Horn Hangouts in the Time of Corona - Episode 4 Stefan & Sarah This episode is also packed full of horn tips from Stefan & Sarah - embouchure in the whole range, hand position in the bell - and all with a fantastic global audience of Horn Hangout viewers!
Transcript
Auto-generated from the live stream, expect the occasional robot mishearing.
Hello everybody how much of that did you actually hear we did the best introduction of our lives did they miss it all Tim what they heard us and we sounded fantastic but now we look good too you’re looking you made me a little bit nervous today because you joined the chat room at like five minutes to nine and but you had a very important reason for coming so late right
I need to make sushi rolls sushi rolls rocky roads and also Han yeah like um oh yeah you know mostly in the kitchen up the dining table it’s the same people always run but that’s fine but you know what guys we’re having a party on the horn hangouts tomorrow you’ll be very glad to hear I told the viewers last night there’s gonna be a party tomorrow 9:00 o’clock
Berlin time we’ll tell you more about that at the end of today’s hangout so you better not switch off do we have a like a disco thing and like anything anymore to like like something yeah disco meant about that lamp behind you let me spin that yeah that’ll be cool it’s just spin it perfect yeah I hope everyone pretty flowers tonight they’re the very last of my fresh flowers that
I bought no there no flower shops open so if anyone knows where to buy fresh flowers in Berlin let me know I’ll be I’ll be really no but I have these like yeah two weeks and things like thank you okay good I will look so Tommy Tim are we on Facebook where can I find us we’re on
Facebook we’re on our page on Facebook we are on are we on our page on the Hornet there we are so I click on that to make it big there we are and there I can see oh ah Ricardo is there hola Ricardo nice to see you hi thank you for the lovely um the the lovely etudes
Derek you’re you you notice that how you pronounce it Stefan alert hi Barcelona Anita gosh how many of you on the chat what sue me Julie Landsman hey hi Julie and Gus Sebring oh that’s so nice to see you so everyone who’s on Facebook right now it will be great I can’t really read your questions that quickly if you have questions for
Stefan or myself or for handsome Tim pop over to the website and then I will get them here on my iPad because it’s quite a lot of multitasking going on so if you have questions but today Stefan what are we talking about today I think there are some questions of like going from low to high and you know registers changes things like this how to not get stuck in the low register like you did so mean bloody questions
I’ve got a question I’ve got a question I’d love to know what’s on your music stands I just love to know everyday you start what’s that oh oh Maxime Alphonse which one is your favorite this book number five I’m just working my way through again tell us which one we should we should we should practice of the
Vernon Reynolds which one yeah I skipped through them I skip a lot of them do any of you which one do you have favorite Vernon Reynolds Julie Gus come on tell us my wonders what about the um okay right oh that’s wrong that’s wrong book that’s not the runaround so that is number five I’ll catch it sorry well this is on yours then
I will tell you I’m just gonna say that Ella’s watching it she said she had tickets for April 18th for the Abrahamson and she’s very sad she said yeah this is this just got canceled actually I’m sort of has cancelled all events are nothing they have even canceled I just heard that that’s really that means we won’t be going it’s so slow we are made to us already like falling apart definitely not thing it’s so painful really just just we want to get out there and play
I really I just miss it so much we say that every night on the horn hang yeah I really would have been the first time would have been the first time to Easter all for the orchestra since 2008 yes 27 years I think so yeah that’s very sad indeed yeah I was talking to the principal horn of the
Israel Philharmonic Gallet the other day and she was you know just saying or have you heard is it canceled yeah does it not cancelled yet but I don’t see any way we cancel good I mean if like Europeans come into a song Africa they meet it in two weeks Karen time so I think that’s I think we will all kill each other if we get current
ID altogether it’s good we love each other we miss each other now but if the whole Orchestra was in quarantine for two weeks who knows but Stefan I just let me just tell our wonderful loyal viewers Tim I’m taking your word for that loyal viewers if you want if you want a D if you haven’t heard Stefan play the
