Check out the instrument pages on Apple Music Classical to continue learning more about brass instruments: apple.co/DavidBennettPiano 🎺🎺 (Free trial available for new users)
0:51 Almost, but not quite. The 'embouchure' is the position of the lips when they do the buzzing, not the buzzing itself. edit: 10:13 Mutes do make the trumpet play more quietly, but their primary purpose is to change the tone, not the volume. They're used in ensembles of every size. I think it's also worth saying that 'embouchure' isn't just a brass term, it's used by woodwind players as well, even though they don't generally do any buzzing. It's just a name for the formation of the lips.
10:25 on a side note, the Harmon mute (also called a wah-wah mute) that Miles Davis used is actually missing the second part, which looks like the bell of a trumpet. That was Miles’ preferred method of using a mute in that period of his career.
Side-by-side note :- Mutes are interesting in that they alter how the sound propagates from the bell, changing the loudness by muffling and the timbre by adding or damping resonances, but without altering the effective length of the tube and so the pitch of the notes do not change significantly. The exception is the wah-wah mute , which can distort the pitch by modifying the effective pipe length. It's arguably something else and not a true mute because of this.
to explore different mutes, if you're not a brass player, Libre Wave produce a plugin for DAWs called Sordina which produce very realistic simulations, including stem in and stem out on Harmon mutes
As a guitarist I've never been able to properly wrap my head around brasses, but this is very instructive! I have so much more respect for brass players now (more than I already did, which was considerable)! ❤
I used to play trumpet and I was never taught any of the terms, only notes and what knobs to press. Also, this is the first video I’ve seen on TH-cam that has gone through how a trumpet works! This video was super helpful and educational, thanks!
Same here. My music teacher's sole concern was enhancing his reputation as "...one of the foremost brass teachers in the UK...", so he trained us to perform music, rather than educating us in the ways of music.
11:31 for those wishing to write for brass, I would like to point out that trumpet is in Bb (down major 2nd) and French Horn in F (cant remember if up 4th or down 5th). However, although nearly all low brass is tuned to Bb, they read and play in concert pitch, so if you write a C, they will play a C
It's a little more complicated as that. Most French horns are double horns, meaning that hey have tubing for F and tubing for Bb. The player selects the tubing he wants with a thumb valve. French horn players are masters of transposition. They can have a score for an instrument in whatever key; the score usually mentions for what type of horn it is written. E.g. the score for Mozart's 4th horn concerto is written for an instrument in Eb and on top of the score it will say: "French horn in Eb". The horn player has to transpose on the fly. So, it is true that if you give a French horn player a score for an instrument in concert pitch, he will play in concert pitch, transposing on the fly but the score will tell him on top that it is written for an instrument in C, so in concert pitch.
"However, although nearly all low brass is tuned to Bb, they read and play in concert pitch, so if you write a C, they will play a C" Until you encounter continental European baritone, euphonium and tuba players. I know this video is mainly about Orchestral writing, but euphonium especially has such a great demand of its entire range that bass clef is kinda cumbersome to write in, so providing a treble clef transposition of the part is never a bad idea.
Thanks! As a trumpet player, some additional remarks: 1) Brass players normally like keys with flats: Bb major, F major, Ab major. They have more difficulty playing in keys like E major. 2) Playing brass is tiring, in a different way than other instruments are. When a trumpet plays loudly in a high register (F5 and above), the player usually needs a couple of measures of rest afterwards. (These things are less true for experienced professional players.)
That's actually really interesting. If you contrast with eg. guitar, violin family strings, viols (and other lute-likes) and piano, it's usually the low notes that need the most physical effort: You're manipulating heavier strings to move more air. What makes it different on wind instruments?
12:48 For us horn players, transposition is even worse. French horn is in F, so a C would sound like a F. The problem is that composers don't care. Dvorak literally wrote the 9th symphony mostly in E for horns, but add in 8 bars of Horn in C and 4 bars of Horn in F just to confuse us more
Although I knew that I could and successfully achieved to produce different tones on a trumpet without usage of the valves, my awe for any brass instrumentalist is immense as I for sure know that I could never cope the simultaneous complexity of embouchure, valve combinations and the transposing character of the instrument.
This video was much more interesting than I thought it would be. I learned so much and I have a much larger appreciation of brass instrument players. And I loved them before.
As a euphonium player for most of my life, it's nice to see my main instrument getting a little bit of recognition. Side note regarding transposing instruments - euphonium (often called "baritone" here in the states, but that's a whole other debate) can be read in treble clef, using the same fingering as trumpet. I was told this was to make for an easy transition for trumpet players learn the instrument, as was the case with me. However, when switching to reading bass cleff, we use the actual concert pitch names. The same fingerings for a tuba, although my tuba player friends have told me that the different pitched tubas (BBb, C, Eb, F, and G) all have different fingerings so that they can all read the same music, and to me, that sounds unnecessarily difficult.
I played euphonium for a few years in music school when my trumpet teacher got mad at me and said i sucked so he gave me the easier version, and it really is an easier version, what would be a higher C becomes the lower G, its just overall an easier instrument to play, still cant read bass clef though, sometimes sub in for my old orchestra, trying to play trumpet again is a pain
I switched from trumpet to baritone after a bike accident that needed a plastic surgeon to put my mouth back together. I loved the bari so much more than the trumpet. I would have continued on to a Tuba if my public school band teacher hadn't been so abusive as to lock kids in closets and throw iron music stands and hurt kids.
Always a bonus. Not surprisingly, soprano cornet (my weapon of choice) wasn't mentioned.. but it's a very niche instrument and very unlikely to be found played anywhere outside of a UK-style Brass Band set up. It is an absolute demon of an instrument to play. A masochist's-only instrument.
@@Cornet_Tooter Sounds cool! I miss being able to see brass bands, let alone play in one. Pretty much the only place to find "English baritones" as well - not to be confused with euphoniums, which are often called baritones in the US.
Congratulations on the video. My daughter plays the trumpet and so I know the difficulties of the instrument. Many pianists or violinists think that their instrument is difficult but they never tried to play the trumpet! The video is done very well and I will show it to my ear training students!
Almost all woodwind instruments also require an embouchure to create a usable tone. Single- and double-reed woodwind instruments cannot function without a basic embouchure to create a seal around the mouthpiece/reed(s) which is necessary for the reed(s) to start vibrating, and advancing players need to be able to manipulate their embouchure to vary the tuning, timbre, and/or access different registers. Edge-blown flutes are a little different in that the embouchure is used to direct the air towards the far edge of the instrument's (appropriately named) embouchure hole which is what creates the vibrations necessary for tone production, and subtle manipulation of the player's embouchure are used to change registers, tuning and timbre. Brass embouchures are a little different in that the vibrations are directly produced by the player's lips rather than some part of the instrument. The only wind instruments that do not REQUIRE an embouchure are the free-reed instruments (eg. Harmonica, Accordion, Pipe Organ), fipple-flutes (eg. Recorders, Tin Whistles, Ocarinas, etc.), and some vessel-flutes (eg. Nose flutes) though many of these can performed to a considerably higher standard if an appropriate embouchure is used (eg. Recorders and Harmonicas).
