in Armstrong who remains for me the undisputed master.
After breaking through into the profession at a young age, were there any particular challenges that you faced? Would you do anything differently if you had your time over again?
The answer is yes, twice! I arrived in an adult world and I was still a child or almost, I only had social relations with my parents or almost and it was very difficult both in my beginnings at the CNSM in Paris and when I started to work in the orchestra. I was not prepared.
As everything had been easy for me at the start, I came up against the “real” world, that of rivalry and competition. There is no empathy but the harsh reality on the ground. At the time, few very young people like me (as a trumpeter), if any, had faced this kind of situation. Today it’s very different, a lot of young people reach a high level very quickly and have learned from the experiences of people like me.
I found myself without a teacher very early on and suffered greatly from this loneliness. I was set apart. I had to do it myself.
Looking back, yes, I would do it differently now, but I had neither the idea nor the possibility at the time. It was the time when everyone wanted to be Maurice André, to look like Maurice André.
We were considered by foreign trumpeters as privileged to have the chance to rub shoulders with the Master. Of course, I never thought of going anywhere else because we felt like we had the “best” here! Yet this is what I missed in my studies in my opinion.
In demand as a soloist and educator, how do you manage your practice routines? Do these stay the same or do they change drastically depending on what you are working on?
I gradually built my practice routines with my personal experiences and especially with my students. I started teaching at 17! I had time to experiment a lot! In the 1980s I was a colleague of Pierre Thibaut at the Paris Opera Orchestra and as Pierre only spoke of methods, mouthpieces and trumpets, I was able to know a lot of things without asking anything hahaha! That was all that he talked about! As I teach a lot, I mainly work on routines, technical, warm-ups with the students. I don’t change my routine much, but my exercises are numerous and have a wide field of action.
So, I would say that depending on my performance in concert, I manage differently by increasing or decreasing the ranges of certain exercises and choosing the most appropriate.
Can you take us through some of your career highlights?
I have flashbacks coming back to me. I don’t know if these are the most emblematic, but they are the ones that I have not forgotten, and which obviously marked me.
A Christmas mass that my primary school principal had asked me to do with him (he was an amateur lyric singer!) and who gave me some coins at the end of our performance saying “Here is your first fee!”. I was 9 or 10 years old!
My first real solo concert with the conservatory orchestra on April 28, 1972, I played Haydn on C trumpet. In fact, I didn’t have any others …
Concert at the Salle Pleyel in 1974 with the Philharmonic Radio orchestra! I played Hummel still in C!
Recording of my first CD in 1987 with the Paris Bastille Opera Orchestra with Marius Constant.
My recital with percussion (Heptade by Jolivet etc ..) in Santa Barbara at ITG 1989.
My tour of 40 concerts in the USA with a French chamber orchestra in 1988.
Recital with the only piano available completely out of tune in Douala, Cameroon in Africa.
Concert at Theater Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1995.
My recital at the ITG in Long Beach in 1996
My meeting with James Watson, whom I loved.
My concert with organ (Thierry Escaich) and 235 trumpeters that I conducted at Suntory Hall in Tokyo in 2010
Concert in the El Jem arena in Tunisia in front of thousands of Muslim faithful (Obliged to wait after the 1st movement of Hummel because it was the time of prayer) I ended up without light because the sun had set!
But above all, to have a family in a lot of countries around the world thanks to my students.
Can you talk a little about the horns and mouthpieces that you play, and the process of working with Yamaha to find the right setup?
Music for me it is less a rigid art than a philosophical allegory!
I find this symbolism in the Yamaha instruments that I have been playing for 20 years now. They are technically reliable, potentially full of color and nuance but if they were to have only one quality, I would say they are … unconstrained and liberated, they know how to accompany you in the effort but also know how to be forgotten to allow full artistic expression to develop. However, not everything was perfect at the time, but Yamaha has always had the concern to develop its instruments by synthesizing all the requests of artists on the 5 continents.
We can say that Bob Malone’s commitment was decisive. Yamaha, for example, today has one of the best C-trumpets in the world, if not the best! Anyway, I sincerely believe they have the best, most consistent and homogeneous line of trumpets in the world. The engineering process really evolved with the artist models of Malone. I did not intervene directly in the development process of the instrument but indirectly asking for years to make me Malone lead pipes for my instruments! They finally heard my requests and Yamaha hired Bob!
Bob had made the trumpet for me in the past and prior to my collaboration with Yamaha I only played instruments that were reworked or made by him. In fact, at the start of my collaboration with Yamaha I continued for a while to play the C Yamaha trumpet with an MC2 lead pipe.
Regarding the mouthpieces, with me it’s very simple! I have been playing the same C and B flat trumpet mouthpiece for 35 years now.
I have recorded almost all of my records with it. It was made by a real master: Toshiaki Kameyama. He was working for Yamaha in Germany at the time.
My first quality criterion for a mouthpiece is above all the homogeneity in the range without any compromise on the sound and whatever the technical difficulty.
I think this mouthpiece is very multi-skilled, both for orchestral and solo play. It was designed on this basis. It can give a lot for those who know how to demand perfection.
Besides my old mouthpiece, I play new mouthpieces that Kameyama made for me for piccolo, E flat, D trumpets…
How have you managed during this global lockdown? How do you think that musicians are going to need to adapt in the future to deal with may be a very different musical world?
Like the whole world, we have all been surprised by the pandemic and the strictness of the new measures taken by the various governments. In France there is lockdown as in many other countries!
This created a state of bewilderment and putting us into this state unknown to almost everyone.
For us musicians it is clear that our activity was and is still being questioned, leading us to ask ourselves questions about our future.
Paradoxically, this experience could be beneficial in the long term! In fact, I have been wondering for several years about the evolution of our profession. We can see that things have evolved considerably since the 1980s and that our profession is in decline overall. During my studies and in the early days of my career, the world has changed a lot. We can no longer compare the situations of a musician starting his career today and when I started mine for example.
With this pandemic “adventure”, it may well be that we are rushing things because it is certain that the world after will be different.
As in all of human history if we are to survive, we will have to adapt! I think this situation is not new if you look at the history of the world. Regularly, particularly with technological advances, professions must evolve. We have to constantly reinvent ourselves in fact. The problem is that today everything is going very fast, too fast and if we don’t anticipate we can disappear quickly enough! For us musicians and trumpeters, what solutions do we have? Of course, all is not over and that concerts will still exist after this crisis, but it is clear that the trend is towards a certain decline in the performing arts with or without a pandemic! Today it is more complicated to move people, the average age in the “classical” concert is still very high. It becomes very difficult to fill the rooms.