Abrahamson yet the digital concert hall is now free for 30-days there’s a code you write type in Berlin fill and you’ve got you’ve got free access so any of you that haven’t seen it have a look on the digital console and listen to the Abrahamson because it was really really really good so thank you thank you very much what’s on my music stand today
I love these I just love them they’re good for my soul and I know some people prefer to play the original the original pitch but that’s too hard then do you know white oh do play know if you’d pull a cork half gonna turn them around so I can play them well I just mean yes and then
Stefan I got a great tip from Klaus mollendorf Klaus violin dog said fleek these back-to-front if I show them to you that Laura I can see it this is what I said 24 issued melody from for oboe from the roost and therefore oboes and if we play them in b-flat they’re fantastic so varis if you look them up there
I said is MMP and I was playing with today and that’s what’s on my music sound to date well some side reading yeah yes I dream fun so guys what have you been practicing today can you let us know I want to know Stefan is dying to know right Stefan absolutely I need more things to play just send sent music yeah we have here
Thanks I’m your secretary um I compiled a list of all your recommended your recommended which one is it here the the tooth summit oods that we’ve never heard of the books like like the piates all the flute tango attitudes and matosinhos etudes which many of you do know now or the vice born bassoon studies in for bass clef bass clef don’t forget your bass clef in
C on the f1 good luck ok moving quickly along so it’s great to see you all here on the chat musical Oates you’re here again thank you for joining us mark Robbie Miller oh gosh now it’s going to do Ryan Dresden has the barbar sweets understand Jeff from Chicago loves the bar sweet oh my goodness thanks for the concert for the digital concert hall everyone’s seen your concert already wow this is fantastic anyway we are here we’re not alone
Stefan let’s do a little bit of warming up does everybody have their own get Toby’s are warming up it’s like what is it crash we’ve got a past 9:00 in the evening so how much did you practice today yeah actually it’s two hours yeah I think my neighbor don’t yes they are not there so I can I really do and that’s it’s good all the rest they had phones on when
I do that so that’s fine yeah but don’t you feel sometimes you can’t really blow no I I can’t really play low for long I do stopped and and you I can’t drive I can’t go and go like oh I’m a model six now no have to wait a couple of more weeks well I hope it’s only a couple more weeks huh who knows but we are here and we’re gonna warm up right ready play f1
F horn oh you play and then I’ll play it back with all of you okay how about that [Music] three [Music] [Applause] [Music] we’re getting into the famous break area for those foreign players lottery over it what do you mind yeah I think it’s we come you come back to that later when we come from low to high and high to low let’s go further down some people are riding in that they don’t have a an
F F horn they’re only playing B flat we just wait wait for the next one there we go again I go [Music] 1 & 3 [Music] so now for the people who only have a B flat side we start again from the sea on 1/3 are you going you’ll play along with those of you don’t have your horns
I hope you’re buzzing it even the cellists and I know Selena’s watching no okay should we do tonguing now maybe we extend just to show that this exercise is can you can easily on okay not okay not at 9 o’clock at night doing it [Music] Dylan and Annie are watching in LA hi guys are you guys nice to see you
I’m some and someone’s just said only a William has just said William in Batam II only major triads well major triads are the only ones you can play on on on on harmonics so we sticked a major try to the moment okay okay from those ones but that’s too complicated for odd line but this might already lead a bit to the question on how to come easy from low to high yeah and
I think often from high cello some some people have more more difficulty and going down or going up and of course there’s always like the combination of air lip position preparation and things like this there was this very specific question about toughness that’s right can I read it can I read that to you that was Roy FEMEN
Ella from he’s a fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami and he says I have a question for those of us who play a lot of high horn how do you practice connecting the low range into the high range for example in deafness and Chloe hope you’re watching [Music] it’s not very easy like as a solo so the problem is of course that you usually just are very low you’d never arrived where you want to be so you start pressing too early my recommendation is like always take the first the the highest not first and then build from there so not always start the