I would argue that only edge-blown flutes "require" an embouchure, technically speaking. Single and double reed instruments can all be played with zero embouchure, you just need a reed of appropriate strength. A saxophone, clarinet, or oboe can thus produce a sound in the same manner that an organ pipe, crumhorn, or bagpipe does. Just that it will be an ugly sound. We only use embouchure on reeds to dampen undesirable vibrations and exert control over timbre and pitch, and this allows us to achieve new timbres using reed designs that wouldn't work so well without the labial coaxing. That is to say... the lips are not an integral mechanism to producing a sound at all, they only mould it. For instance, when oboists and bassoonists "crow" their reeds to test their properties, they aren't really using their embouchure, they're playing it mostly as a free reed.
@@JHouse4 If you simply blow air towards or into a double reed attached to an oboe/bassoon, it will make a sound in the same manner that the trumpet player in the video demonstrates at 0:30 (likewise for a single reed with mouthpiece). While this is useful as a means to warm up the air inside the instrument prior to playing, or even as a (pitched, but nearly inaudible) special effect, there's no useful tone produced. In order to produce a useable tone, we need to create a significant air pressure differential between the tip of the reed and the instrument so that enough energy is imparted on the reed to overcome its resistance to vibrating. For most double- and single-reed instruments, this chamber is our mouth and we use our embouchure muscles to ensure that enough of the air pressure we are creating (using our lungs, vocal tract and tongue) is released into the reed/mouthpiece rather than round the sides of the reed/mouthpiece. For free-reed instruments, this chamber is part of the instrument, so most of the "embouchure" work is already done for the player before they supply the air, so it is often possible to create enough air pressure in the chamber to excite the reed just by blowing sufficiently hard in the direction of the opening of said chamber. However, this fixed chamber design has the disadvantage of limiting the amount of control the player has over the air speed as it enters the reed. This is somewhat analogous to the difference between edge-blown and fipple flutes.
@@clarinetguyuk Demonstrably false, and by "demonstrably", I mean I could make a video demonstrating this if you like. Let me know. Single- and double-reed instrument do produce tones without embouchure support, they are just not pretty tones because they are not optimized to be played in the manner of capped reeds.
Coincidentally, this morning I was randomly watching a yt video comparing trumpet with flugelhorn and within about 30 seconds was sightreading the score with the correct valve fingering - it was a Mozart theme, but not one I knew. It's 42 years since I last played a trumpet or cornet, but eye to hand coordination and muscle memory resurfaced really quickly.
As a young 'un many decades ago, I struggled to hold what I guess would be an A#6 on my cornet. To know there are trumpet players that can sustain a pitch an octave higher ... unbelievable.
Well done! I think anyone with just about any level of familiarity with brass instruments can come away with something interesting from this episode. It takes a ton of skill to distill so much information in an accessible way. Kudos
Glad you addressed how saxophones are woodwinds. We use a single reed mouth piece (quite similar to a bass clarinet) and we change our tone by the actual keys and tightening of our embouchure. Excited to see how you cover the woodwind section. I know saxes aren’t in the orchestra but I hope you cover them as well :)
Unfortunately, I doubt he'll be covering other wind instruments that never appear in orchestras or classical music. The harmonica is one of the most interesting because unlike all other reed instruments, it produces sound both by blowing AND by sucking air, thus a harmonica player may not need to stop and breathe. Also of note, the harmonica had it's sort-of 200th anniversary in 2022, about 20 years older than the saxophone.
That was really well explained. I had no idea how much variation is required by the player before they even put the instrument to their mouth! Respect!
I was a trumpet player back in high school band, and this video actually had some stuff I didn't know about brass instruments. It also had a few things I'd forgotten, or preferred not to remember. One little point of note is that if you take the trumpet valve out and put back in backwards, which is surprisingly possible, you're blocking the wind tube, and it'll make a funny, squashed sound, because the air can't get through the instrument like it's supposed to.
When i was young I got gradually moved up from a cornet all the way upto a Eb Tuba mainly because my mouth was too big lol. unfortunately i was also the second shortest person in my year, lets just say I could fit into the case at one point, it was difficut to carry to school,, lol
The pressing of the valves changes the length of the tube, but it doesn't actually change the note itself, just the resonant frequencies of the trumpet
Before the Flood, as a conscripted soldier and a music lover, I volunteered to go to a one-month training to be a regiment trumpeter. There the trainer told us the length of the training, hence the training itself, is absurd as training the lips itself (without any instrument at all) to make it stand the tension of embouchure for a couple of minutes would take month's work. Never had even heard of the required buzzing lip technique I was shocked. It was only after two weeks of mouth gymnastics that the very first sound left my instrument.
played double b flat tuba in middle school now im in my 30s and learning piano, guitar, drums and vocals. that time playing tuba got me here. love brass, especially bass.
wellll…. then there are valve trombones. how do you call these things? ;) actually the (regular) trombone is one octave lower than the (regular) trumpet. following your logic it would be a fretless bass trumpet. however, bass trumpets and valve trombones coexist side by side - it’s a complicated world 😅
Just ask a note. The embouchure is the name of the muscle not the technique. The technique is just called buzzing. Great video for anyone starting to learn brass. (Might be a bit bias considering I have a channel about brass instruments) 😂
At 11:03, you say that each instrument can only play one note, but that's not fully true. As a trumpet player, whenever I get very tired, I end up occasionally playing a split tone, the note I'm trying to hit, and another note one away on the harmonic series. If you look up split tones, you can find videos of euphonium players playing them intentionally.
Wow - I knew hardly any of that! Really excellent video- many thanks. The bit about a digeridoo being a brass instrument triggered my inner pendant though!
I just gotta say, that awesome! In depth and comprehensive. I had no idea that's how these instruments made sound and the range of notes available. Looking forward to woodwinds! Thanks David!
Thanks for this excellent video. I follow a lot of Drum and Bugle Corps, mostly for percussion. This really helps me understand the brass. For example, the mellophone is used instead of the French horn (the sound projects forward). I finally looked that up recently. Love your content!
This great, David! As a brass player, you covered it wonderfully! Love a switch up in the format, nice to see you doing something a little different. Loved it! 😁
There's actually one brass instrument that is not transposing: the trombone. A trombone is in Bb (the harmonics series that you produce with the slide in closed position is the Bb harmonics series) but you read the music without any transposition: when your read a C, you produce an actualy C
I play euphonium, and it is always concert pitched, along with tuba (and trombone). We learn brass in the key of Bb, but the low brass Instruments are not transposed.
