Enhancing Ensemble Balance by: William W. Gourley Of the many factors that constitute a great performance, the most important is a great ensemble sound. Of course impeccable rhythm, flawless technique, attention to style and overall musicality are vital elements of a quality performance, but if there is not a great ensemble tone quality who wants to listen to the rest? In fact, even wrong notes with great tone are more tolerable than right notes with bad tone (to some degree). Listen to a ninth chord played with beautiful tone and balance. There are two wrong notes in the 9 th chord but with proper balance and tone quality it sounds wonderful. Despite the fact tone is the primary criterion for a great performance, it is too often neglected. Deficiencies in other aspects of a performance such as incorrect notes and improper rhythms are easily identified and remedied. An inaccurate attack, misplayed rhythm, or wrong notes are the easiest performance problems to identify so they often receive the most attention. Tone, on the other hand, is a much more elusive concept to grasp. You can t show the proper fingering or display and count a rhythm to correct the problem. Sound is something for which we cannot achieve a tactile feeling. It is a nebulous concept, an ideal that we just can t correct with, place bolt C through leg A and fasten with washer F and nut G. Before one can teach ensemble tone one needs to have a clear concept of what a great sound is. This may vary from individual to individual just as the great orchestras have nuances to their sound. However, the basic sound concept is consistent from orchestra to orchestra and concert band to concert band. This may be an obvious fact but without having listened carefully to and analyzing the sound characteristics of performances both live and recorded on monitor quality equipment, one cannot have an adequate perception of what a characteristic ensemble sound should be. Most of us derive our concept of sound from within the ensemble. Playing alto saxophone in the band or cello in the orchestra through our university years limits our awareness of what the audience s aural perception is compared to ours from the stage or in the rehearsal hall. Even professionals in string quartets or brass quintets realize their limitations to adequately hear the ensemble from within and either record performances and rehearsals or have a member step-out of the group to listen. We need to take the time to listen to quality ensembles to get that sound in our ears. Once you have that sound in your head, the next challenge is how to recreate it with your ensemble. Again, this not something that can be taught through a fingering chart or counting the rhythm. Ensemble tone is not just a left brain concept; it is a whole brain concept and overwhelmingly right brain. Still, there are some left brain strategies that can be utilized to enhance awareness in the individual to create a great ensemble sound. Defining the Sound
High Midrange Low Example 1 The most basic explanation of ensemble sound is the Pyramid Balance of sound. (example1) Simply stated, upper voices need to play softer than lower voices at any given dynamic level. This is a good starting point but may not accurately convey the general sound of an ensemble. Taken literally this can cause an ensemble to have a boomy bass sound. A close analysis of a quality ensemble sound, whether it is orchestral or wind band, reveals the core of the sound is in the midrange or baritone and tenor voices. In orchestras, this is the cellos primarily and violas. The trombones, French horns and euphoniums form the core of the band sound. These instruments need to relate their sound to that of the basses but the core sound of the ensemble is found in these tenor and baritone instruments. These instruments create the full, rich, sonorous tone color we associate with great ensembles. Transferring this visual concept into an aural one is a simple process. Have the tubas or basses play a scale (just a few notes will do) while the ensemble listens to them. Then, ask the other bass instruments (bass reeds) to play the scale with the tubas and/or basses having them add to or play into the sound to enhance or enrich the tuba/bass sound not cover it. The bass reeds must not dominate the color of the tuba/bass voice just add a bit more texture to the sound. When the bass voices have blended into one sound rather than three or four distinct sonorities have the trombones and euphoniums/baritones or cellos play the scale with the bass voices hearing themselves between 60-80% (you may need to try a few percentages to achieve the blend and balance) as loud as the bass line. The focus should be on becoming an extension of the bass line and not dominating the sound. Then add the French horns/violas having them play equal to the trombones/cellos. Follow this with trumpets playing 60-70% as loud as the trombone/euphonium for band and the violins 60-70% as loud as the violas and cellos. Saxophones are added next, playing 50% as loud as the French horn trombone/euphonium, then; clarinets 80-90% as loud as the French horn, trombone/euphonium, flutes and oboe 50% as loud as the clarinets. This same process can be used with a chord instead of a scale. There are several reasons this process enhances the tone. As conductors we continually tell the band/orchestra to listen down. Inevitably, ensemble members wind up listening to the tuba/bass which is over two and a half
to three octaves away for most of the non core instruments. The core instruments are voiced nearer the bass voice enabling them to better tune to it. As the other non core instruments listen to the core instruments it easier to tune to them because their pitch is within a couple octaves of the trombone or cello line for the most part with the exception of the oboe and flute (and upper clarinet and violin). Having the higher soprano voice instruments listen to the clarinets allows them to tune to an instrument within an octave or two of them. Members begin to listen through the ensemble enhancing their awareness of harmony and texture. Two key issues in developing a sonorous ensemble sound are listening through the ensemble and playing into the core sound not on top of the sound. The performers must understand they need to enhance the lower voices not dominate them. Defining Dynamic Levels Example 2 Establishing a consistent appreciation for the various dynamic levels presents another challenge for ensemble members. One person s mezzo-piano may be another s forte. As with trying to develop awareness for proper ensemble balance, there is not objective criteria we can use to define what forte is. I used to use the method of assigning a number 1-10 to the various dynamic degrees: 1-pp 2-p 3-mp 4-mf 5-f 6-ff 7-fff, and never using 8, 9 and 10. Zero represents the softest one can play and 10 the loudest. The problem with this method is everyone has varying dynamic capabilities depending upon the ability of the performer. The method I have come to use that seems the most effective is defining dynamics in terms of percentages: pp-hear yourself 10% as loud as those around you p-hear yourself 20% as loud as those around you mp-hear yourself 30% as loud as those around you mf-hear yourself 40% as loud as those around you f-hear yourself 50% as loud as those around you ff-hear yourself 60% as loud as those around you If everyone plays to be heard, no one is heard. If everyone plays not to be heard, everyone is heard. Jay Friedman, principal trombone, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Example 2 shows the relationship of the ensemble at a fortissimo dynamic. The bass voices determine the volume of the ff and the rest of the ensemble fits into the sound as described in Defining the Sound. The percentage method immediately improves blend which is the basic ingredient (after individual tone) for a great ensemble sound. More advanced musicians often overplay the ensemble or play outside of the ensemble sound rather than into it. Over time, these musicians begin to develop an ear for this and don t realize they are detracting from the overall sound rather than helping. They wind up trying to lead their section rather than follow the sound and react, in balance, to the rest of the ensemble. Maintaining the Sound throughout Dynamic Changes Example 3 Trying to maintain a consistent sound quality throughout the varying dynamics requires the performers to respond to what they hear more than what they see. They must remember to follow the crescendo from the core instruments who are responding to the bass voice. Example 3 illustrates the relationship of the volume increase from forte to fortissimo. The lower voices crescendo more than the upper in order to maintain the integrity of the sonorous tone. Because the upper voices are more easily heard they need to focus on playing into the ensemble sound. In general, the lower voices must overplay the dynamic contrast and the upper voices need to underplay it. If the upper voices lead the crescendo as illustrated in example 4 (dash trapezoid), the ensemble tone will become bright and strident as the highs dominate the lower voices. Again, everything the upper voices do is magnified in the listener s ear. Consequently, upper voices must not overplay the inner and lower voices of the ensemble. Example 4 To help train the ensemble to maintain its focus on the core sound, have the group play a chord with the proper sound. Then ask everyone to close their eyes except for the bass voices. Have the bass voices crescendo and decrescendo. The rest of the ensemble should
respond to what they hear and follow the lead of the bass voices while maintaining proper ensemble balance. Accents are played with the same attention to balance as dynamics. The power of the accent comes from the bass and core voices. As with crescendos, lower voices need to magnify their accent while upper voices underplay them to maintain rich tonal quality. When the more accomplished musicians in the upper voices try to make the accent for the band, they destroy the quality of the sound. Example 5 The Pyramid Balance concept applies to sections in the ensemble, also. There is a tendency for the first parts to lead the section with their volume. Since the range they play in is generally higher than the rest of the section and they are the more advanced members of the ensemble they can dominate the overall section sound. It is important the second and third parts/violas understand their importance in the overall sonority of the band/orchestra and support the upper parts and it is important for those on first part to understand they need to adjust their volume to the lower parts in the section. Example 5 illustrates the relationship of relative volume at a mezzo piano dynamic between the parts in the section (solid line) and the amount of energy or volume each part applies to a crescendo (dash line). An appreciation for the physics of sound is beneficial in understanding this phenomenon. Lower pitches have a wider wave length with more distance between pulses than higher pitches that have many more vibrations per second. These increased vibrations per second bump into more air molecules than lower pitches which transfers to more energy behind their (higher pitches) sound. In ensembles that have limited instrumentation in the bass and core voices the higher voiced instruments need to adjust dynamic levels in relation to the core sound. There is no set volume for forte. The volume of a forte will vary from ensemble to ensemble depending on the sound generated by the bass and core voices. When it comes to ensemble tone these leaders need to understand that they must follow the dynamics from the bottom-up rather than lead from the top down. If they don t they will do more to detract from the performance than they will to enhance it. The challenge of maintaining a full ensemble sonority is keeping the upper voices in the sound rather than dominating the sound. Creating an awareness of the Pyramid Balance and focusing dynamics into the core instruments is a critical principal ensemble members must understand in order to achieve this.