During the lockdown we saw loads of people coming together to create virtual recordings. Videos of this type have invaded the web. I myself have initiated projects and participated in others. We have all done, and even now, lessons by videoconference on Zoom or whatever. Everyone had fun with it! However, is this the future of our profession? I am not sure …
Today we see flourishing the first virtual concerts broadcast on the net or the broadcast of programs recorded in the form of virtual performances. Is this the future?
For me, this is only part of our future. We still have to reinvent the essentials! Because if we transpose our business “from before” to other broadcast medium without changing anything, the result will not be much different in the end.
This means that for me, with or without a pandemic, the essential remains to be reinvented. As for starting the crisis, I asked my students to do a short essay on the future of our profession with the new components of distancing. Well, none of them did! I think they are not really aware of all of this.
In short, adaptation to technological tools and their uses is necessary, but it is only the means of transmission and not the crux of the matter.
Suggestions: For me the first concern is our teaching methods which are used most of the time to make instrumentalists, technicians, even “musicians”, forgetting that our future could be in the education of the public. The idea is to “build” enlightened people capable of discernment. If we browse the new media (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube) we find anything and everything! However what will determine success is the number of likes or views! Would the great soloists of yesterday turn into a Youtube artist manager? I believe their talents would not be enough!
The profession is therefore transformed into something other than purely artistic musical talent. We are in the world of imaging, 20 or 30 years ago it was almost exclusively the sound business. The technological component takes up a lot of space, but not only that. The business strategy too.
You have to recompose everything taking into account these different parameters. If you look at the “internet artists” who work or succeed today, they are nothing to do with our “soloists” from a few years ago.
Secondly, it is clear that for me, being exclusively a performing is no longer a viable future.
Basically, what interests’ people is to show a universe that is unknown to them. In our profession we reproduce a lot because the majority do what already exists. And finally, few people are able to make a real difference between the performers. The difference no longer makes on the quality because we no longer recognize ourselves in it. It is therefore necessary to evolve and personalize more than before. We must learn to exist not only with our quality of playing the trumpet but to know how to use the components of our personality to include them in our proposals. We must become as much “actors” as musicians. We can see the trend today! The evolution is more based on the looks of the performer. Obviously on a certain side because today we sell images and not just sound.
It would therefore be necessary to evolve knowing not only to offer a good performance but an entire universe in which you will be recognised by everything that makes you unique.
What other advice would you give to young and aspiring trumpet players?
I would tell them:
First, know who you want to be! Obviously for that you already need to have a certain open-mindedness and awareness of the world around you.
If you are looking for yourself, which is okay, start by thinking about who you would like to look like! Often students ask me, (to do a Masters abroad for example) who should I go to see or who could I go to see? I can’t understand this question! I answer them, who would you like to look like? Who do you admire among the existing personalities? Here is the answer! If you want to become a musician “by default”, that is to say, I study to get my diploma and I find a job to live quietly until the end of my career – so change your mind – there will soon be no space for these attitudes!
Think and anticipate! How? Listen to the world around you. Therefore? Travel!
Motivation is the main engine, it’s what starts everything! If you run out, find out why! If you can’t find it, change path!
Take advantage of the time of your studies to try to open yourself to as many things as possible, not just the trumpet and all the theoretical courses that go around. Other disciplines, other art forms or even sports or sciences.
Learn the art of challenging right from the start! Take part in promotional contests.
Know how to spotlight your talents. Be aware of who you are, what are your strengths, your weaknesses!
Have goals, feed on your dreams! Believe in what you are doing. Belief is power! Finally, perhaps the most important: Dare! Everything is impossible until you try!
Summary:
Dream! Believe! Travel! Dare!
If you do all this, you will emerge a real personality and a unique being, whatever your modes of expression are.
What are you working on at the moment?
As I mainly play abroad, the concerts have stopped for me not being able to travel at the moment. However, I continue to practice as I hope to be free again soon!
Institutionally I continue to teach mainly at the Haute Ecole de Musique in Lausanne in Switzerland.
I am waiting to be able to travel again to teach at Nagoya University of the Arts in Japan, Shobi College of Music in Tokyo as well as the Royal Academy of Music in London where I am a guest professor.
In private education, I developed my own trumpet institute where I specialize in coaching. I have given so many “classical” master classes all over the world, and today I am trying to evolve. I use my experience, notably acquired as a jury member in a large number of international competitions over the past 25 years, to manage students and prepare them as best as possible for both international and positional competitions. So, coaching to be as close as possible to the control of one’s full abilities.
I’m still recording! I have a CD of “Belle Epoque” style cornet pieces which will be released in a few weeks, a project on the works of Julien François Zbinden and a little later a project around Bach.
Chris Still is a renowned musician and educator, and I was delighted that he was able to find time to do this interview. He is currently a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the founder of ‘Honesty Pill’.
In THIS feature, Chris talks about all things trumpet! …
Please can you give a bit of background to what got you started playing the trumpet and who your early musical influences were?
My father was a really big early influence for me. He was an amateur trumpet player in the local fire Department band and would often take me along with him for rehearsals. Actually, one of my earliest musical memories was of him playing an old Shelton Brooks Dixie land tune, “The Darktown Strutters’ Ball”. I’m sure I still have that sheet music lying around in a box somewhere.
He also had a pretty extensive record collection including the Phillip Jones Brass Ensemble, and too many Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass records to count.
Like every other teenager growing up in the 80s, I also thought I was going to become the next Maynard Ferguson, but luckily, I realized at an early age that probably wasn’t a really good career path for me.
At what point in your early trumpeting did you realize that an orchestral job would be your aim?
I actually did not set out to become an orchestral trumpet player, but initially thought I would become a band teacher. In fact, I did my undergraduate double major in music education and performance at the Crane School of Music SUNY Potsdam in NY. And I think that undergraduate degree in education was one of the best things that ever happened to me. It made me a better performer, clearly a better teacher, and has helped me become a better coach as well.
I think that every performer should do some teaching, and every teacher should still get up and perform regularly. That is one of the strongest takeaways from my early career.
It wasn’t until a performance of Stravinsky’s “The Soldiers Tale”, that I realized I wanted to switch my focus to orchestral performance. I ended up going to do a Master’s degree at the New England Conservatory in Boston and that sort of set my trajectory towards orchestral performance.
How do you manage to juggle all of your other projects alongside keeping your trumpet playing at the highest level?
Other projects aside, I think the best way to answer this question is to first address how to just keep your playing at a high level in any case. And that comes from being efficient and effective in the practice room. I think this is an area most people could improve a lot. I mean, think about it. One of the biggest questions i get is how long should I practice something? This would dictate how much time you have leftover afterwards right? And there are several ways to answer this. Number one, when your mental focus begins to fade and it becomes diminishing returns, it’s time to move on. Or, if you have become physically exhausted to the point of diminishing returns that’s another good indication it’s time to move on to something else.