Something that should have been mentioned: All strings and percussion have an ADSR envelope. They begin loudly, but eventually tail away. All wind instruments (brass, woodwind, or other) don't have that limitation. They can begin quietly and can increase in volume as a note is played.
The French horn is the most unique of the brass instruments. Its bore is twice as long as the "transposing pitch" would suggest, and this means hornists are playing higher in the harmonic series than other brasses. This was great in the pre-valve era, as it put the diatonic partials (8th through 16th) in playable range. But it's a nuisance from the point of speed and accuracy, because it's much easier to hit a wrong note. To get around this problem, modern horn players usually use a double horn with a higher B-flat bore triggered by a thumb valve. That allows the player to play the same notes on a somewhat lower harmonic step, improving accuracy and sound. There are even triple horns with a high E flat or F section, for extra accuracy in the high register.
This is the clearest and best explanation ever made for trumpet. Too many players simply don't know their instrument the trumpet. Harmonic series is the most important point you explain here. Thank you very much!
Excellent beginner's summary! A few notes (haha): * Equating "embouchure" with the so-called "lip buzz" is a huge over-simplification. "Embouchure" is just a French word meaning the "opening into" something (a cave, for example, can also have an embouchure). * Embouchure is an important concern for _all wind instruments_ -- brasses _and woodwinds_ . In the case of brasses, indeed a critical part of the embouchure is supporting and performing high-precision "lip buzz." However, proper embouchure also includes support of air-flow, correct resonance inside mouth, nose, and throat, proper connection to the mouthpiece (e.g., not too much pressure on the lips), and other factors. * Although woodwinds don't have to support "lip buzz," woodwind embouchures also have to be very precise, in order to control reeds (which _always_ seem to have minds of their own!), or in the case of the flute, very precise directing of air at the "edge." On a different note (haha), transposition on brasses is a little different from that for woodwinds: For example, one common way to notate for the baritone horn is like for a Bb trumpet, but an octave lower. That is, treble clef sounding a M9 lower than notated, like a bass clarinet or tenor saxophone. (Alternatively, it can be notated like a trombone -- bass clef in actual pitch.) For "baritone treble clef" parts, what you said about valve fingerings is exactly correct: The valve fingerings will be the same as for a regular Bb trumpet (or cornet or fluegelhorn). However, _regardless of the instrument transposition, you have to buzz your lips at the sounding pitch_ pitch, and _not notated pitch_ . I had a tuba-playing colleague many years ago, who changed over from a Bb to a C tuba. Now, tuba parts are always written in actual pitch. The only difference between a Bb and a C tuba is the set of fundamental pitches for each valve combination. No valves down on a Bb tuba plays a Bb harmonic series, whereas on a C tuba, it's a C. So, it was a bizarre experience for him to still "lib-buzz" the same pitches as ever before, but having to totally change is valve fingerings (e.g., second-line-up Bb went from open to first-valve!). Having played all of the saxophones, as well as bassoon and contrabassoon, as well as just a little bit of fluegelhorn, I can say this from experience: When you play a notated middle-C on soprano saxophone, then the same notated pitch on alto, then on tenor, then baritone, then on bass saxophone, you do have adapt your embouchure for the different pitches of saxophone. However, the embouchure adaptation for the same notated pitch across different transposition of _brass_ instruments, is _an order of magnitude more complex_ than on woodwinds! Again, that's because you always have to "lip buzz" in sounding pitch, regardless of the transposition of the instrument.
@@mr88cet I do think that British brass bands are an important reference in the tradition of tuba playing. It feels wrong to me to leave them out. They usually notate the tuba a major ninth higher than written. Wind orchestras in Western (continental) Europe follow this example.
@@LeRocOlinda, ah interesting! Cool. Are C tubas common in Europe, and if so, are they noted in C, same transposition as double bass and contrabassoon?
@@mr88cet I feel that Bb tubas (together with the smaller Eb tubas) are most common, but this may depend on the country. I think you are right, when they do use C tubas, that they write them just as the double bass. (Sometimes my part would be Bb tuba on one side of the paper and C tuba on the other side.)
Something alluded to in the video but not quite fully explained (probably due to a legitimate reason) is the way brass players use their tongues to play at varying speeds and in different styles. There are many different syllables brass players can employ such as: tu, ta, ku, du, dit etc. Along with tone, different articulation styles is one of the reasons why orchestral brass playing sounds different from a different style like jazz.
As a clarinet player, I’m really curious to see what I’ll learn from the woodwind video! There is one thing that I know I’m curious about: On one of your videos about microtones, you said that the clarinet could glissando, and my face became the mind blown emoji 😂 It’s definitely something I’d love to learn more about. Thanks for the great video, I look forward to the next one!
That would be a good topic! In general woodwind players can not smoothly slide between two notes. Because each pitch has a unique key combination, to move “smoothly” across a wide range of notes, a woodwind player has to finger each note along the way, creating a less-than-smooth transition. In synthesizers, the difference is known as “glissando” (playing each individual note along the way) and “portamento” (perfectly smooth transition). These terms can be used interchangeably, as most instruments can only really do one or the other. However, it is *possible* to get a very smooth, portamento-like slide between notes on a woodwind instrument. The intro to Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” is a great example of this on clarinet. However, this smooth glide between notes is somewhat of a special effect, where the player is using their mouth to bend the pitches, rather than relying only the keys. Many players can do it, but it’s not really a “standard” technique for woodwind players. You can think of it similar to the flutter tongue demonstration in this video - it’s an effect some players can do, and it will occasionally be called for in certain types of music, but it’s more of a special effect than a standard technique. 😁
15:11 David Bennett Piano "Next time we'll be finishing our orchestral mini-series by looking at the woodwind section of the orchestra." Percussionists: Am I a joke to you? Seriously - I love this type of videos on your channel an as an arranger it would be extremely helpful to get to know more about how to write for Percussion instruments, arguably the most challenging to write for. Please continue this mini-series, it would mean a lot to me. And (although I don't want to be too demanding), maybe in the future there could be some kind of video on how to write for choir?
Played trumpet until high school, was pretty decent. Didn’t know I could hit B flat, D, E, and F above the staff without hitting a valve (and TBH, I topped out at high E Anyway, lol). Gotta dust it off and start having some fun!
I'll just copy my earlier reply: 3rd by itself is equivalent to 1st and 2nd together, albeit not preferred due to the finer points of intonation. Euphonium (my main instrument, after switching from trumpet in high school) can have 4 valves - the 4th again being the same as 1st and 3rd, although here, 4th is preferred for its better intonation. Don't get me started on compensating vs non-compensating 4-valve euphoniums LOL.
