Great 3 days of recording with Stiletto Brass

I recently had a chance to record and produce for an outstanding brass quintet, Stiletto Brass. This ensemble has been around for quite a few years, and has been a consistent presence at international brass festivals and workshops. They have a previous album, featuring none other than Doc Severinsen on trumpet, and they contacted me this spring about putting a new album together this summer.

I simply love recording brass quintet. The ability to hear the sonic blend and resonance of a great brass ensemble, hearing the overtones produced when all the voices are in tune and balanced, is truly a special experience in the musical world. Stiletto Brass has the enviable trait of having 5 individuals who each have a stylish musical voice of their own, able to stand out as soloists, yet still come together to produce a beautiful, sonorous, and blended sound quality that fits the various styles they recorded perfectly.

Speaking of style, Stiletto Brass is able to play anything from jazz, to baroque, to modern music composed just for them, in a convincing way. It was a treat to hear a new work commissioned by the ensemble by Drew Bonner, as well as a jazz tune called Boy Meets Horn (nicknamed Girl Meets Horn by both the group and me), a baroque standard by William Boyce, and a piece by Andre Lafosse that I wasn’t familiar with called Suite Impromptu. Lafosse was professor of trombone at the Conservatoire de Paris from 1948 - 1960, and contributed some important works to the trombone, and brass quintet literature. The piece Stiletto found and recorded is an absolute delight.

For the recording, I covered all my bases and used two sets of main mics (omni and cardioid), plus my stereo ribbon mic to gather the sound in the room where we recorded. Flank mics to add width, and spot mics for any minute balance adjustment in post production rounded out the mic-ing plan. The chapel at Mt. Vernon Unitarian Church was a beautiful venue for us to record in for the three day session.

Oh, and did I mention that this ensemble is all WOMEN?!?! I figured you might guess that… ;) I have to say it is wonderful to see these musicians leading the way as brass players in a field that is starting to see greater numbers of women as professionals. I can only imagine the young girls who might be inspired to know that they can play trombone, tuba, horn, or trumpet, and that they have professional role models to hear and emulate. A discussion about the title of “Boy Meets Horn” needing some reworking for this recording just might have taken place… I can’t wait for you to hear it!

Release details will be forthcoming, and I will certainly make an announcement here when the finished recording is ready. I’m excited for you to hear and to get to know Stiletto Brass.

Stiletto Brass is Amy Gilreath and Susan Rider (trumpets), Rachel Hockenberry (horn), Natalie Mannix (trombone), Velvet Brown (tuba)

You may find their website HERE.

Their first album is HERE.

Happy faces when the producer says, “OK, that’s a wrap!!!”

Selling the Digital Experience

So today I find myself on a bus for a better part of the day, and with lots of time on my hands, children at daycare, and an electrical outlet for my phone charger, I'm doing what any technology junkie would do:  spending the entire drive catching up on articles and video that I've bookmarked! One thing I keep coming back to is the Digital Concert Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic. The folks in Berlin have done something very smart by outfitting the Philharmonie with a professional television studio and rigging their setup to broadcast all of their concerts live in HD. Another brilliant thing they've done is to feature the talents of Sarah Willis, fourth horn in the orchestra. Besides being a fabulous musician and having her own very successful "horn hangouts" online, Sarah has done a number of interviews that are accessible on the digital concert hall. The Philharmonic recently performed a program featuring a new work for trumpet and orchestra by HK Gruber called Aerial.  The soloist was Hakan Hardenburger, for whom the piece was written. I got sucked in to watching an interview that Ms. Willis conducted with Hakan and the program's conductor, Andris Nelsons. I'll just get right to the point, the interview, and Mr. Hardenburger's insight into the process of playing and learning the piece was so fascinating, that I immediately bought a 7-day pass for the digital concert hall and watched the program on my long bus ride. What an amazing concert, soloist, and orchestra!

It's no surprise to anyone that an online digital presence is the future of classical music. Berlin has done it right. Not only can you watch live concerts in HD with fantastic audio quality, but they have an amazing back catalog of concerts, interviews with soloists and conductors, and documentaries about the orchestra.  Know I will be binge-watching quite a lot of Berlin Philharmonic concerts over the next 7-days!

As we enter fully the era of constant connectivity and faster internet connections, this type of experience is only going to become more prevalent for all musicians.  People fret that the Internet and mobile technology is going to make everyone more detached from their audience. Using the talents of Ms. Willis as an example, I don't think this could be further from the truth! What is now clearly critical is having the ability and desire to speak to an audience, conduct an interview, and otherwise engage people in a personal and informative way.  Oh! It's those people skills my parents used to always talk to me about!