But the number one way to be efficient in the practice room and know when to stop, is when you have achieved your goal for that session. The problem is most people don’t actually set goals or have any metric to know if they’ve improved or achieved anything. Most musicians just spend their wheels in the practice room. So how would you ever know it’s time to move on? And that’s the problem with efficiency right there.
So to get back to your original question, I have found I have time for other projects in my life by becoming efficient with the work that I have to do for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Of course sometimes I realized that I’ve taken on too much and I have to put a project on the backburner for a while. Developing some skills to balance work life as another area I think most musicians could improve a lot.
I guess the last point to make answering this question is that the trumpet section of my orchestra is a pretty efficient machine. Everyone pulls their weight and everyone has the skills and mindset control to be effective and efficient and get the job done. When you are surrounded by people with that type of work ethic, it makes it really easy to stay in stride.
Have your practice routines and practice sessions changed much over the years?
Oh completely. My practice routines change regularly depending on what type of challenge I need to face. A great tip here is to try and practice the opposite types of challenges at home then you have to do at work. For example, if we are playing a lot of Beethoven on Rotary trumpets for a week or two, I will be sure to practice some high horn work like piccolo. Or, if we are playing some world premiere with a ton of really loud playing, my practice sessions at home look a lot more soft, low and relaxing.
But to answer the question in more of a big picture, I think it’s important to know why you are practicing a certain thing or using a certain tool in the practice room. If you understand the “why”, then you can switch up what you do whenever you want and still accomplish the goals. I think when people don’t know the purpose of a particular approach or exercise, their practice becomes a little mindless, and certainly can become boring or routine.
Another thing i should mention here is, as the years go by my level of awareness continues to rise. Every five years or so I realize that I could probably be doing something even more efficiently than I have been doing it. So I make adjustments. This is good news though because this means I am on an upward trajectory with my playing. And the only other option is to be on a downward trajectory, and I’m really not interested in that.
What are the key things that young aspiring players should concentrate on?
This is a big question. And it depends on the context. However if I were to answer generally, if I were to give you the number one thing that would fast track your improvement, is to record yourself. And I don’t mean once in a while. I mean record yourself every day, for a very short period of time, and then listen back right away while you still remember what it felt like. That is how you improve quickly. That is how you raise your levels of awareness. That is how you swallow the honesty pill and deal with the things in your playing that need to be dealt with for you to improve.
Also, take your work seriously, but don’t take yourself seriously. Musicians are really good at forgetting why they started playing an instrument in the first place…because it brought us joy. That is something that we all need to remember to connect to as we strive to become better musicians. And that is something you can do when you’re first starting out or if you’re a seasoned pro. Find the joy.
Would you say that your approach to trumpet teaching has changed much over the years, and if so, how?
One of the things I’ve noticed having been a coach and teacher for so long, is that everyone tends to make the same exact types of mistakes. In fact, in the study of excerpts, many people make the exact same mistakes over and over. So when someone comes in to study with me, my default is that i already know most of what they’re probably going to do wrong. This has saved me a lot of time and made me become a much more effective teacher.
However, one of the things that has evolved and my teaching over the past 10 years or so, is I try to create more of a thinking space for my students. I am letting them find these solutions themselves with my guidance, instead of just telling them what they’re doing wrong. I think I have realized that my number one job as a teacher is to help my students do their own best independent thinking. That is what will give them the tools to solve problems when I am not around. And that’s sort of the point of teaching isn’t it?
Trust me, I still call my students out when they make mistakes, but I have been making an effort to lead them more than just tell them what’s wrong. Funny thing is, when they record themselves, they hear their mistakes right away anyway, so I normally don’t have to say anything.
You have worked closely with a number of makers and manufacturers in making sure that you are playing gear that is best suited to you. Please can you talk a little about your relationships with any of these?
I have been a Yamaha performing artist since I was the principal trumpet of the Colorado Symphony, and can’t say enough great things about the support I have gotten from Bob Malone and my colleagues at Yamaha. The equipment is unparalleled in my opinion, and the support network that comes with it is really aligned with my needs.
Joining the Yamaha family was a really easy decision for me because i already loved their equipment and it just keeps getting better.
What has been your most enjoyable project or concert to be a part of?
That’s a tough question to answer. I’m lucky to work in an orchestra that experiments with a wide variety of genres and types of projects, so it’s hard to pick just one. I’ll narrow it down to three.
• Mahler 9 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel at the Musikverein in Vienna. It doesn’t get much better than that for me. • Anytime John Williams conducts the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl for 18,000 screaming, light saber waving fans • Playing with Herbie Hancock at Walt Disney Concert Hall and talking to him about his dogs after the concert.
What are your trumpeting ambitions for the future?
Happily, the trumpet section of the LA Phil is pretty ambitious and we are always pushing each other to improve and discover things about our playing. So I guess my ambition is to keep contributing and supporting that mission in every way I can.
Sign up here for new blog articles emailed direct to your inbox:
D.H. Lawrence writes: “Never set a child afloat on the flat sea of life with only one sail to catch the wind.” The same could easily be said about trumpet students and the importance of developing versatility in not only their playing but also their outlook on life.
To discuss how we achieve this, I have been fortunate to have the thoughts and experience of 2 fantastic trumpet players who have both made careers out of crossing musical boundaries, genres and pigeon holes.
Mike Lovatt is primarily a commercial player (John Wilson Orchestra, BBC Big Band and session and show extraordinaire) although classically trained, who is often asked to guest on principal trumpet with the major orchestras. www.mikelovatt.co.uk
Shaun Hooke is a classically trained player, now Principal Trumpet with the RTE Concert Orchestra in Dublin and regularly also plays lead trumpet with the RTE Big Band. www.dublintrumpetacademy.com
They both have some fascinating insights into approaching very similar problems and challenges, but from different perspectives.
Can you tell us a little about your background as a player, and what you got you into the trumpet in the first place?
Mike: I was born into a musical family. My Dad was head of music at a secondary school and my Mum was a fine amateur singer with the local choral society. Early in his career my Dad began to collect instruments and taught himself to play them. There were no peripatetic teachers in those days and he wanted to be able to teach well enough to form a youth orchestra within the school. By the time he retired he was conducting an orchestra of about 70 children! The trumpet was one of the many instruments lying around the house. I really wanted to play the trombone but at the age of eight my arms weren’t long enough.
Around that age on a shopping trip to the local supermarket, I was drawn to the record carousel and saw a record with a picture of a trumpet player on the front. It was Eddie Calvert ‘The Man with the Golden Trumpet’ I immediately asked if I could have it and after listening to the album I tried to play along with it using an old Selmer. I was hooked! Trumpet playing was all I wanted to do.