Really great video David!!!...again, you are so thorough and yet concise with your approach, it's refreshing...However, shouldn't there be 2 more episodes left for the orchestral ensemble breakdown??? Winds, then percussion family maybe??? The scores of the old classical masters weren't percussion heavy, beyond timpani, cymbals, triangle, bass and snare drums...but many late 19th Century to today's classical music is full of percussion in many different types of instruments and techniques...a David Bennet video on that section of the orchestra would be quite welcome as well
The closest I came to wind instruments was a Horner 'Melodica' which you blow into and press the keyboard along the outside for notes. I was gifted with extended lung capacity- except when I found the button on the underside of the instrument... pushing it releases all the accumulated mucus from your breath. Gobs and gobby gobs. never got used to that part.
The bore of the French horn isn’t really the same as the other conical bore instruments. It has a fairly long cylindrical section, standard horns having a 0.468 inch bore. You’ll notice that the traditional British brass band, which is comprised of all the so-called conical bore instruments, does not include French horns. The horn has some more overtones than the conical bore instruments but the tone is mellowed additionally by the hand in the bell.
String player here - recently tried a trumpet for the first time and wow the mechanism feels very foreign. They should call it a lip buzz resonator because you are on your own making the vibration!
I'm a keyboard player and have not ever touchet a trumpet. However, at 4:10 into the video, this guy show how to make embouchure with his lips without the horn. So it's the first time I formed the lips like that and could make some notes 😊
Interesting and useful video, though I'd argue with a few points of accuracy: 1. 'Buzzing' is a common, but not useful term. The reason I say this (as a tuba player with many decades of experience) is because on a larger brass instrument the lips do not cause a buzzing sound when they cause the vibration used to play a note. The vibration is carried by the air but not audible until the air passes through the mouthpiece. 2. The embouchure does not create the resonance. The embouchure creates the vibration. The tubing creates the resonance by being the right length for the frequency of vibration to match the frequency of a pitch in the tubing's harmonic series. 3. My understanding is that a cornet is more cylindrical than conical bore. In bore profile, it is much closer to a trumpet than most people imagine. The flugel is more of a conical profile, which is what creates the difference in timbre (sound quality) between cornet and flugel (both of which are most commonly pitched in Bb).
The cornet was created by adding valves to a post horn; or, to be more precise, a coach horn, which had a conical bore whereas the standard post horn had a cylindrical one. Early cornets were still shaped similar to a modern French horn and only acquired their typical trumpet-like form later on. The bore is less conical than a flugelhorn and far less than a French horn, but still counts as a conical bore.
@@IdiotAmigo I think we're agreeing in the main - though I don't know enough to understand the evolution of the cornet (except I understand that keyed cornet style instruments existed before valves were invented). Bottom line is that brass instruments are a complex hybrid of bores. The precise nature of that relationship between cylindrical and conical is what distinguishes different brass instruments of the same pitch (and the resulting timbre/tone quality). My biggest complaint with this video is that both 'buzzing' and the creation of 'resonance' were used in a misleading way - in a video apparently endorsed by a global organisation (Apple)...
@@chielvooijs2689 I know! Though it sometimes feels like it!!! So embouchure is for wind instruments generally and then there's brass (labrophones) and woodwind (non labrophone)??
I guess the confusion comes in at 00:40 when David eludes to buzzing of the lips being embouchure whereas I guess really buzzing of the lips (to make a labrophone) is only the embouchure for a brass instrument whereas for woodwind you still have embouchure but the lip-forming / shaping / function is different....
As a trumpet player who studied in college, I approve this video. But there are some things I can add. Mutes are used in all types of groups, including large ensambles like orchestras or wind bands. For the transpositions, it's not that difficult on Bb trumpet because it's only a whole step away and you get used to it. But it can be extra work for different wind instruments, like paying with French horn in F, or a trumpet in Eb or D. But for the typical Bb communicating with the rhythm section of a jazz band, it's not much work.
3:26 It's like binary: 000 = 0, 001 = 1, 010 = 2, 011 = 3, 100 = 4, 101 = 5, 110 = 6 and finally 111 = 7. Note that we start counting at 0 as in zero valves pressed, but could end at 7, so totally 8. At least that's the mathematical theory. I don't play trumpet, but it's sort of like this. In fact, I wish it was like this, because this is akward and ot mathematical at all!
Thank you for calling out that the sax is not a brass instrument. Some may be confused that sax players work on their embouchure a lot - our lips play a role and that is what we mean by the term but it is the reed that is vibrating.
It would be super to master any instrument at such a very high level, but at the end of the day when it came down to choosing one my number one choice was and is a keyboard instrument such as a piano😊
Check out the instrument pages on Apple Music Classical to continue learning more about brass instruments: apple.co/DavidBennettPiano 🎺🎺 (Free trial available for new users)
David you are so awesome and inspirational! Thank you 🎉
I love how David is not really interviewing the trumpet player, he's just saying what he knows and the player is confirming.
0:51 Almost, but not quite. The 'embouchure' is the position of the lips when they do the buzzing, not the buzzing itself.
edit: 10:13 Mutes do make the trumpet play more quietly, but their primary purpose is to change the tone, not the volume. They're used in ensembles of every size.
I think it's also worth saying that 'embouchure' isn't just a brass term, it's used by woodwind players as well, even though they don't generally do any buzzing. It's just a name for the formation of the lips.
14:01 These sounds are 🔥
10:25 on a side note, the Harmon mute (also called a wah-wah mute) that Miles Davis used is actually missing the second part, which looks like the bell of a trumpet. That was Miles’ preferred method of using a mute in that period of his career.
Side-by-side note :- Mutes are interesting in that they alter how the sound propagates from the bell, changing the loudness by muffling and the timbre by adding or damping resonances, but without altering the effective length of the tube and so the pitch of the notes do not change significantly.
The exception is the wah-wah mute , which can distort the pitch by modifying the effective pipe length. It's arguably something else and not a true mute because of this.
to explore different mutes, if you're not a brass player, Libre Wave produce a plugin for DAWs called Sordina which produce very realistic simulations, including stem in and stem out on Harmon mutes
@@charlesgaskell5899 oh, if only I had a PC
@@StarQueenEstrella Sordina works on all DAWs, including those that run on a Mac
@@charlesgaskell5899 I don’t have a Mac either
As a guitarist I've never been able to properly wrap my head around brasses, but this is very instructive! I have so much more respect for brass players now (more than I already did, which was considerable)! ❤
I used to play trumpet and I was never taught any of the terms, only notes and what knobs to press. Also, this is the first video I’ve seen on TH-cam that has gone through how a trumpet works! This video was super helpful and educational, thanks!
Completely agree!!
Same here. My music teacher's sole concern was enhancing his reputation as "...one of the foremost brass teachers in the UK...", so he trained us to perform music, rather than educating us in the ways of music.
I love it when someone makes education fun. Thanks David.
As a pianist, I have to say I had no idea how brass instruments worked to produce different notes.