I feel fortunate the U.S. Marine Band has begun to live stream many of our own concerts. The band also has some very cool projects on line now, with my favorite being the recording and release of free PDF parts and scores for every March John Philip Sousa ever wrote!  Their adding enough that the band is hiring a third full time audio engineer as well. 

Ok, back to my looong bus ride and my digital concert hall ticket!  If it seems I'm being secretive about where I'm headed, then well, I am!  The Marines don't do anything the easy way, and today is no exception. More about our trip later when the cat is out of the bag!

Listening of Late, and a Valor Brass update!

Hey readers.  I hope everyone is having a relaxing Friday night!  The photo above doesn't look like much, but it's actually the MASTER of our new Valor Brass album!  That's right!  Ed Kelly finished the mixing and mastering just yesterday, and Matt delivered us each a copy to our hot little hands this morning.  I think it sounds great and I sincerely hope you will give it a listen when release day hits.  I would say we are less than a month out from actually seeing the finished CD!  Very exciting! Also, our good friend and multi-talented guy, Phil Holland, just set up a new website for Valor Brass at valorbrass.com.  Go check it out!

Ok, on to listening lately:

Radiohead - Pablo Honey - I decided I needed to check out some early Radiohead, as I wasn't familiar with it.  I was turned on to this album because it contains the tune, Creep.  I heard that covered by Amanda Fucking Palmer on her amazing ukulele, and I just love the tune, as well as Amanda's delivery.

Speaking of Amanda Palmer, here's some of her albums I've been enjoying lately.  If you don't like people that speak their mind, or you hate punk cabaret, this probably isn't for you! :)  However, she sells all her music on a pay-what-you-will system, so take a listen on her site...

Theatre is Evil - this is the album Amanda made with her million-dollar-plus Kickstarter

An Evening with Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer - This is an amazing set.  About 3 CDs worth of tracks, lots of readings from Neil Gaiman, lots of duets, solo tunes by Amanda, and just general fun.  Highly recommended.  I like it so much I ordered the 4 record vinyl set for my still non-existent turntable.

Ukulele Anthem - single tune, great fun

Besides Amanda Palmer...

The Family Crest - Beneath the Brine - also check out their video on Yellow Couch Sessions

Finally, I was very excited to see Death Cab for Cutie has a new album coming out March 31... Kintsugi is available on iTunes as a pre-order, and they've released three of the tracks already if you pre-order the album.  Cool stuff so far!

OK, that's it.  Time to get some sleep!

Have a great weekend,

The Virtual Trombonist

Healthy Habits During Marching Band Season

OK you young trombone jocks, I'm on to you! I know exactly what you do every day beginning in August: standing outside, slide parallel to the deck, running set after set in the hot sun, and playing AS LOUD AS YOU CAN PLAY! Yeah, I know that's what you're up to! How do I know? I know because I like to do that too! Who doesn't love to go out on the football field on a hot August morning or a cool October Friday night and play loud in your pre game warmup, loud in the bleachers, loud at half time, and loud during the 4th quarter? That's all well and good, provided you are playing with a good sound. You are thinking about your tone quality out there, aren't you?!?!

I want to address one way that we, as brass players, stay healthy. Well, what the heck does "staying healthy" mean? Do you ever have those moments where you play really hard and loud at a game or contest, and the next day your face feels like a brick? Maybe it's hard to warm up, your sound is super fuzzy, articulation and starting notes is difficult... sound familiar? That feeling is not healthy and it's a sign that you could be overdoing it! LISTEN TO YOUR BODY, it is trying to tell you something!

Now, I'll be the first to admit that restraint is not a common virtue among trombone players! We tend to have the reputation for getting a little excited at times, maybe overdoing it a bit... So, I want you to think about your practice habits during marching band season! BALANCE is key! If you are outside playing loud during rehearsal or performance, then the vast majority of your practicing should be easy. Work on soft long tones, lip slurs, Rochut etudes 8ba and in tenor clef 8ba. This is also a good time to catch up on listening and studying recordings of new pieces. You might work on music theory or ear training practice. There are many options. When I have had a period with a lot of loud playing, especially if it's outside, I balance that with easy, soft practicing on my own. Try it, I think you will feel, and sound, much better!