I began to play in my Dad’s youth orchestra and eventually the Staffordshire youth orchestra. I really wanted to be a professional and every day I would rush from school to try to play along to all sorts of records. I would pretend I was doing a concert with the Syd Lawrence Orchestra or that I was Maurice Murphy with the London Symphony Orchestra or a member of the PJBE, or the great Kenny Baker. This developed my ear not only for pitch but also for sound, style, articulation, placement of time and phrasing.
Disaster struck when aged 14; I was involved in a serious cycling accident. I lacerated my top lip and lost several front teeth. I thought my playing days were over. Thanks to the skills of the plastic surgeons of the North Staffs hospital I healed and began to try to play again. At first it was terrible, I could not produce a sound. Eventually I got it working again enough to do my grade 8 and I then auditioned for the music colleges. The range I previously had didn’t come back however and it wasn’t until I discovered the Maggio system some 10 years later that finally my chops came together.
I was fortunate to study at Trinity College of Music in the 80’s. My teacher was Norman Burgess, formally principal trumpet of the BBC concert orchestra, and later co-principal in the BBC Symphony. He taught me to be as versatile as possible with a view to being employable in the future. He also encouraged me to attend the extra-curricular college big band rehearsals run by the great Bobby Lamb. There were no Jazz courses available at music colleges back then, so I was lucky to be able to learn from these two great musicians who between them had a wealth of experience from all sides of the profession. I quickly realized that whatever style you play, a good solid technique on the instrument is essential. With a strong technical foundation and embouchure, it is possible to cope with the demands of all styles of playing.
Shaun: I grew up in Leicestershire in England. I was enormously lucky to be able to avail of free trumpet lessons provided by our County Music Service. Particularly Don Blakeson, who was taught by David Mason who in turn apparently could trace back teacher to teacher all the way back to Handel’s time! I’m doing the Messiah next week so hopefully something has worn off on me. I was also heavily involved with Enderby Silver Band. I started with them as they reformed in ’77 when I was a nipper and enjoyed many happy years growing up with so many wonderful people to mentor me.
I decided to do Chemistry at Oxford University rather than going on to music college, but I had the trumpet bug and after completing a doctorate I knew I wanted to at least give pro trumpet playing a go. Jon Holland and Wes Warren at the CBSO taught me orchestral skills and still now I put myself back in their presence the moment before I play something. What did Jon say to do here? What was Wes’s trick for this?…
Quite quickly I was appointed to Principal Trumpet in the RTE Concert Orchestra but to this day I’m still thinking about how these guys coached me and I’m passing it on to my own students.
Your job involves you constantly switching styles – do you have a regular practise routine that encompasses everything, and what are the most important things to concentrate on?
Mike: I believe production is key across all types of trumpet playing. In commercial music, big bands and some Jazz playing the style requires a more defined articulation and sometimes brightness and sizzle in the sound. I always maintain that under that brightness there should be a full broad tone across the entire register. High notes are expected in lead trumpet playing and some areas of commercial music and so should be developed. However, they must never be the be all and end all at the expense of a good sound and considered playing. Super C is almost normal range these days but it’s important to have a full rich centered sound. You should always use your ears and listen to all types of music… try playing along with the music you listen to and copy it. You could also record yourself playing different styles and listen back and compare. For a particular style to come across to the listener, it needs to be exaggerated.
Shaun: I don’t really have a set practice routine. As a full time performer, I think it’s important to have some time away from the trumpet. I try to have one day a week where I’m neither playing or studying repertoire to help clear the head and relax the muscles. My emphasis on preparation is looking after the basics. Generally, I always have plenty of strength, stamina and range because I’m working pretty constantly. There are skills however that might not be required week in week out, and these are the ones that I’m careful to maintain at home. Flexibilities and double and triple tonguing can get rusty pretty quickly if you don’t end up being asked to produce them, particularly valve/tongue coordination so these are the things I always make sure stay sharp. The other golden rule is “practice what you’re NOT doing currently.” If I’ve been doing lead big band charts at work I try to make sure I play something at home on my regular orchestral mouthpiece and something on the piccolo trumpet – choose something for my own pleasure rather than something coming up in the schedule. Vice versa, I always try to do 15-20 minutes on my lead mouthpiece, 2-3 days before I start a project that is going to need that. Other than that, I try to listen to recordings of stuff I have coming up. Not really to familiarise or learn repertoire but more to guard from getting “stuck in your ways”.
It’s nice to be inspired by others and try to do repertoire differently the next time it comes around. I listen to lots of players from the 20s,30s and 40s and try to emulate their styles. There are lots of transcriptions of their solos and I like to collect the original recordings.
Do you have a basic instrument and mouthpiece setup that covers most things, or is it very different depending on what the schedule brings?
Mike: My basic trumpet and mouthpiece set up is the same for most of the works I perform. I play my own signature model Mike Lovatt Smith-Watkins Bb Trumpet exclusively. It is a 460 bore. The bell is similar in size to a Bach 37 except that is a heavy weight. I have two gold plated instruments and one that is silver-plated. I use my own range of signature mouthpieces of which there are three models: Studio, Lead and Classical.
The majority of my playing is done on the Studio mouthpiece. On this set up I play first Trumpet in the John Wilson Orchestra, perform lead on the West End show 42nd Street and the BBC big band, and when on first trumpet in Studio sessions. Mouthpieces are very personal and what works for me may not work for someone else. Lip formation and lip thickness determine what might work and feel comfortable to the individual. My mouthpieces are perfect for the various styles required of me. It seems other players like their ability to be used in different settings. When playing in the high register, I find the Lead with its large back bore, medium shallow cup and the comfy 5ish Bach diameter rim enables me to produce a bright sound I need, and stamina is helped by the resistance being transferred to the trumpet through the large back bore. I use my classical piece (more or less a Bach 3C) for studio sessions sitting down the line, my practice and occasionally on first trumpet if I require a broader darker sound.
My instruments have different qualities because of the plating. The silver ML Smith Watkins trumpet enables me to produce a cutting bright sound not only useful in Lead but also certain styles of orchestral music too. I don’t change lead pipes for different styles of playing. I could if I wanted, as the trumpet features an interchangeable leadpipe system. However, I like to keep the feel (resistance) of the instrument the same regardless of the genre of the music I am playing to help me with my production and familiarity in supporting the notes and sound. I use the ML designed pipe that comes with the trumpet as it balances perfectly with the 37-size bell and the bore size of the instrument. The most important thing here is sound quality whether it is classical, jazz, lead in a big band, pop horn section or solo.
