Brass Band Logo

NJH Music Logo

Some of the contents of the pages on this site are Copyright © 2016 NJH Music
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Necessity of a 4th trombone

On Sat, 16 May 1998, Adrian Drover wrotein response to Matt LaFontaine:

> Not at all. The bass trombone is a trombone, not a tuba. It extends the
> trombone section range into the bass register. The problem is, that with
> only 3 trombones, the section is not self sufficient for voicing harmonies
> that extend further than triads. To keep a balance in the trombone section
> I find myself scoring the 3 trombones all on the inner harmonies. This
> works fine, as although the bass trombone has a wider bore than the tenor,
> it balances well playing about a 6th below the lead trombone line. But as
> a bass trombonist myself, I know that these guys like to pump away on
> those pedal notes once in a while, and add those lovely soft bass lines to

You know, there's always the danger that if you supply an optional 4th
part the bass trombonist will decide he likes the low notes more, so will
ruin your careful scoring :)

> the trombone choir. By adding another tenor to the section, it is easier
> to write a part that is satisfying to the bass 'bonist. Stan Kenton, who
> was always a forward looking guy, used 5 trombones (3 tenors and 2
> basses). This usually meant that the 5th player would be churning out the
> bass line all of the time, which can become quite tiring, although having
> 2 bass 'bones, the bottom parts can be shared, just as can the lead parts.

I've played about 20 NYJO charts with the OU Jazz Orchestra, and these all
have 5 trombones.  The two low parts aren't always well distributed - the
5th is always true bass (down to F, including Bs) but sometimes has high
unison passages while the 4th is resting.  Go figure.. anyway, it's nice
to have support the octave up.

> > It was ment to add definition and sharpness to the tuba tone, and was to
> > be the only true "edge" instrument in the brass band, 
> 
> Which is the very thing, judging by recent posts, that many brass banders
> seem to dislike, contrast of tone. You can't use french horns and trumpets
> in the band, because they won't blend with the saxhorns and tubas. If
> these instruments creep into our 150 year old tradition, we won't be able
> to produce that boring ol' "organ" tone all of the time.

Miss a smiley?

> The way things are, it is sometimes necessary to combine the baritones
> with the trombones, or put a flugel on top to complete the voicing.
> 
> > To score a fourth trombone would throw the equation out of whack, unless
> > you were crazy enough to score for two bass trombones to even them up
> > with the baritones (dear lord, who would score for two bass trombones???
> > :)
> 
> Stan Kenton, Bobby Lamb-Ray Premru, Adrian Drover, etc., etc....
> I had a band I recorded with that had 4 bass trombones (2 in each section
> of 5 trombones). I have played in an ensemble which consisted only of 6
> bass 'bones. Some of my music was recorded recently by 100 trombones in
> Tokyo. I guess there must have been probably in the region of 40 bass
> trombones in that.

I bet they had to wear radiation suits :)

> Cheers, Adrian

-- 
  Alastair Wheeler	 
  Euphonium & Trombone				   Fundamental Brass
  Bass Trombone				  City of Oxford Brass Band
  alastair@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	http://www.new.ox.ac.uk/~alastair
  "I am following my fish"


--
unsubscribe or receive the list in digest form, mail a message of 'help' to
listserver@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Services] [Contact Us] [Advertise with us] [About] [Tell a friend about us] [Copyright © 2016 NJH Music]