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By design I have not quoted much in this series from recent publications. I am a firm believer in actually reading books and especially so for recent publications that are in print; you should buy them!
With that said one author that stands out from the crowd among horn players that have written books is David Kaslow. In Living Dangerously with the Horn he says things really differently than Farkas. Thus, certain concepts will resonate with certain readers in very different ways, and there are entire topic areas he gets to that other writers barely touch.
One such topic is that of support and in particular the concept of compression. According to Kaslow, “Air support is the key technical element of horn playing.” He explains that
For the hornist, wind player, or singer, optimum air support consists of (1) taking the fullest possible breath, whether or not we plan to use all of it and (2) employing the breath appropriately, with sensitivity to all of the air column’s aspects that operate in tandem, such as quantity, compression, and velocity….
Many fine texts address air support…. We must beware, however, that in many otherwise excellent texts the term “air support” is sometimes used in a limited sense, referring only to quantity of air, ignoring the several other aspects of the concept mentioned here. This limited usage renders the phrase nearly meaningless—similar to describing what we are wearing as “clothes,” or what we are eating as “food.” In reading about air support, the, we ought to first strive to understand the writers’ particular interpretation, and then to compare that with our own definition: the fullest possible breath, and the appropriate use of all aspects of the air column.
The first aspect Kaslow examines is that of quantity. His approach is that “We must provide the largest possible quantity of support appropriate to every note.” He explains that “an abundance of potential energy—air support—yields the finest and most characteristic horn tone.”
The second aspect is compression.
Air compression is produced by the controlled contraction of the abdominal and back muscles. Air compression, like air quantity, plays a part in producing both dynamic levels and the large range of notes available on the horn. Soft notes require a higher degree of compression than do loud ones; high notes require a higher degree of compression than do low notes. Adjustments in both air quantity and compression must constantly be made, based upon the amount of air support needed for a particular range and dynamic.
The third aspect of support for Kaslow is velocity.
Velocity is simply the speed at which the air is driven through the instrument, and its most important role is in the production of dynamic levels. Soft playing requires slowly-moving air and loud playing requires quickly-moving air. Using air velocity to regulate dynamic levels assures the production of a consistent tone quality throughout the range of the horn.
Pondering compression
I was particularly interested to read his comments on compression, as it is an interesting take on the topic and one not often addressed.
Some years back now I played in groups regularly for several years with a colleague that often referred when it was not a great playing day that they could not get good compression. To this day I am not exactly sure what they meant, if it was truly a physiological thing they felt or more psychological in nature, but I feel sure it had something to do with the ideas in the quotations above.
As it is a fairly recent publication I won’t be quoting much from Kaslow in this series. My point being again to please support authors of recent books! Living Dangerously with the Horn is available from the publisher Birdalone Books, which was the source of the cover image linked here as well.
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