Shaun: To be honest, kit is everything in my job. We try of course to perform in the correct style, but the range of sounds and timbres required is so varied that it really means you need some different equipment to achieve that. At the beginning of my career I did that mostly by playing on my beloved Bach (then later Yamaha) B-flat and using quite a variety of mouthpieces. It had a degree of success, but it is hard work on the embouchure, chopping and changing rims, cup depths, throats, backbores etc… and I certainly felt that my tuning and accuracy suffered.
For the past number of years I have had a different approach. My responsibilities at RTE were putting more emphasis on my role as lead trumpet in the RTE Big Band and I felt I needed a dedicated lead instrument. I tried great gear from Shires, Smith-Watkins and Schilke but I fell in love with B&S’s JBX trumpet. When I’d decided to buy this, the store asked if I’d like to try the B&S Challenger II trumpet (their standard classical model). Well I loved it. So now I have two B flat trumpets, one for classical work and one for light repertoire. The huge advantage for me is that the reverse leadpipe is almost the same on both, the bore is the same, the bell profile is the same, so the tuning slots and the way it “blows” feels entirely similar, making it so easy to switch back and forth.
But the JBX bell is lightweight and has a French bead giving it a really exciting live fizzing sound. Whilst the Challenger II bell (a 43) is much more solid and rounded sound much like the Bachs I’d been playing for the previous 30 years. Since then I have B&S C and E-flat trumpets both light and heavyweight bells. As to mouthpieces I use a Bach 1 1/4c on both of my B-flats for orchestral (Challenger II) and “Show” work (JBX). For lead work I use a Marcinkiewitz 3/3C. I turned up at work once without my old lead mouthpiece and was loaned this by my excellent co-principal Eoin Daly – I liked it so much I bought 2 so I could keep one at home and one at work and therefore wouldn’t be caught out again. I have a Schilke piccolo that I use for recording work but have recently just bought a Scherzer rotary valve piccolo for baroque and orchestral repertoire. Again, it’s all about making the right sound. I use a Marcinkievitz 7s mouthpiece on the piccolo. I found one in 1989 in an “odds and sods” box at a band competition thinking it would be a good “screamer” mouthpiece but it didn’t work for that. It got me through a tour of Brandenburg 2 though so I’ve stuck with it.
How has the versatility that you require affected the way that you approach teaching? Do you recommend that advancing students work on a wide variety of playing styles or concentrate on fundamentals?
Mike: The versatility that I have developed over the years is something I try to pass on to my students. I encourage listening to all types of music. This is essential for stylistic development. Occasionally this is done in lessons but I encourage listening to be done on a regular basis to keep ones ear in tune with different styles. A couple of years ago I gave a trumpet class at a major conservatoire in London and when I asked if anyone had listened to any music recordings or attended concerts recently, not one of the 12 classical trumpet students had. One of them admitted to listening to Bruno Mars three days previously!
I teach fundamental trumpet techniques. First and foremost, I make sure the student has a solid embouchure formation and can make a good basic sound. I’m a stickler for note production and articulation so there are exercises based around those techniques using Arban and Schlossberg. I use Caruso, Stamp, Maggio and my own ideas to develop the embouchure. I try to instill playing with reverence for the music. Long notes are important to develop resonance and to find the ‘soul’ of the note and the core of ones playing. When you have control of the sound, this can be adapted and applied to whatever style you are playing. I teach different vibrato techniques and ways to help note projection whether at the back of an orchestra, in a west end pit or in a studio microphone technique to record well.
Shaun: The music business is hard and getting harder. I always encourage my students to be flexible even if you’re pretty sure that you will be going in one particular direction. Make sure you have the skills to be able to say ‘yes’ to the next call and go in and do a good job. It is a wonderful way to earn a living but at the outset, you need to be out there making contacts and proving your professional credentials. One of my colleagues in the RTE CO was a regular in a German Beer band to put money on the table while he was trying to break into the orchestral scene. Work hard but don’t be over focused is my advice.
What is easier, a classically trained player playing light music or a commercial player playing in a classical orchestra section?
Mike: As someone who has dipped my toe into both sides of the profession, I am inclined to say that both styles are as difficult as the other to play convincingly. You need to apply yourself honestly to the style and exaggerate it enough to come across to the listener. I have always had the view that trumpet playing is trumpet playing and that the most important quality to have is solid musicianship built from listening. Always listen carefully to your sound and the music going on around you. If you’re playing third trumpet in a classical section on a film soundtrack recording, you then respect that and whoever is on first trumpet. Try to blend with them and above all support the sound style they are playing. The same goes for an orchestral player playing big band repertoire on a symphonic pops date. I have played with orchestras from San Francisco Symphony, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, CBSO, BBC Symphony, LSO, LPO, Philharmonia, BBC Scottish, BBC Philharmonic, RTE Concert, Gothenburg Symphony, BBC Concert and many more. On many of these occasions my role is to help shape and lead classical players into becoming commercial big band section players in a three-hour rehearsal followed by a concert. Some seem more capable of giving up to the music and using their ears more than others. If they have a solid technique and command of their instrument, then they are more able to adapt successfully.
To quote John Wilson “anyone who can play good lead trumpet in a dance band can play first trumpet in a symphony orchestra”.
I think it can be difficult for ‘classical’ players to get used to playing swing quavers, combined with the way in which articulation changes in commercial playing. I always try to help by singing the phrasing to them and making them feel confident they can do it. It’s also important to tell the players to articulate and play the shorts and longs accurately.
Shaun: I think that it is not always right to pigeon hole people like that, but there are people who specialise of course. I remember taking the chance to have Tony Fisher come over to cover a James Bond concert for me when my wife was about to pop with our first child. Of course, I waxed lyrical to our management – he was interviewed for RTE radio about the very first Bond sessions including of course the original theme track – it was a brilliant week. Then the baby was born, and I was gone for a few weeks and they asked him to come and do a week of Mendelsohn… he gracefully declined – although it would have been interesting I expect!
I come from a classical background, trained over the years and “on the job” to do light repertoire, and I have local guys here that slot in well in the RTECO and RTE Big Band, but similarly we have guys who mostly do commercial work who are fine sitting down the line on orchestral repertoire. We have lots of mixed programmes where this is required. All the “classical” guys have plenty of “light” experience and the commercial guys are for the most part classical trained so have orchestral skills and can TRANSPOSE. That is the key!
What challenges and projects have you got coming up?
Mike: I’m so happy I’ve managed to carry on doing many varied projects, gigs and recordings with orchestras, bands, groups and big bands all over the world. My future projects include my first solo album with the amazing Fodens Brass Band, directing the Stockholm Radio Symphony Brass in a concert of Billy May’s Big Fat Brass music, big band lead trumpet sessions for Gary Barlow, UK jazz festivals this summer with the Skelton Skinner all-stars, concerts with the John Wilson Orchestra, concerts and broadcasts on lead trumpet with the BBC Big Band, continuing on lead trumpet for 42nd street and as guest first trumpet for the Symphony in Antwerp. I am fortunate to be looking forward to such a stylistically varied schedule.
