Sound concept?
In my reading across various trumpet forums and conversations on the internet, I’ve repeatedly come across the term “sound concept.” Presumably, it’s meant to refer to what type of trumpet sound one is hoping to cultivate, ie bright and brassy, mellow and dark, etc. But to be honest, that’s just my best guess.
I’ve been thinking about this because I can’t figure out how to brighten up my tone. Behind the bell, my playing always sounds “woody” and “round.” I liken it to a clarinet, almost. It’s a sound that I enjoy when I’m playing jazz but I can’t seem to get that brassy trumpet sound that you hear on funk or pop recordings, unless I switch to a very shallow mouthpiece… but then I lose the body of the tone and while it’s much brighter, things become very thin and reedy.
Anyway, just wondering about other ppls thoughts on this. And if any of you have some advice for me, I’d be very receptive
8 replies
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I always try to just have my best sound and trust the music to inspire the right voice.
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I think it is a difficult subject. I sometimes record myself and then listen with as much objectivity as possible.
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If I can take a stab at this. This is based on my experiences and your mileage may vary. From your explanation of your sound, it seems to me that you may be playing with a spread embouchure. At least when I used to play with a spread embouchure, my sound was as you noted, dark and "woody". How much are you playing on the "red" of your lips? How tight are you keeping your corners? I would propose that your sound is defined by your embouchure and your air. Try buzzing on different locations on your lips. Curl your lips in and try to buzz almost on the line between the red and the skin. Try curling your lips out and buzzing on the interior of your lips. Try both of those with your horn. See if and how the sound changes. Another possibility is the direction of your air stream. Are you blowing straight down the horn or into the top or bottom of the cup? I had been confused for many years watching a lot of videos of top players, who I later found were downstream players, the most common. I found I am an upstream player and have started to look for top players who play upstream. Play around with those ideas and see how your sound changes. Charlie Porter's video on how to make an embouchure may be helpful and worth reviewing. For me, I had to keep in mind that he is a downstream player, so I had to adjust accordingly. Some upstream players include Andrea Giuffredi, Chris Botti, and Wayne Bergeron. I hope this helps.