Tone shift during notes

[ttf_Piano man]

Listening to George Roberts playing 'Makin' Whoopee', and Savio's lovely evocation of it, made me notice something about his playing.

A ballad played on bass trombone could sound like a bull in a china shop, but George's (and Savio's) playing has a delicacy and intimacy, like someone singing a lullaby. When I tried to figure out how it worked, I realized that his tone changes after the attack--essentially you have the articulation, then a slightly bright, defining tone, then a softer tone, on each sustained note.

Since ballad playing is meant to evoke singing, I sang the song using 'la-la-la' instead of the lyrics, and realized my voice naturally makes the same shift. The articulation ("L") is made with the tongue, then a stronger, throatier vocal tone to establish the vowel, then a fade to a softer (not just quieter) sound on the continuation.

Described as waveforms, you might say it shifts from a brassy sawtooth to a flute-y sine wave. In terms of overtones, it would be more mids and highs at first, more fundamental after. In terms of production it might be 'airier' or 'breathier' or 'more open' as it goes along, maybe with a wider aperture?

Revisiting some other great solos in the low range, like Jim Pugh playing "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life", you can definitely hear the same technique or effect.

I recall Sabutin talking about playing long tones while controlling and changing the harmonic content, and this seems like a natural application for that skill.

I'm sure we all do this naturally when we play or sing, but it seems to me that it's worth calling a student's attention to. I sometimes hear well-played tracks by students, especially in the low range, where they're obviously emphasizing getting a strong, rich, and constant tone, and it can be a little heavy and blatty, and lacking in arioso. Perhaps the intermediate skill is to develop the control to keep a steady tone, then the advanced skill is modifying it musically.

Are people consciously working on or teaching this, or just arriving at it? It occurs to me that it would be worth working on and maybe exaggerating (creating a tone that's very breathy, for instance) as part of the expressive repertoire of tenor and bass trombonists.

[ttf_Piano man]

Listening to George Roberts playing 'Makin' Whoopee', and Savio's lovely evocation of it, made me notice something about his playing.

A ballad played on bass trombone could sound like a bull in a china shop, but George's (and Savio's) playing has a delicacy and intimacy, like someone singing a lullaby. When I tried to figure out how it worked, I realized that his tone changes after the attack--essentially you have the articulation, then a slightly bright, defining tone, then a softer tone, on each sustained note.

Since ballad playing is meant to evoke singing, I sang the song using 'la-la-la' instead of the lyrics, and realized my voice naturally makes the same shift. The articulation ("L") is made with the tongue, then a stronger, throatier vocal tone to establish the vowel, then a fade to a softer (not just quieter) sound on the continuation.

Described as waveforms, you might say it shifts from a brassy sawtooth to a flute-y sine wave. In terms of overtones, it would be more mids and highs at first, more fundamental after. In terms of production it might be 'airier' or 'breathier' or 'more open' as it goes along, maybe with a wider aperture?

Revisiting some other great solos in the low range, like Jim Pugh playing "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life", you can definitely hear the same technique or effect.

I recall Sabutin talking about playing long tones while controlling and changing the harmonic content, and this seems like a natural application for that skill.

I'm sure we all do this naturally when we play or sing, but it seems to me that it's worth calling a student's attention to. I sometimes hear well-played tracks by students, especially in the low range, where they're obviously emphasizing getting a strong, rich, and constant tone, and it can be a little heavy and blatty, and lacking in arioso. Perhaps the intermediate skill is to develop the control to keep a steady tone, then the advanced skill is modifying it musically.

Are people consciously working on or teaching this, or just arriving at it? It occurs to me that it would be worth working on and maybe exaggerating (creating a tone that's very breathy, for instance) as part of the expressive repertoire of tenor and bass trombonists.