Shaun: A few highlights of upcoming stuff are: The Classical Series at the National Concert Hall featuring Mozart, Mendelssohn and Beethoven; studio work with Irish singer/songwriters for rock station RTE2FM; Giselle with visiting English National Ballet, Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle with the Irish National Opera. Up to our summer holidays we are also doing 4 sell-out shows at the Donnybrook Dublin Rugby Stadium and The Marquee in Cork with RTE2FM of 90s dance anthems! Hopefully we will tour this show in Australia in the autumn.
With a trumpet in his hands, Eric Miyashiro is a force of nature. The powerful sound, blistering range and flamboyant lyrical playing suggest a very different personality to the one that I met! Eric is one of the gentlest, nicest people that I have come across so I was thrilled when he agreed to spend some time doing this interview for Mouthpiece Online…
What drew you to the trumpet as a child?
My dad was a well-known trumpet player in Honolulu, Hawaii, so music and trumpet came naturally. It was like a “toy” for me, I really don’t remember when I started to play!
Who are/were your main musical and trumpeting influences?
Well, there are sooooo many… my dad, Maynard, Bobby Shew, Snooky, Doc, Herseth, Vizzutti, Jerry Hey, Chuck Findley, Freddie, Stahl, Chase, Audino, Clark Terry, Faddis, Wynton… too many to list. I like everybody! I always try to find something in a player that I like, and then learn from them.
As a young pro, one of your first big touring band gigs was with Buddy Rich – What was it like as a young player going into that environment on lead trumpet?
To tell you the truth, I was too green to take that chair, I was not ready… but I think that Buddy saw something in me and he let me grow in to that chair. It was brutally a tough, difficult book to play. Buddy’s energy was so strong that you can’t help but to get caught up in that typhoon of power – it was real tough to try to keep up with him. But it was also the best, and the most fun I had on the road… I would not trade those years for anything!
You have worked with a few manufacturers over the years on custom mouthpiece and horn designs. Can you give us any insights on the design process from a players’ perspective, particularly in relation to your GR mouthpiece and Yamaha trumpet?
Over the years, I was able to meet and work with most of the famous makers. Each company has their own philosophy and systems in designing their products, some of them contradicted the others, but overall the science is the same. Yamaha and GR are at the highest level of product tolerance control in my opinion. To me, the horn and mouthpiece are just tools, it really doesn’t make you sound any different or better then you are capable… depending on how long the “honeymoon” period lasts!
But having a horn that is easy to work with is the key to letting your personal voice come through your playing. I have had about 600 mouthpieces, 47 Bb trumpets, 2 MF Firebirds, 5 flugels, 4 piccolos, 3 melophoniums and a superbone. I have tried all the gadgets known to mankind, and my conclusion is in the end, it’s you and your “voice” in your head that matters. You can change the way you sound by finding a sound that you want and need, that comes from listening, and trying to get a strong image etched in your head. Your priority should be finding equipment that is easy to handle. Only then can you concentrate on the music at hand, rather than fighting the horn, and blaming the horn and mouthpiece for your performances.
Mouthpieces are like your shoe size, bigger is not better! And resistance, from your horn or mouthpiece, is your friend. Learn how to use resistance. Lean against it, and let the resistance help to keep your buzz from opening up too much.
In some recent ‘clinics’ of yours that I attended, you discussed some really interesting approaches to playing high notes! You demonstrated with a leadpipe and some tissue paper that it is not necessarily about airspeed. Can you share some of your thoughts, theories on this? How did you come to start using these techniques?
I always knew from early on that it wasn’t all about the “Air”, “Tongue Arch”, “Pedal Tones” etc. Everything is important, and it’s about balance. We often base our playing on physics with fluid dynamic and acoustic theories. What we do is completely unique. There are very few detailed, and scientifically proven studies done on the physics of brass playing. Any studies are not accurate and reliable because of the player’s physical and personality differences.
The amount and the speed/pressure of the air is a factor that will come into play with the lip tension, tongue position, mouthpiece design, the horn, acoustical condition and the size of the room etc… and on and on… So many factors are involved, but one thing that is certain, is that we “overblow” when things are not working with the chops.
I know this because I am guilty of having done this for most of my life. So, I have been doing my share of studies and experimentation to figure what does and does not work. The bore size, bell size, venturi size, or the gap and drill size on mouthpieces does not necessarily determine the resistance. It is the balance between all of this, plus the most unstable factor, you and your preference.
For you, what are the key factors in keeping on top of your playing when you are travelling?
Sleep, (which is hard to do….) Lots of water, avoiding alcohol, (which is really hard to do)… and keeping your chops in shape by carefully maintaining the buzz centre and the mouthpiece position.
If you could give any advice to a teenage Eric, or suggest that he does things differently, what would you say?
Take lessons!!!! I have never taken a lesson in my life, I am self-taught so I have many bad habits!
Regular readers will most likely need no introduction to Allen Vizzutti – an artist of the highest calibre: soloist, recording artist, composer, educator and master clinician!
On a visit to the UK earlier this year I caught up with him and wanted to discuss two main topics with him – a fascinating topic on which Allen often talks in clinics and also in his method books that have become standard literature for students around the world: whether there is an over-emphasis on the word “buzz” in a trumpeter’s vocabulary; and also the design process behind the impending launch of the new Yamaha Vizzutti Model Trumpet.
I had a (brief!) opportunity to have a blow on a new prototype 9335V when Allen was touring Europe recently, and my first impression was that it felt very similar in response and tonal character to the 9335NY New York model. There was perhaps a slightly richer tonal core across the range though. I very much look forward to having a proper test-drive when the instrument is launched later this year – watch this space!
Below, Allen tells us a little about the thoughts and processes behind this new model:
“ The new Yamaha 9335V Bb trumpet will be launched in it’s second iteration in November. The Vizzutti model idea was born in a conference room in Japan several years ago and I was given the go ahead to help design a personal model from the ground up. It was an exciting opportunity and one for which I am very grateful. I worked on the project with Yamaha genius designers Bob Malone and Wayne Tanabe in New York at the Yamaha Atelier on 5th Ave.
Even though we had permission to start from scratch I had been enjoying using a gold plated but otherwise stock New York Xeno for some time. Logically we chose to start with that trumpet as the basis for the new model. If that didn’t prove successful we could always begin again from scratch. I would like to make clear that I am not a trumpet designer. My input was based on evaluations of the physical feel, the sound, timbre and the trumpet’s characteristics in different registers. Again, I was pretty happy with my stock Yamaha New York Xeno. I should note that I brought along a Bach Strad that belonged to one of my students because there were characteristics of that horn that I liked and wanted to reference.
