Posted by olituba on August 28, 2001 at 00:36:42:
In Reply to: cimbasso and trombone basso posted by david mills on August 27, 2001 at 15:45:57:
If you have to play cimbasso soon, you better get one REALLY soon and start getting used to it. At first youŽll be absolutely apalled by the amounts of air this thing can take. Like Heiko Triebener once put it: Be careful not to averblow a cimbasso, this tends to turn it from instrument to weapon, easily enabling you to saw any conductor in halfs form top to bottom and shooting a few musicians siiting in front of you on the way.
Because of this Dietrich Unkrodt, my former professor in Berlin had me spend a whole semester on Cimbasso only to sort of get my "driverŽs licence" for it (you might also call it my weapons licence...)
So, what you want to do is practicing scales, not going for maximum volume(which would be fun but useless it the orchestra) but for propper control thoughout the range, as high as you can go, as low as you can get. Plus the same kind of control thoughout the entire dynamic range, practizing in cresc/decresc routines. Going back to those Bordogni/Rochuts would be a good idea as well, playing them in all three octaves they are possible in.
Have fun!
Oli