# Can brass bend notes?



## Studio E (Oct 27, 2010)

Just wondering, in general, can a brass instrument swoop up a full step or more? Like a gliss? It really seems like I can hear it doing it in my head but my EWQLSO sure doesnt seem to have any articulations like that. I think I need it for a commercial I'm doing right now and I am thinking in the low registers like for tuba or trombone. Any advice is welcome. Thanks!


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## germancomponist (Oct 27, 2010)

Samplemodeling "trombone (s)".


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## Studio E (Oct 27, 2010)

Thanks Gunther. I was just wondering if the real instruments can do it. I'm sure the answer is yes but was looking for some back-up.


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## Patrick de Caumette (Oct 27, 2010)

As Gunther explained, the trombone is the only member of the brass choir that can bend a whole step away and beyond...
Gliss and the likes are possible with many others...


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## Studio E (Oct 27, 2010)

Oh ok. I thought that he was just referring to a specific library. I think I was thinking "The Trumpet".


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## Jack Weaver (Oct 27, 2010)

Not sure if this is what you're looking for but, trumpets and other brass instrument with valves can and do regularly use a technique called 'half-valves' where one or more valve is depressed partially and the player uses their lips to to gliss up or down to the target note. This technique creates tonal along with simultaneous pitch changes. 

.


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## David Story (Oct 27, 2010)

Lip slurs, shakes, doits, glisses, falls can sound similar to a bend. Tuba and trumpet do these often in jazz, more than an octave.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhTTzb7R0zM


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## noiseboyuk (Oct 28, 2010)

While looking for something else, I found some impressive trumpet bends using half valve:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9fnlRF5 ... re=related

But this thread set me off in another direction. The articulation I've been looking for for years turns out to be called The Flip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnyKprQ5M8U&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnyKprQ5 ... re=related)

It has to be one of the most common big band articulations, it's used anywhere and everywhere, and AFAIK it's not covered in ANY of the libraries. That said, I can emulate it reasonably well. with care, using BBB.

Hmm, might be worth a new thread in Techniques this....


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## bryla (Oct 28, 2010)

Horns, trumpets and tubas can bend at least two semitones. A trombone can bend a tritone


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## Studio E (Oct 28, 2010)

Nice, this is what I was wondering. Thanks so much guys. Great forum as usual!


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## Mike Connelly (Nov 1, 2010)

Brass can definitely bend notes down, either with half valve or just a lip bend. Both change the tone quite a bit (each in a different way). I'd say half valve is easier and gives more options. With lip bend it gets trickier as you get into higher register since the partials of the instrument get closer together. And it's much harder to bend up than down.

Either kind of bend is much more common in jazz playing than classical so you're more likely to find it in a sample library intended for jazz etc.


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