11:31 for those wishing to write for brass, I would like to point out that trumpet is in Bb (down major 2nd) and French Horn in F (cant remember if up 4th or down 5th). However, although nearly all low brass is tuned to Bb, they read and play in concert pitch, so if you write a C, they will play a C
It's a little more complicated as that. Most French horns are double horns, meaning that hey have tubing for F and tubing for Bb. The player selects the tubing he wants with a thumb valve. French horn players are masters of transposition. They can have a score for an instrument in whatever key; the score usually mentions for what type of horn it is written. E.g. the score for Mozart's 4th horn concerto is written for an instrument in Eb and on top of the score it will say: "French horn in Eb". The horn player has to transpose on the fly. So, it is true that if you give a French horn player a score for an instrument in concert pitch, he will play in concert pitch, transposing on the fly but the score will tell him on top that it is written for an instrument in C, so in concert pitch.
"However, although nearly all low brass is tuned to Bb, they read and play in concert pitch, so if you write a C, they will play a C" Until you encounter continental European baritone, euphonium and tuba players. I know this video is mainly about Orchestral writing, but euphonium especially has such a great demand of its entire range that bass clef is kinda cumbersome to write in, so providing a treble clef transposition of the part is never a bad idea.
Thanks! As a trumpet player, some additional remarks:
1) Brass players normally like keys with flats: Bb major, F major, Ab major. They have more difficulty playing in keys like E major.
2) Playing brass is tiring, in a different way than other instruments are. When a trumpet plays loudly in a high register (F5 and above), the player usually needs a couple of measures of rest afterwards.
(These things are less true for experienced professional players.)
That's actually really interesting. If you contrast with eg. guitar, violin family strings, viols (and other lute-likes) and piano, it's usually the low notes that need the most physical effort: You're manipulating heavier strings to move more air. What makes it different on wind instruments?
@@Komatik_High notes on wind instruments usually require more air to produce. There are exceptions to that, but that's generally true.
12:48 For us horn players, transposition is even worse. French horn is in F, so a C would sound like a F. The problem is that composers don't care. Dvorak literally wrote the 9th symphony mostly in E for horns, but add in 8 bars of Horn in C and 4 bars of Horn in F just to confuse us more
Although I knew that I could and successfully achieved to produce different tones on a trumpet without usage of the valves, my awe for any brass instrumentalist is immense as I for sure know that I could never cope the simultaneous complexity of embouchure, valve combinations and the transposing character of the instrument.
This video was much more interesting than I thought it would be. I learned so much and I have a much larger appreciation of brass instrument players. And I loved them before.
As a euphonium player for most of my life, it's nice to see my main instrument getting a little bit of recognition.
Side note regarding transposing instruments - euphonium (often called "baritone" here in the states, but that's a whole other debate) can be read in treble clef, using the same fingering as trumpet. I was told this was to make for an easy transition for trumpet players learn the instrument, as was the case with me. However, when switching to reading bass cleff, we use the actual concert pitch names. The same fingerings for a tuba, although my tuba player friends have told me that the different pitched tubas (BBb, C, Eb, F, and G) all have different fingerings so that they can all read the same music, and to me, that sounds unnecessarily difficult.
I played euphonium for a few years in music school when my trumpet teacher got mad at me and said i sucked so he gave me the easier version, and it really is an easier version, what would be a higher C becomes the lower G, its just overall an easier instrument to play, still cant read bass clef though, sometimes sub in for my old orchestra, trying to play trumpet again is a pain
I switched from trumpet to baritone after a bike accident that needed a plastic surgeon to put my mouth back together. I loved the bari so much more than the trumpet. I would have continued on to a Tuba if my public school band teacher hadn't been so abusive as to lock kids in closets and throw iron music stands and hurt kids.
as a (not since high school)trumpeter, I have always wanted to play "baritone" to put this into practise... maybe someday
Always a bonus. Not surprisingly, soprano cornet (my weapon of choice) wasn't mentioned.. but it's a very niche instrument and very unlikely to be found played anywhere outside of a UK-style Brass Band set up. It is an absolute demon of an instrument to play. A masochist's-only instrument.
@@Cornet_Tooter Sounds cool! I miss being able to see brass bands, let alone play in one. Pretty much the only place to find "English baritones" as well - not to be confused with euphoniums, which are often called baritones in the US.
Congratulations on the video. My daughter plays the trumpet and so I know the difficulties of the instrument. Many pianists or violinists think that their instrument is difficult but they never tried to play the trumpet! The video is done very well and I will show it to my ear training students!
Almost all woodwind instruments also require an embouchure to create a usable tone.
Single- and double-reed woodwind instruments cannot function without a basic embouchure to create a seal around the mouthpiece/reed(s) which is necessary for the reed(s) to start vibrating, and advancing players need to be able to manipulate their embouchure to vary the tuning, timbre, and/or access different registers.
Edge-blown flutes are a little different in that the embouchure is used to direct the air towards the far edge of the instrument's (appropriately named) embouchure hole which is what creates the vibrations necessary for tone production, and subtle manipulation of the player's embouchure are used to change registers, tuning and timbre.
Brass embouchures are a little different in that the vibrations are directly produced by the player's lips rather than some part of the instrument.
The only wind instruments that do not REQUIRE an embouchure are the free-reed instruments (eg. Harmonica, Accordion, Pipe Organ), fipple-flutes (eg. Recorders, Tin Whistles, Ocarinas, etc.), and some vessel-flutes (eg. Nose flutes) though many of these can performed to a considerably higher standard if an appropriate embouchure is used (eg. Recorders and Harmonicas).
I would argue that only edge-blown flutes "require" an embouchure, technically speaking.
Single and double reed instruments can all be played with zero embouchure, you just need a reed of appropriate strength. A saxophone, clarinet, or oboe can thus produce a sound in the same manner that an organ pipe, crumhorn, or bagpipe does. Just that it will be an ugly sound. We only use embouchure on reeds to dampen undesirable vibrations and exert control over timbre and pitch, and this allows us to achieve new timbres using reed designs that wouldn't work so well without the labial coaxing. That is to say... the lips are not an integral mechanism to producing a sound at all, they only mould it.
For instance, when oboists and bassoonists "crow" their reeds to test their properties, they aren't really using their embouchure, they're playing it mostly as a free reed.
@@JHouse4 If you simply blow air towards or into a double reed attached to an oboe/bassoon, it will make a sound in the same manner that the trumpet player in the video demonstrates at 0:30 (likewise for a single reed with mouthpiece). While this is useful as a means to warm up the air inside the instrument prior to playing, or even as a (pitched, but nearly inaudible) special effect, there's no useful tone produced.
In order to produce a useable tone, we need to create a significant air pressure differential between the tip of the reed and the instrument so that enough energy is imparted on the reed to overcome its resistance to vibrating. For most double- and single-reed instruments, this chamber is our mouth and we use our embouchure muscles to ensure that enough of the air pressure we are creating (using our lungs, vocal tract and tongue) is released into the reed/mouthpiece rather than round the sides of the reed/mouthpiece.