The short story is after a few hours of experimenting with different small part changes we were getting amazing results. We blew the Bach away early on. Changes consisted of using different small parts made of varying materials and having different weights. We moved bracing and tested myriad slides, water keys and valve parts. I would ask for something and Bob and Wayne would head into the workshop and return to the testing room with changes. The final result came relatively quickly. The new 9335V had a better harmonic structure and was slightly more open and free blowing without being a large bore. It was much easier to play above high C regarding both response and resistance. The sound was a little darker than the New York Xeno. In reality, the improved characteristics of this trumpet are most noticeable by professional or near professional level players. When played with maximums of flexibility, power, control and beauty it is the best horn I have had.
Later when production was in full swing I tried 40 examples of the trumpet. Asked to pick 2 for my personal use I couldn’t really tell the difference between them. In the end I randomly pointed at a couple and those were the horns I ended up using. Unfortunately the first run of the 9335V was limited to a small number of units. The good news is the newer version will be unlimited!
Yamaha 9335V 2.0. What’s been changed? Over a couple of years Bob Malone worked on small tweaks to the 9335V. After he was happy with it I tried out several examples. We ended up with a minimal version of changes through evaluation most of which you cannot see. The water key structure is probably the most observable difference to the newest 9335V. It plays great. I like it a little better. I can honestly say I would be happy performing on either version.
Like a great automobile company, Yamaha is committed to constant development and improvement. The evolution never stops. The Yamaha 9335V should be available in November 2017. “
Regarding the question, “To buzz or not to buzz?”, Allen has kindly pointed me towards the relevant page in his method which I have reproduced below this. From my perspective, buzzing has always been a fundamental part of my teaching and important concept for beginners to grasp early on. The main priority for me is that the buzzing is used to show students how relaxed the chops should be and to put the emphasis on the air and support.
Aged 16, I was put through quite an aggressive embouchure change that set the mouthpiece onto a “buzzing embouchure”. This meant that my embouchure barely moved across the range of the instrument, but unfortunately my sound went to crap! It was only when I started at the RCM at 18 that James Watson told me to ignore the past 2 years, and I suddenly had my sound and flexibility back! Therefore Allen Vizzutti’s theories below strike a chord with me…
“ The use of the word buzz in trumpet study is pervasive. When creating sound with the lips alone or playing the mouthpiece alone it is easy to understand why this is true. The sounds created are sounds of buzzing. However, buzzing one’s lips into a trumpet mouthpiece will create an unwanted “beginner’s” sound. Even actual beginners can avoid ever having a beginner’s sound when taught to blow and not to buzz.
Using the embouchure [described on page 153], one can learn to send a steady and firm airflow through the aperture – made by the lips, into the trumpet, creating a wonderful tone without ever thinking of buzzing. The tense, tight sound of buzzing and the accompanying weeks of frustration associated with “unlearning” this habit can be completely avoided. Unfortunately, for most of modern history, the conventional wisdom of trumpet pedagogy has been to instruct beginners to buzz their lips. Aggressively sending air through the trumpet without buzzing causes the air column to cycle in waves against the tubing of the horn. The vibrating air column is a result of the air meeting the resistance set up by the lips, mouthpiece and leadpipe. The trumpet bell amplifies the vibration. The smoother one blows through the horn, the smoother the sound. Buzzing does not create the sound.
ls there any purpose in buzzing? Actually, yes. Buzzing is just a different entity than trumpet tone production. Buzzing the lips without the mouthpiece and trumpet, including flapping them (loose and low-pitched), is a very useful relaxation technique. I do it to loosen my lips, warm down and as an emergency substitute when warming up may be impossible. Lip buzzing exact pitches to then match on the trumpet, as suggested in some educational material, is of little value (other than ear training), in my opinion. My range on the lips alone is very limited. My range on the trumpet is much more extensive.
Playing the mouthpiece alone is often referred to as mouthpiece buzzing. lt can be very useful as part of an organized warm-up. The concept of playing the mouthpiece should be the same as playing the trumpet. lmproving one’s mouthpiece sound can really help improve one’s trumpet sound as well. Eliminating the trumpet and its sometimes-confusing technical concerns can encourage successful breathing and relaxed blowing. Playing melodies on the mouthpiece is very helpful for ear training and embouchure pitch control. Ultimately, the smoothness of playing the mouthpiece alone will translate to a smooth and steady trumpet sound. “
To find out more about Allen, his projects, recordings and publications please visit www.vizzutti.com
Sign up here for new blog articles emailed direct to your inbox:
This is too a broad question and also very difficult to judge! I ask it because I came across a now-discontinued Sterling Silver Yamaha 14B4 trumpet mouthpiece a short while ago and was very interested to find out…
1. What difference the silver makes…and
2. Why they were discontinued.
Question 2 is probably pretty straightforward to answer. Where they are still showing as available in the UK, the retail cost of them is around £300, which is most certainly not a price bracket that we are accustomed to with Yamaha.
What difference the silver makes requires some playing and listening, so I have lined up 3 mouthpieces that are all advertised as having the same rim and cup profiles from Yamaha and will test them on a Xeno 8335RGS and a Bach 180ML37:
I played each mouthpiece on both trumpets at a range of dynamics and registers using a variety of attacks and articulations. I took notes based on how they ‘felt’, and also recorded them closely-miked to get an idea of how they would perform for me in the studio. I also asked a trumpeter friend (although they may not be for much longer after the racket that I subjected them to!) to listen from the other side of the room and take their own notes.
The whole lot makes for a long (and not particularly interesting) read, so I have done a summary below and would very much welcome thoughts from other players (and indeed designers and manufacturers) on these and any other mouthpieces made from non-brass.
The Standard mouthpiece gives a nice even sound across the range, although it gets overly bright for me in the upper register and doesn’t really open out enough for my taste in the lower registers. This is probably partly to do with the fact that although I generally have always played on 14 style (Bach 3) rims, I have also always opened out the throats to give less resistance. The brightness and ‘edge’ that I was experiencing was also picked up on by my audient and to a lesser degree by my close-miked recording.
The Custom GP mouthpiece is also brass and has more mass around the outside of the cup. Immediately I felt a huge tonal difference. The sound was much more centred and had a richer and more solid tonal core across the registers. I could not however get a brightness of sound (even on the 8335RGS) at louder dynamics that I would want. Interestingly, my listener at the other side said that there was not much difference at louder dynamics to the standard model. This was also the case listening back to the recording, suggesting that the biggest difference with the GP model is in feel and comfort from a playing perspective rather than necessarily in sound.
