Posted by Ohio Tubist on May 05, 2002 at 07:14:34:
In Reply to: AIR and bouree posted by Dan Malcore on May 04, 2002 at 23:19:03:
Dan,
I congratulate you not only for completing a performance, but also for your extremely mature approach to your resulting sentiments. Many young tubists, (myself at one time included), do not see the musical value of such important works as the Air and Bouree. As you have said in your posting, it looks easy on first glance, but is actually extremely difficult. There are still rough spots in that work for me, and I am just about to finish my Master's in performance! So take heart, and don't get too discouraged about your performance.
As Trystan said, a lot of elements go into a performance, especially at a young age. I just completed a recital, and noticed that after compounding the effects of adrenaline and nerves, I too was operating less than ideally air-wise. (...and I never have quite gotten to the point where I am as efficient as I should be with my breathing anyway!) My point is, you are absolutely correct in considering your adjudicator's comments and trying to learn from them; sometimes that is difficult to do after a performance doesn't go as well as we would like it to have.
Now, to address your questions about breathing. Yes, yes, yes, work in it! The 20J may be a big horn, but that's fine. If you can develop your playing on it, then anything smaller will seem a "lighter load" in comparison. Breathing is the absolute key to *everything* fundamental in tuba playing... you will not regret any time you devote to working on it.
As Trystan said, read Arnold Jacobs' "Song and Wind." As you may know, besides being such an important figure in the tuba community, he was regarded as one of the foremost authorities on wind playing ever, and taught students who played all different instruments! In short, consider his ideas and theories!
Sam Pilafian's warmups are indeed a good way to develop various aspects of breathing. In addition, working on long phrasing and long tones will help your air efficiency. Use of a sound level meter (info available in the archives here) also is a good thing when it comes to developing the sound you want, and gauging your air support.
I hope something here has been helpful. Good luck, and go after it!