For free-reed instruments, this chamber is part of the instrument, so most of the "embouchure" work is already done for the player before they supply the air, so it is often possible to create enough air pressure in the chamber to excite the reed just by blowing sufficiently hard in the direction of the opening of said chamber. However, this fixed chamber design has the disadvantage of limiting the amount of control the player has over the air speed as it enters the reed.
This is somewhat analogous to the difference between edge-blown and fipple flutes.
@@clarinetguyuk Thanks, I now have a better understanding of what "embouchure" means.
@@clarinetguyuk Demonstrably false, and by "demonstrably", I mean I could make a video demonstrating this if you like. Let me know. Single- and double-reed instrument do produce tones without embouchure support, they are just not pretty tones because they are not optimized to be played in the manner of capped reeds.
@@JHouse4 I'd be interested in seeing you try.
Coincidentally, this morning I was randomly watching a yt video comparing trumpet with flugelhorn and within about 30 seconds was sightreading the score with the correct valve fingering - it was a Mozart theme, but not one I knew.
It's 42 years since I last played a trumpet or cornet, but eye to hand coordination and muscle memory resurfaced really quickly.
This is so interesting! Thank you so much!
As a young 'un many decades ago, I struggled to hold what I guess would be an A#6 on my cornet. To know there are trumpet players that can sustain a pitch an octave higher ... unbelievable.
Right, he played much higher than I ever could on my trumpet.
New level of respect for these musicians after learning how their instruments work!
Well done! I think anyone with just about any level of familiarity with brass instruments can come away with something interesting from this episode. It takes a ton of skill to distill so much information in an accessible way. Kudos
Thank you!
Glad you addressed how saxophones are woodwinds. We use a single reed mouth piece (quite similar to a bass clarinet) and we change our tone by the actual keys and tightening of our embouchure. Excited to see how you cover the woodwind section. I know saxes aren’t in the orchestra but I hope you cover them as well :)
Unfortunately, I doubt he'll be covering other wind instruments that never appear in orchestras or classical music. The harmonica is one of the most interesting because unlike all other reed instruments, it produces sound both by blowing AND by sucking air, thus a harmonica player may not need to stop and breathe. Also of note, the harmonica had it's sort-of 200th anniversary in 2022, about 20 years older than the saxophone.
Babe, wake up. David Bennet Piano uploaded
*wakes up himself from a dream*
about brass no less
😂
Holy moly I come back to this a day later and almost 100 likes. Wasn’t expecting that at ALL
*seal voice* harr harr harr
That was really well explained. I had no idea how much variation is required by the player before they even put the instrument to their mouth! Respect!
Can't wait for woodwind episode
Looking forward to the percussion episode. As a guitarist, percussion always baffles me.
I was a trumpet player back in high school band, and this video actually had some stuff I didn't know about brass instruments. It also had a few things I'd forgotten, or preferred not to remember. One little point of note is that if you take the trumpet valve out and put back in backwards, which is surprisingly possible, you're blocking the wind tube, and it'll make a funny, squashed sound, because the air can't get through the instrument like it's supposed to.
When i was young I got gradually moved up from a cornet all the way upto a Eb Tuba mainly because my mouth was too big lol. unfortunately i was also the second shortest person in my year, lets just say I could fit into the case at one point, it was difficut to carry to school,, lol
😂😃
The pressing of the valves changes the length of the tube, but it doesn't actually change the note itself, just the resonant frequencies of the trumpet
The orchestral series is my favourite, i have waited months for the brass episode!!! 😀
Before the Flood, as a conscripted soldier and a music lover, I volunteered to go to a one-month training to be a regiment trumpeter. There the trainer told us the length of the training, hence the training itself, is absurd as training the lips itself (without any instrument at all) to make it stand the tension of embouchure for a couple of minutes would take month's work. Never had even heard of the required buzzing lip technique I was shocked.
It was only after two weeks of mouth gymnastics that the very first sound left my instrument.
I just gained so much respect for everyone that plays brass. Looks hard af
played double b flat tuba in middle school now im in my 30s and learning piano, guitar, drums and vocals. that time playing tuba got me here. love brass, especially bass.
Mad respect.
I’m an amateur on didgeridoo, I never knew it belonged to the brass instruments. Now I know. 😀
Good to know: Trombone = fretless trumpet.
Holy shit, I'm saving that joke for our next band rehearsal. I hope I won't get hit by a trombone slide.
Nuh uhhhhh
Y’all just shorter trombones with buttons >:c
wellll…. then there are valve trombones. how do you call these things? ;)
actually the (regular) trombone is one octave lower than the (regular) trumpet. following your logic it would be a fretless bass trumpet. however, bass trumpets and valve trombones coexist side by side - it’s a complicated world 😅
Just ask a note. The embouchure is the name of the muscle not the technique. The technique is just called buzzing. Great video for anyone starting to learn brass. (Might be a bit bias considering I have a channel about brass instruments) 😂
brass players: secretly making fart noises into their horns for 4000 years.
I'm really liking the series! Specially because of the part of writing for the instruments, please, keep it up!
Nice shirt! It's always a neat little thing for me when I see one TH-camr wearing their friend's/colleague's merch.
At 11:03, you say that each instrument can only play one note, but that's not fully true. As a trumpet player, whenever I get very tired, I end up occasionally playing a split tone, the note I'm trying to hit, and another note one away on the harmonic series. If you look up split tones, you can find videos of euphonium players playing them intentionally.
Wow - I knew hardly any of that! Really excellent video- many thanks. The bit about a digeridoo being a brass instrument triggered my inner pendant though!
This was a really great video. Thanks David
Thank you 😊
Me, a guitar player talking to the trombone player: play a C
Trombone plyer: Ok, that's a B
Me: what?
Insane video series! Continue doing them!
I just gotta say, that awesome! In depth and comprehensive. I had no idea that's how these instruments made sound and the range of notes available. Looking forward to woodwinds! Thanks David!
Thanks for this excellent video. I follow a lot of Drum and Bugle Corps, mostly for percussion. This really helps me understand the brass. For example, the mellophone is used instead of the French horn (the sound projects forward). I finally looked that up recently. Love your content!
This great, David! As a brass player, you covered it wonderfully! Love a switch up in the format, nice to see you doing something a little different. Loved it! 😁
There's actually one brass instrument that is not transposing: the trombone. A trombone is in Bb (the harmonics series that you produce with the slide in closed position is the Bb harmonics series) but you read the music without any transposition: when your read a C, you produce an actualy C
Actually for brass, all presented in base clef are written in C,treble clef in Bb.
@@pangchi sorry, but no: tubas are written in Bb or Eb, soubassophone in Bb, and are all written on the bass clef
I play euphonium, and it is always concert pitched, along with tuba (and trombone). We learn brass in the key of Bb, but the low brass Instruments are not transposed.