The Sterling Silver model has a similar volume to the standard (a bach-ish style blank) but is certainly a few grams heavier than the standard due to the material. It felt instantly different – more tonal core (quite similar to the heavier GP), but surprisingly also a massively quicker response. Unlike the GP model, what I was feeling as a richer sound did actually come across to the audience and the difference could clearly be heard on the recording. Generally you would expect this from a tighter or shallower-cupped mouthpiece, but not necessarily from something like the 14B4. The rim and cup profiles, the throat and backbore should all be the same as the standard model, however this mouthpiece responded completely differently.
I mentioned earlier that I generally open out my mouthpieces to a 25 or 26 throat. This silver model has a standard narrower 27 throat, yet has a strange combination of the open sound that you associate with a larger mouthpiece with the quick response and overtones that you can get from a smaller more resistant piece.
What do my fellow trumpeters think? I would be really interested to hear what you have thought about non-brass mouthpieces. There are obviously a lot of options now available made out of synthetic materials and plastics. Has anyone experimented with metals other than brass, and is there scope and/or a financial viability for designers and manufacturers to explore this further?
Numerous mouthpiece options are available along with specialist advice from Thompson Music.
Sign up here for new blog articles emailed direct to your inbox:
There is a multitude of great pro trumpets currently on the market, and some wonderful manufacturers working alongside players and teachers to develop instruments for every style of music, approach and player. In a previous post I have discussed finding the right balance of resonance/resistance for you. Here I am going to be less specific!…
At some point in every player’s development, there comes a point where you are looking for that first pro-level instrument. In most cases we are advised to get something as flexible as possible and suitable for a variety of styles and settings. It is this ‘all-rounder’ that I am talking about here.
I have lined up Bb trumpets to try from Bach, Yamaha, B&S, Conn & P.Mauriat. I have played on a number of other good all-round Bb trumpets over the years from Stomvi, Getzen, Schilke, Jupiter XO and Kanstul among others, and would welcome your thoughts and opinions on these and any other instruments that fit into this category that I have not been able to line up here. Schilke I know in particular is really loved by a lot of my US colleagues. Unfortunately the full range of Bbs is not easily available in the UK so I may have to arrange a visit to Chicago in the future to finish this article properly!!!
This has been the reference instrument for players across the globe for many years now. It is characterised by lots of overtones around a warm rounded-core. The bells are designed to be individual – the positive of this is that there is likely to be a trumpet available somewhere to suit most players. The negative of course is that it is advisable to try a large number of these to get one that feels right for you.
The 2 most popular are the 180ML37 and the LR180ML43. The 180ML37 has been considered the go-to 1st pro trumpet for generations. The late taper #37 bell is the one that manufacturers such as Yamaha and B&S have tried to emulate in their models over the years. The LR180ML43 is a lighter instrument with reverse leadpipe and an early taper #43 bell. This has been popular particularly in Europe with players who cover a wide variety of musical styles and genres.
Intonation is generally pretty good on Bachs, however some instruments can be very flat at the 5th Partial (top space E, Eb and D) and quite sharp at the 6th (G, F# and F) meaning that it can take some adjustment for a student to get used to it. They also for this reason generally work best when combined with a larger fuller-cupped mouthpiece so that the pitch can be adjusted easier.
Current prices in the UK are around £2,500-£2,900 (including tax) and in the US around $2,600-$3,100.
I have picked this instrument from the range, as although it is not the ‘basic’ model, I believe that it is the most versatile. Bach loyalists over the years have criticised Yamaha instruments for their lack of character. The RGS has a more open and less resistant leadpipe configuration paired with a gold brass bell. This gives a lovely combination of a warm even sound across lower and medium dynamics, but has a great bright ‘sizzle’ when you give it some welly!
For years, the Yamahas have been considered the cheaper and lesser alternative to the Bachs, however the improvements to this model in particular make it a good and viable option. Intonation is pretty even across the range with a much livelier response than other models in the Xeno range.
Prices however have risen a lot recently so they are no longer the ‘cheap’ alternative. £2,000-£2,300 in the UK and $2,400-$2,700 in the US.
A number of pro orchestral players have moved onto this trumpet or versions of it in recent years, most notably Philip Cobb at the London Symphony Orchestra. The Challenger II is considered to be a good Bach-copy at an excellent price. It also has elements of the Yamaha in its smooth transition across the registers, even sound and decent intonation. There is a little something missing with regard to overall resonance for my personal taste, but you cannot deny that this model proves exceptional value for money (in Europe at least!) and is a very good trumpet for someone who is just starting to take their playing and progress really seriously.
UK prices are around £1,300-£1,700. Prices in the US are $2,000-$3,300. By this from the UK people!
Now this is an interesting one. P.Mauriat trumpets are not widely available in the UK, but are well represented across mainland Europe and the USA. I worked with P.Mauriat a few years ago so fortunately had the opportunity to try a wide variety of their models.
Their first moves into the trumpet market included some interesting designs of primarily jazz models – both heavy 600 series and lightweight 700 series instruments.
Their recently launched 71 (and 72 with a gold brass bell) have a lot of the lively and responsive characteristics of the original PMT-700, but with much more depth of sound making this a really versatile instrument. I am yet to see one ‘on the market’ in the UK or Europe yet, but I believe that some of my American colleagues are starting to be able to see them over there. Worth checking out if you get the opportunity – time I suppose will tell whether P.Mauriat make a significant impact in an area that already has some steep competition!
I imagine that prices will be around £2,000 and $2,300 respectively.
I have selected the sterling silver bell model from this range – the resonance and brightness is astonishing. It is not necessarily your typical ‘all-rounder’, however I have selected it here because I have come across probably an even split of classical players on this as I have jazz/commercial.
I was knocked out by the ease of making a full and rounded sound on this horn, and also at how it really takes off in the louder passages with relatively little effort. The downside for me however was the intonation: Low C sits a fraction sharp for my setup and 3rd-space C is slightly flat. Not having a clean octave here takes some getting used to.
UK prices are around £2,200-£2,400. US is around $2,800-$3,200.
As I have been talking to players while putting this together, people keep raving to me about their perfect Bb trumpet from X, Y and Z manufacturer. There is wonderful research, design and craftsmanship around the globe going into trumpet manufacture at the moment, including a number of smaller specialist trumpet-builders that I will be featuring in coming weeks. Again, my emphasis here is on that FIRST PRO TRUMPET PURCHASE that generally needs to be a good all-rounder and blend easily with friends and colleagues.
I very much welcome your thoughts and comments on any of the instruments featured here, and indeed any of the multitude that are not!
Sign up here for new blog articles emailed direct to your inbox:
