tuning in a rehearsal

[bloke]

In today's rehearsal, I was in one of those Episcopal cathedral-style sanctuaries whereby the organ and choir loft are up high in the back. I have played Christmas and Easter there for years and years, they pay well, hire me for a few other jobs every year, and pay well for non-premium dates, and they are nice people. I'm not sure exactly, but my total annual income from that church might be around $2,500 or so (??), which sort of amounts to something, even these days.

The contractor always hires a good group. This year, he actually played the job himself, due to his own scheduling fitting better playing this job than the one he usually plays, and he's the first call trombone in the city.

Until 2 or 3 years ago, the entire quintet and timpanist were on one side, but lately the trumpets and the timpanist are way off to one side of the console next to the railing and backed up next to the stairs on that side and a low brass - including horn, trombone, and tuba - are backed up to the stairs next to the rail on the other side of the console.

I'm in the back playing euphonium and tuba about half and half, depending on the chart, and it's hard for me to hear the trumpets (over on the other side of the console).

When they first remodeled the entire sanctuary (not that many changes but sort of upgraded and spiffed up) a few years ago they spent a fortune on the organ and - for a while - it was quite in tune, as far as an organ is concerned. It could use a little tuning again, but I've heard worse. I try not to interject at rehearsals, but there was a brass D major chord (occurring two or three times in a fairly tricky anthem for the choir) whereby I couldn't quite settle in the pitch regarding my D root, and I begged for the quintet (only) to just play that chord quickly so I could hear what was going on. Instead, the organist/choirmaster wanted to play with us, which wasn't helpful, so I just let it go. (Everyone said, "it sounds fine"... but - and I don't pretend to be able to hear the grass grow - it really didn't.) We went through the entire piece one more time, and I figured out it was me playing my D slightly sharp (admittedly, I don't have the tuning characteristics on my euphonium locked into my mind as well as with my tubas) and then the quintet's chord locked in (though the organ was still out of tune).
I should have just kept in my mouth shut and let myself figure it out later, as my instincts were telling me to do. ie. "Never raise your hand, never ask a question, never use time for something that isn't of foremost importance to the person running the rehearsal."

[Schlitzz]

Churches need to take full advantage of a captive audience. Hire musicians guaranteed to give people a headache. Pass the plate around, and tell them what the expected donation is due. The music doesn't stop until the plate is full.

[1 Ton Tommy]

In performance last Sunday, 12/21, playing trumpet, chills ran up my spine as my 4th space E was enough out of tune to notice. Was it some odd reflection off the curve of the piano next to me? or was the trombone off? Or was it me? Many Bb trumpets will have a flat 1st valve D but open E? Two long enough notes to lip it up but that only made is worse. Second trumpet is never out of tune and I played next to her long enough to know. She's playing a harmony and it sounds good.

Next time though on the repeat, same thing. We had all tuned to the piano, which had been tuned for the concert a week before and my tuner app said both I and the piano hit a 440 A with no beats. I cut my teeth playing horn through college and have developed a pretty good ear and I'm disciplined about tuning. Even though it could have been somebody else, even one of the strings off to my left, I always think it's me and that I need to adjust. I still tend to take the blame.

This goes for tuba playing too, which is much more likely to have pitch problems than trumpet. With my old tuba there were notes that were off regardless of alternate fingerings and there was nothing I could do about it but play the note short. My new Willson has no such problems and there's always a slide to pull out or push in.

[bloke]

In performance last Sunday, 12/21, playing trumpet, chills ran up my spine as my 4th space E was enough out of tune to notice. Was it some odd reflection off the curve of the piano next to me? or was the trombone off? Or was it me? Many Bb trumpets will have a flat 1st valve D but open E? Two long enough notes to lip it up but that only made is worse. Second trumpet is never out of tune and I played next to her long enough to know. She's playing a harmony and it sounds good.

Next time though on the repeat, same thing. We had all tuned to the piano, which had been tuned for the concert a week before and my tuner app said both I and the piano hit a 440 A with no beats. I cut my teeth playing horn through college and have developed a pretty good ear and I'm disciplined about tuning. Even though it could have been somebody else, even one of the strings off to my left, I always think it's me and that I need to adjust. I still tend to take the blame.

This goes for tuba playing too, which is much more likely to have pitch problems than trumpet. With my old tuba there were notes that were off regardless of alternate fingerings and there was nothing I could do about it but play the note short. My new Willson has no such problems and there's always a slide to pull out or push in.

What was the chord?

If it was the third of the chord - and the piano was playing any d above middle c, the piano would be sharp to you if you are tuning to eliminate the "beats" in a group of brass players.

Any d played on the piano above a=440 is going to be sharp to most any function of perfect tuning concert d as well.

d just below that a is probably going to be just about in tune for equal temperament, and d an octave lower than that e is probably going to start becoming closer to in tune with "perfect" tuning for d in a B-flat major chord.

... or I'm probably not correctly guessing what chord you were playing and/or I'm totally confused, because there's other stuff going on around here while I'm trying to type.

[bloke]

I'm thinking back to one of the millions of times I've played Dvorak 9 and it was the time through the group of chords where the trumpets are also included.

The second trumpet player was playing his chord tone too sharp on one of the chords for perfect tuning, and I kindly suggested that he try playing it lower. As soft spoken as I was and as apologetic as I tried to sound, they apparently took offense, because they then played it ridiculously lower, but then came back up to the correct spot, resulting in a beautiful sound and a sheepish look on their face... I can only imagine how difficult it would have been had there also been a piano or an organ playing with us. Thank you for not including that, Mr. Dvorak.

It seems to me that it's very beneficial for children to be handed a guitar or a well enough made and well enough fretted ukulele with reliable tuners, so as to actively be involved in tuning something or other (as tuning a guitar or ukulele is so very accessible) at an early age. I really believe it taught me an awful lot - even though I didn't have word labels for the things that taught me until I got up in my later teen years... I'm thinking back to when I was maybe 14 or 15 years old and was playing transcriptions of Bach lute suite movements that went through quite a few chords, and I realized that if I didn't make some adjustments, only the chords close to e or a would sound really nice and the other ones would sort of sound stinky, so - though - of course - the frets aren't adjustable - the open string tuning is adjustable, and I taught myself how to set the open strings out of tune just to the point where something like a flat major and B major would sound equally good and equally bad.

[1 Ton Tommy]

I had not played this piece with piano before and previously noticed no intonation problems. I was flat relative to *something* and the piano was indeed playing the D above 440. So the piano was sharp compared to the zero beat brass section? I had not realized that the equal-tempered forte piano would cause this. I just assumed we brass player just followed the variations from true pitch out of training. Though, I'm aware that acapella singers do not use equal temperament pitch, having sung tenor in a Sacred Harp group years ago. Perhaps that informs my sense of pitch even to this day.

[bloke]

Churches need to take full advantage of a captive audience. Hire musicians guaranteed to give people a headache. Pass the plate around, and tell them what the expected donation is due. The music doesn't stop until the plate is full.

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