Something that should have been mentioned: All strings and percussion have an ADSR envelope. They begin loudly, but eventually tail away. All wind instruments (brass, woodwind, or other) don't have that limitation. They can begin quietly and can increase in volume as a note is played.
The French horn is the most unique of the brass instruments. Its bore is twice as long as the "transposing pitch" would suggest, and this means hornists are playing higher in the harmonic series than other brasses. This was great in the pre-valve era, as it put the diatonic partials (8th through 16th) in playable range. But it's a nuisance from the point of speed and accuracy, because it's much easier to hit a wrong note.
To get around this problem, modern horn players usually use a double horn with a higher B-flat bore triggered by a thumb valve. That allows the player to play the same notes on a somewhat lower harmonic step, improving accuracy and sound. There are even triple horns with a high E flat or F section, for extra accuracy in the high register.
This is the clearest and best explanation ever made for trumpet. Too many players simply don't know their instrument the trumpet. Harmonic series is the most important point you explain here. Thank you very much!
Thank you, I learned a lot. I had no clue how one produces sound out of a brass instrument. I mean, out of a labrophone 😊
I absolutely love these series
Excellent beginner's summary!
A few notes (haha):
* Equating "embouchure" with the so-called "lip buzz" is a huge over-simplification. "Embouchure" is just a French word meaning the "opening into" something (a cave, for example, can also have an embouchure).
* Embouchure is an important concern for _all wind instruments_ -- brasses _and woodwinds_ . In the case of brasses, indeed a critical part of the embouchure is supporting and performing high-precision "lip buzz." However, proper embouchure also includes support of air-flow, correct resonance inside mouth, nose, and throat, proper connection to the mouthpiece (e.g., not too much pressure on the lips), and other factors.
* Although woodwinds don't have to support "lip buzz," woodwind embouchures also have to be very precise, in order to control reeds (which _always_ seem to have minds of their own!), or in the case of the flute, very precise directing of air at the "edge."
On a different note (haha), transposition on brasses is a little different from that for woodwinds: For example, one common way to notate for the baritone horn is like for a Bb trumpet, but an octave lower. That is, treble clef sounding a M9 lower than notated, like a bass clarinet or tenor saxophone. (Alternatively, it can be notated like a trombone -- bass clef in actual pitch.) For "baritone treble clef" parts, what you said about valve fingerings is exactly correct: The valve fingerings will be the same as for a regular Bb trumpet (or cornet or fluegelhorn). However, _regardless of the instrument transposition, you have to buzz your lips at the sounding pitch_ pitch, and _not notated pitch_ .
I had a tuba-playing colleague many years ago, who changed over from a Bb to a C tuba. Now, tuba parts are always written in actual pitch. The only difference between a Bb and a C tuba is the set of fundamental pitches for each valve combination. No valves down on a Bb tuba plays a Bb harmonic series, whereas on a C tuba, it's a C. So, it was a bizarre experience for him to still "lib-buzz" the same pitches as ever before, but having to totally change is valve fingerings (e.g., second-line-up Bb went from open to first-valve!).
Having played all of the saxophones, as well as bassoon and contrabassoon, as well as just a little bit of fluegelhorn, I can say this from experience: When you play a notated middle-C on soprano saxophone, then the same notated pitch on alto, then on tenor, then baritone, then on bass saxophone, you do have adapt your embouchure for the different pitches of saxophone. However, the embouchure adaptation for the same notated pitch across different transposition of _brass_ instruments, is _an order of magnitude more complex_ than on woodwinds! Again, that's because you always have to "lip buzz" in sounding pitch, regardless of the transposition of the instrument.
tuba parts are always written in actual pitch *in the US*
@@LeRocOlinda, interesting! Other examples?
@@mr88cet I do think that British brass bands are an important reference in the tradition of tuba playing. It feels wrong to me to leave them out. They usually notate the tuba a major ninth higher than written. Wind orchestras in Western (continental) Europe follow this example.
@@LeRocOlinda, ah interesting! Cool. Are C tubas common in Europe, and if so, are they noted in C, same transposition as double bass and contrabassoon?
@@mr88cet I feel that Bb tubas (together with the smaller Eb tubas) are most common, but this may depend on the country.
I think you are right, when they do use C tubas, that they write them just as the double bass. (Sometimes my part would be Bb tuba on one side of the paper and C tuba on the other side.)
My favorite brass instrument is the Wagner tuba. A choir of them sounds like heaven.
Something alluded to in the video but not quite fully explained (probably due to a legitimate reason) is the way brass players use their tongues to play at varying speeds and in different styles. There are many different syllables brass players can employ such as: tu, ta, ku, du, dit etc.
Along with tone, different articulation styles is one of the reasons why orchestral brass playing sounds different from a different style like jazz.
I used to be able to hit the C6 on the trumpet many years ago. Getting notes lower than middle c was quite a challenge too, I recall...
Thanks, I learned something!
David Bennett covering my favourite class of instruments, just what I needed. 😊
As a clarinet player, I’m really curious to see what I’ll learn from the woodwind video! There is one thing that I know I’m curious about: On one of your videos about microtones, you said that the clarinet could glissando, and my face became the mind blown emoji 😂 It’s definitely something I’d love to learn more about. Thanks for the great video, I look forward to the next one!
That would be a good topic! In general woodwind players can not smoothly slide between two notes. Because each pitch has a unique key combination, to move “smoothly” across a wide range of notes, a woodwind player has to finger each note along the way, creating a less-than-smooth transition. In synthesizers, the difference is known as “glissando” (playing each individual note along the way) and “portamento” (perfectly smooth transition). These terms can be used interchangeably, as most instruments can only really do one or the other. However, it is *possible* to get a very smooth, portamento-like slide between notes on a woodwind instrument. The intro to Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” is a great example of this on clarinet. However, this smooth glide between notes is somewhat of a special effect, where the player is using their mouth to bend the pitches, rather than relying only the keys. Many players can do it, but it’s not really a “standard” technique for woodwind players. You can think of it similar to the flutter tongue demonstration in this video - it’s an effect some players can do, and it will occasionally be called for in certain types of music, but it’s more of a special effect than a standard technique. 😁
This channel deserves millions of subscribers! 👍
unbelievably informative. Thanks David!
15:11 David Bennett Piano "Next time we'll be finishing our orchestral mini-series by looking at the woodwind section of the orchestra."
Percussionists: Am I a joke to you?
Seriously - I love this type of videos on your channel an as an arranger it would be extremely helpful to get to know more about how to write for Percussion instruments, arguably the most challenging to write for. Please continue this mini-series, it would mean a lot to me.
And (although I don't want to be too demanding), maybe in the future there could be some kind of video on how to write for choir?
The most helpful video I've ever seen. Showed this to my general music class and will show to my MS brass players.
Thank you!
12:08 - "Widely considered" - referred to as "concert pitch".
14:20 - Ahh you're wrong David. Brass and woodwind instruments, all of them, require embouchure.