Low one I’m trying to find a way to do know where you want to land and you always do the break that you might have in these three octaves always earlier than you would usually do it I usually yeah if you if you have let’s take it easier one because that yeah oh my I knew it nurse here can you always try to change your embouchure before you play the small the fast note so you’re changing of during the note
I get stuck there so I have to sort of change in between [Music] yeah but if you try always to change a bit more than you usually would then makes the changes it smoother what about the air what should that be doing that should that be giving a little bit more air during the change yeah the problem is then if you if you like give suddenly more air that that is a bit irregular yeah but you should definitely keep it going and try to not press on the lip because if you press them the position would become stiff and you can’t use of like yeah
Going from I’ve been turd told it turned my left a little bit to show my Amish are right into a sofa I bet we sound absolutely gorgeous today people that they give that but now not we are taking these like very obvious bits but for example now on an advanced level of playing on ball bounce playing in
Mosul for if you change you’re on the show slightly before you start the run up the scale och then it makes it much easier [Music] but you wouldn’t breathe you don’t know that was just demonstration to show what I do I didn’t breathe just too and also to practice you can like make a good break first ball so focused [Music] yeah take a little break first a first step without with a break ah
I lifted a tiny bit in the mouthpiece got it yes that’s great why didn’t you tell me that years ago fifty euros yeah you’re kidding that’s really cool hey you gotta try this what do i do there like a real out here it’s 9 o’clock at night but how do you change [Music] yeah just set up nah so you have the long note and there you don’t need a lot of tension and then you have to change to more tension people and then more tension
I’m playing like mezzo piano here it’s a little bit doesn’t feel like the same Tim hello Tim another one folks are two steps up okay I really I’m gonna have to practice that because that’s something that’s actually true you never told me before I need some advice for later we can we can sorry yeah I was gonna say you should have watched yesterday okay so so your tip for going up into the high range is making sure that the embouchure is prepared to go to the next step in time always early coming back down mm-hmm same thing what we
Stefan and I are both there are different types of low horn playing schools and there’s one which goes very suddenly down you know doo doo doo doo doo doo doo and changes like that that doesn’t work for me at all if it works for you guys that’s great but it doesn’t work for me doesn’t really work for you stuff on either we prefer the more gradual the more gradual not this big you know it doesn’t work for me [Music] yeah
I think we try to of course we have a lot of breaks you have as more same amount of brace but we try to make them you know little breaks more than one or two big ones so to spread them all over ma nards Roy Roy just wrote back it was his question you said it was worth more than 50 euros okay
Roy how much you spend the money so going down so that’s very important also what you say I try and do that to make that a minimum of muscle work not only because it sounds better but also as you get older your muscles don’t react as quickly as you’d like them to it’s the same as you know sport and everything else so we we try and minimize the work that the muscles have to do right and this a very big change could get a little bit slow later on
I think yeah also you can have a little dent in the node and things like this [Music] yeah I don’t know what do you see I’m not a lot I hope oh that’s funny we have exactly the same notes you see Stefan and I don’t usually look at each other while we’re play we’re usually in a line so
I can’t really see what he’s doing it’s really interesting to see him close up don’t you think guys yeah I really try to turn away from her usually yeah I have no choice I have no choice i i i hope you you you are watching on facebook if you’re watching facebook i’m seeing some of your some of your your messages but not all of them i’ve got the live chat up here of the website that’s here on my ipad and it’s great if you have really important questions to put them here or even just write and tell us where you’re watching from really cool everything
You’ll have to see stuff and we’ve got these cool little flags now on the chat not on facebook on the website and we I only have like videos coming in from people that are at Cape Coral Florida okay so if you’re watching on Facebook and you have questions for us write them on the website otherwise we’ll look at all the questions and all the all the comments so tell us where you’re watching from and what you’re drinking what time of the day it is and how you’re spending lockdown or isolation and how you’re doing we want to know all that because we are here yeah
To connect horn players because we need it right now okay so where are we Stefon me I don’t know what are more questions going down I think they may be love people struggle and have this moment where they have this big brain so maybe approaching always from a very comfy position a whatever but I can also play the break on the sea on the
TV for yeah so try to make it yeah two or two or three different four or five six different nodes to see your chops it’s really cool I’ve never seen them like well um one thing I find I don’t if it’s the same with you or with you guys out there if I don’t practice for a few days or
I don’t practice enough the high notes are okay the low notes are okay it’s the middle range that goes the first that’s where it gets really bubbly and then for me the middle range needs more work than any of the other ranges to keep it sounding good to keep the the corners in the chin down I’ve washed my hands by the way always wash your hands these days before you before you talk whatever but the middle range is what goes we have this word in
German it calls Mufi which is sort of like muffled or and that happens I don’t practice something to get the strength up in the mid-range very quickly as practice hands stopped you know that’s right until you get too [Music] dan Swan Lake sorry guys that’s okay okay me dancing Swan Lake so you’re not we’re getting are you guys all getting fatter and fatter
I tell you I’m trying to do my exercises every day but just this this not running around I eat my life is so crazy I run from the philemon eater here to there to home to filming and now I’m just sort of and it’s really hard not to get fat you look good thank you very healthy actually it’s
I I had a VI I learned how to do makeup when I was doing my TV program was very very useful I majored yes of course oh I knew they have things are like getting bit I thought we’re gonna have a haircut you didn’t I will I will maybe tomorrow let’s see so which I did not was when you go down do you or -
I don’t think I go what do you do I wouldn’t go - let’s do that one can we do that one all together everybody [Music] okay sorry on g1 longer longer first summer that’s a gunshot okay don’t slurred legato oh yeah yeah and go down or whatever yeah always come from the comfortable medium range and then you can also like you can see that sometimes of the legato your break is on different points then on the staccato or the to neutral
I’m trying to change it accordingly wherever yeah sometimes it’s good to look at your face while you play I’m looking at your face right now how are you doing are you healthy how andreas camber from Switzerland hi Andreas you’re gonna go to his festival again aren’t you not again first time first time I thought you’ve been before a mark we’ve been drinking beer and rolling pennies and what’s rolling pennies is something rude does anyone do circular breathing
Stefan can I can’t [Music] all right I can hardly hear and can you guys hear him are you pleased right thank you that was Stefan door circular breathing hands stopped very impressive someone wants to know Nia wants to know do we sit in F or b-flat while I’m sitting on the sofa right now you I’m in every load sitting sitting in now
I’m sitting in B yeah I’m soon and that’s quite unusual because I mean I don’t know my it’s just a question of how you feel better I feel better if I put the note put my thumb down for the B flat side you feel better all the way around yes the problem on that on the one of three it’s a very small big instrument so the
F on sign is not really the best on the home so we actually hang out it’s a fantastic F on site it’s a it’s great it’s great that’s why we no no just kidding but for the articulation that makes it really hard so we actually do play are traditionally in Germany more on the B flat side than on the
F side especially in the medium range and in England where I learned we play there was a lot of f1 going on I did all my exercise and everything in the F horn so that’s probably what I started for the first two years on their form on a single f1 so that’s our Prince born our Rd retired principal
Norbert help man he would relentlessly every day in the horn when he could clear the horn room within seconds he would do all these incredible warm-ups or people all on the F horn and he made all the students at the Academy do them as well he also made them made them transpose him below Malaya to Dhin indeed on
D flat on the f1 side only and he could step on one Landy from Ecuador says hello hello hello oh yeah that’s not Tim Jones is there he’s got Oh Heather says I changed my flowers I have but they’re the last flowers we have here I’m gonna have to see if I can get some more tomorrow Tim
Jones says do you think about the direction of the airflow in the mouthpiece good question Tim what do you think Stefan of the direction like where to put it yes I think you can change a lot of things with like is this the law of trial I had someone who had a very like mediocre medium low range try not to play directly through the hole but trying to hit like high or low and
I mean because everyone is so individual on the on the lips and tees and over they are I’ve got a note I’ve got a new tooth since today I wasn’t the dentist got a new - yeah yeah I had - that’s like the last one broken yeah not fun good you can go to dentist now you can’t go we can’t yeah yeah you should go to the end it’s really necessary because of course that is highly yeah risky not for you but for the dentist so if you have any signs of a cold or whatever they won’t let you in no no so if you
Like focus on trying to not play the air very strayed but in a different direction sometimes that helps you getting over some changes - yeah yeah good that quick question I like this question because this is what happened to me when I joined the Berlin Philharmonic and Stefan cured it Stefan DK Kim says y is double buzzing happening and what practice can be done right when
I got to the Berlin Film from the Opera and in the Opera in Berlin or in any Opera House you really are not allowed to play that loudly most of the time you get that you know that’s you the hand and and when I came to the Berlin Film they were all a little bit worried that I was a bit lightweight and
I had to really beef up my low range I was telling you about it yesterday in the Hangout and I was doing so much loud practice that I was getting double buzzes like crazy you remember chef on when I was like oh yeah and you told me that it was because the lips were spread in the mouthpiece yes usually it’s also a bit of a lack of tension in the upper lip so if you do you have these like in the medium range the octave comes in and sometimes it’s just like happening because you don’t have enough tension on the upper lip they’ll think what
Was happening was that your high register got a little fuzzy like that happens to me too because it’s just a lack of practicing high notes the Louvre was not too much of left-arm pressure so yeah sometimes you told me to do this exercise remember I think I’ll stop there there are zero I’m gonna weigh that this attached to my bag exactly ok
Stefan we’re going we’ve been going really we’ve been going a long time today let’s do one more question and then all the questions tomorrow I don’t think we’re gonna do a lot of technical stuff tomorrow tomorrow we’re gonna have a horn party at 9 o’clock p.m. Berlin time 4:00 p.m. New York time we’re gonna have an end of the week party so a bit more about that in a minute but can we just talk quickly about hand position because so many people have been saying what is your ideal don’t put them somewhere else it’s very important put them here
I do you mean are you mean the right side the right side not here we did that one already do you remember in the first hangout and I was just trying to take my bell off but this isn’t my different hand positions actually you remember Manfred clear our former do you know you played like yeah like this very open very
I try to - Brad you do yeah I’m not too far inside but the little bend so that the air goes a bit into and and this Bell sort of like takes a bit on there - it’s very hard - yeah demonstrate but the best thing is if you feel like it’s getting I mean you can you can try to play this without their hand in the bone so you just take it out and see what comes and how how to control more of the air you need that’s my husband but that also it’s quite good to have someone who is spending a bit further
Away and tells you you just sort of like clear mouth or muffling because on the place sometimes it sounds very good but then a bit further away the difference in how it sounds out there the difference a tiny hand position can make is huge it’s written to fill on one knee like you know in our auditions but you can’t really trust the sound here because it’s tiny bit more on this side and it’ll be it’ll be too little yeah
I think you should listen to what comes back you know in a bigger room try to if you play ones in a bigger room and try a different hand position see see what comes back from the walls and how long your sound stays in the room but is there a basic rule I I have my basic rule that
I I tell people that seemed to work for me and many of my students of course every hand is different so some if a guy has a huge hand he needs to be out a bit if it is a very small hand it needs to balance a little bit better do you have an ideal hand position well yours
I guess no no no and I change them to depending a bit on on repertoire I think that is for some some piece just need more clear tacks and so you have to make it more but even in the piece so yeah it’s different I’m going to show you what happens with my excuse me I gotta get up a kneel on my you know
I’m so I washed my t-shirt guys I I tell you I could I’m so happy to have a uniform because I couldn’t be bothered to work out what to wear everyday so it’s nice to have a oh I have lost Lucky’s look he has one wears yeah look here’s one but look this is a scale going down okay this is what this is what we were just talking about to move the hand position and for me the further you go down the more open your hand position needs to be right so though this is this is it’s probably gonna sound terrible
I’m blowing right into the microphone but I think I think you might have to get even lifted up further yeah to my left yes yes no no no but I can and and for me it’s really if you have the flexible hand position where you can do this you know if you’re if you were playing like this or like this or like or worse like that you don’t have a chance to beat
HAP make that color in the sound so basically for me the hand should be basically an extension of the bell and so that you can make these different sounds at least especially in the low range yeah we have the question we have the question about someone asking about stopping the small hand yes here we go I’ve even got it here
I’m so prepared oh my goodness she says it was Philip in for the big wire in Oman so that was watching you know man and he says he has many students with small with small hands for small feminine hands how can you help hand stopping be more intrude with a small hand that’s the hand stopping is a whole nother
I think we should do hand stopping by itself it’s gonna take and also it’s 1048 okay we do we start with that tomorrow I think no tomorrow the party okay I’ve got after you know because I don’t have the actually I do have a horn hanging out I’m sure but my sponsor is insisting that I only wear socks what oh okay just kidding that’s yeah now tomorrow is the end of the week and the end of the first week of the horn hangouts and we have no idea what’s coming in the next week’s but we are here as long as you need us
I hope we have stuff on as many times as we can but we can’t expect him every day because he’s got are we having a change of time what is it are we staying on that we’re thinking about that it’s a little bit difficult because I want the Americans to be with us of course and Tim has to be awake as well and so we are sort of we’re trying to maybe find another time there is another possibility of about two o’clock our time which is 8:00 a.m. for
New Yorkers or but then the LA airs have to get up really early so it’s three o’clock yeah any suggestions and we file out like for one week to find that it’s like a bit more friendly for people live here with me I think everybody has to get up and then the week after we’ll make it more
Japan friendly or something so we’ll see we’ll talk about that more at the party I want everyone tomorrow bring your horns bring something really crazy um some anything horn related and we’re gonna do self oh we didn’t we done our selfie yet today Stefan we have to do our selfie are we ready for the selfie because we’ve had cramps cos we’ve had budgerigar we’ve had cats we’ve had dogs
I mean the selfies have been amazing so um so what are we gonna do today for selfies I don’t know you have to tell me all right animal animals today’s an animal selfie right ready okay ready for the cell for you guys one two three you actually where’s handsome Tim Hudson Tim will you come back in please you can’t not be in the selfie where are you don’t have an animal with me
I’m sorry guys I miss that are an animal okay I’m just ready one two three okay I can’t wait to see their selfies tomorrow the selfies are gonna be even cooler this is Lolita by the way tomorrow bring something crazy if you’ve got any crazy horn merchandise we want to know about it and and send us some suggestions what we should do
I mean we can have music we can have dancing we can have I don’t know no way you’re a good dancer you are a good dancer I know you are now I’m a choose like two Stone Age killer that’s actually not true and Tim are you a good dancer I’m fantastic actually mr. Evans yeah I knew you’re fantastic but tomorrow what’s the plan
I think it’s a party day tomorrow yeah good all right let’s party we can talk about hands stopping if we start with something technical Oh just received a message from Giuliana Guevara see you soon bye everybody see you tomorrow 9 p.m. 9 p.m. for a party end of the week Horn hangouts stay safe wash your hands we’re thinking of you bye bye bye
Horn Hangouts are created by Sarah Willis of the Berlin Philharmonic. Brassbanned is a proud long-time collaborator and streaming partner.
