Brass Tips by Vincent Bach
An all-time brass master shares words of wisdom on tuning correctly
Each tone of a wind instrument has a "center" in which a clear, open sound of maximum volume may be obtained. Some brass instrumentalists who started to play without a teacher or who overwork their embouchures by playing in loud, blasting dance or military bands or by playing in long rehearsals, parades, concerts and evening entertainments are apt to strain their lip muscles to such an extent that they no longer play with a relaxed light-pressure embouchure. They attempt, rather, to force a loud volume of tone, also the extreme high register, by pinching their lips too tightly together, pressing the mouthpiece too heavily against their lips. This restricts the blood circulation, paralyzes the lip nerves and prevents the lip muscles from functioning properly. As a result, each tone is forced above center and is too sharp in pitch.
This type of player usually pulls out the tuning slide too much. The normal pull of the tuning slide on a Bach trumpet is approximately half an inch (the three valve slides pushed all the way in). The player who pulls out an inch or even more is probably forcing the entire register above center.
Since it is not possible to produce any kind of musical instrument with perfect intonation, there will be certain deficiencies even on the open tones (harmonics) and more noticeable ones on the valve tones on account of having only three valves and one bell. Through much experimental work, a manufacturer can rectify the open tones so that they are quite well in tune, but the fifth harmonic group–the middle E, Eb and D–is always inclined to be slightly low, while the sixth harmonic group–the upper G, F# and F–will have the tendency to be slightly sharp in pitch.
This deficiency, however, will be so slight that a player with a good embouchure and a good ear will not even realize that he or she is "lipping" the fifth harmonic slightly upward and the sixth harmonic slightly downward. Since the player is expected to play in the center of a tone, it is not difficult to humor these two groups of harmonics automatically, adjusting them slightly as needed.
If a player gets into the habit of playing constantly above center by pulling out the tuning slide too far, he will not have enough leeway to adjust the fifth harmonic higher above center in order to play in tune; also the sixth harmonic, which is already too sharp, will be pinched still higher and therefore too sharp. Such a player will be constantly in trouble with intonation.
The only way to compromise in this situation is to tune the instrument–a Bb trumpet or cornet–to the middle E (D concert) instead of the middle C (Bb concert) or B natural (A concert). The same tuning is recommended for trombones or baritones by tuning against the D concert. When doing so, the player must blow the rest of the register downward to the actual center of tone.
Vincent Bach was born in Vienna in 1890 and arrived in New York during World War I. A legendary musician, engineer and instrument maker, he created and developed the line of brass instruments known the world over for their unsurpassed response and performance. This article has been slightly updated from Bach's original, written in 1959. Visit www.bachbrass.com.