Played trumpet until high school, was pretty decent. Didn’t know I could hit B flat, D, E, and F above the staff without hitting a valve (and TBH, I topped out at high E Anyway, lol). Gotta dust it off and start having some fun!
Intresting video, thanks!
Re 3:34 they don't use the 3rd valve by itself?
I'll just copy my earlier reply:
3rd by itself is equivalent to 1st and 2nd together, albeit not preferred due to the finer points of intonation. Euphonium (my main instrument, after switching from trumpet in high school) can have 4 valves - the 4th again being the same as 1st and 3rd, although here, 4th is preferred for its better intonation. Don't get me started on compensating vs non-compensating 4-valve euphoniums LOL.
3rd by itself is too imprecise (find my large comment about tuning)
Very interesting, thank you, David.
Really great video David!!!...again, you are so thorough and yet concise with your approach, it's refreshing...However, shouldn't there be 2 more episodes left for the orchestral ensemble breakdown??? Winds, then percussion family maybe??? The scores of the old classical masters weren't percussion heavy, beyond timpani, cymbals, triangle, bass and snare drums...but many late 19th Century to today's classical music is full of percussion in many different types of instruments and techniques...a David Bennet video on that section of the orchestra would be quite welcome as well
Thank you so so so much for this! Your channel is right up there with the best of the best!
The closest I came to wind instruments was a Horner 'Melodica' which you blow into and press the keyboard along the outside for notes. I was gifted with extended lung capacity- except when I found the button on the underside of the instrument... pushing it releases all the accumulated mucus from your breath. Gobs and gobby gobs. never got used to that part.
I used to have a labrophone, but have since switched to a labrador. Way more friendly!
Wonderful!!
FINALLY thank you david
I have always wondered how brasses work acoustically. Thank you!
GET PREGNANT
@@thejohnsweeney Dude you have to be over 13 to be on the platform.
@@Anonymous-u8r8j I poured boiling milk on my sister!!!!
Very insightful! Can't wait for the woodwind section episode :)
Just wanted to say that us woodwind players also refer to how we place our lips as an 'embouchure' - the term isn't unique to brass players.
Great stuff - enjoying the instrument eduction series.
So long time I wondered how trumpets work ! Thanks you so much David !
The bore of the French horn isn’t really the same as the other conical bore instruments. It has a fairly long cylindrical section, standard horns having a 0.468 inch bore. You’ll notice that the traditional British brass band, which is comprised of all the so-called conical bore instruments, does not include French horns. The horn has some more overtones than the conical bore instruments but the tone is mellowed additionally by the hand in the bell.
Great video, David. Answered questions I had never even thought to ask.
String player here - recently tried a trumpet for the first time and wow the mechanism feels very foreign. They should call it a lip buzz resonator because you are on your own making the vibration!
brilliant job explaining this. I've always wondered how this works
I'm a keyboard player and have not ever touchet a trumpet. However, at 4:10 into the video, this guy show how to make embouchure with his lips without the horn. So it's the first time I formed the lips like that and could make some notes 😊
Interesting and useful video, though I'd argue with a few points of accuracy:
1. 'Buzzing' is a common, but not useful term. The reason I say this (as a tuba player with many decades of experience) is because on a larger brass instrument the lips do not cause a buzzing sound when they cause the vibration used to play a note. The vibration is carried by the air but not audible until the air passes through the mouthpiece.
2. The embouchure does not create the resonance. The embouchure creates the vibration. The tubing creates the resonance by being the right length for the frequency of vibration to match the frequency of a pitch in the tubing's harmonic series.
3. My understanding is that a cornet is more cylindrical than conical bore. In bore profile, it is much closer to a trumpet than most people imagine. The flugel is more of a conical profile, which is what creates the difference in timbre (sound quality) between cornet and flugel (both of which are most commonly pitched in Bb).
The cornet was created by adding valves to a post horn; or, to be more precise, a coach horn, which had a conical bore whereas the standard post horn had a cylindrical one. Early cornets were still shaped similar to a modern French horn and only acquired their typical trumpet-like form later on. The bore is less conical than a flugelhorn and far less than a French horn, but still counts as a conical bore.
@@IdiotAmigo I think we're agreeing in the main - though I don't know enough to understand the evolution of the cornet (except I understand that keyed cornet style instruments existed before valves were invented).
Bottom line is that brass instruments are a complex hybrid of bores. The precise nature of that relationship between cylindrical and conical is what distinguishes different brass instruments of the same pitch (and the resulting timbre/tone quality).
My biggest complaint with this video is that both 'buzzing' and the creation of 'resonance' were used in a misleading way - in a video apparently endorsed by a global organisation (Apple)...
Currently playing trumpet in my school's band, thanks for satisfying my curiosity!
Great video David, youre awesome!
Clearly understood the part of the transpose on the trumpet, but does it apply to the whole range of brass?
Cheers!
14:29 - so the Oboe is a labrophone? We certainly talk of embouchure. Very confusing!!!
The oboe doesnt produce sound via vibration of the lips, so it isnt a labrophone
@@chielvooijs2689 I know! Though it sometimes feels like it!!! So embouchure is for wind instruments generally and then there's brass (labrophones) and woodwind (non labrophone)??
I guess the confusion comes in at 00:40 when David eludes to buzzing of the lips being embouchure whereas I guess really buzzing of the lips (to make a labrophone) is only the embouchure for a brass instrument whereas for woodwind you still have embouchure but the lip-forming / shaping / function is different....
Great explanation. Clear and precise!
Can't wait for the woodwind chapter.
this was super interesting! i never knew brass players were basically making fart sounds into the mouthpiece lol
As a trumpet player who studied in college, I approve this video. But there are some things I can add. Mutes are used in all types of groups, including large ensambles like orchestras or wind bands. For the transpositions, it's not that difficult on Bb trumpet because it's only a whole step away and you get used to it. But it can be extra work for different wind instruments, like paying with French horn in F, or a trumpet in Eb or D. But for the typical Bb communicating with the rhythm section of a jazz band, it's not much work.
3:26 It's like binary: 000 = 0, 001 = 1, 010 = 2, 011 = 3, 100 = 4, 101 = 5, 110 = 6 and finally 111 = 7.
Note that we start counting at 0 as in zero valves pressed, but could end at 7, so totally 8.
At least that's the mathematical theory. I don't play trumpet, but it's sort of like this.
In fact, I wish it was like this, because this is akward and ot mathematical at all!
Phenomenal work!! Had no idea the alphorn existed, it sounds beautiful too!!
Thank you for calling out that the sax is not a brass instrument. Some may be confused that sax players work on their embouchure a lot - our lips play a role and that is what we mean by the term but it is the reed that is vibrating.
thanks m8.....greetings from Chile
It would be super to master any instrument at such a very high level, but at the end of the day when it came down to choosing one my number one choice was and is a keyboard instrument such as a piano😊
0:42 billie's bounce! yeaaaaah!