April 12, 201313 yr Hi, guys. A question for trumpeters: As an arranger, I’ve heard trumpeters say that if you’re playing a flugel too loud, you’d might as well be playing a trumpet. (Even Don Sebesky, in his book The Contemporary Arranger, recommended never scoring them above mf.) Trouble is, there’s a spot in my upcoming chart where I’d really like the bugle-like sound of two Flugelhorns playing horn-like lines underneath the lead trumpet, and I’ve seen Flugelhorn parts scored forte, so here’s my question: If you came across a Flugelhorn part with lots of forte markings, would you: 1. Assume the part is badly written and disrespect the music? Or 2. Just play it forte but not necessarily “loud” like a trumpet? I just don’t want to blow out my secondary trumpeters’ lips or give them a chart they’ll disrespect. One final curiosity: -Is it harder to play Flugel loud at the very bottom of the range? I’m told there are intonation problems in the extreme low range of the Flugel, like there are in the extreme high range. How low do these problems start? Thanks.
April 13, 201313 yr Personally, I would just play louder. You could always notate it down at mf and then the musicians will adjust themselves based on the music, which you could mention in performance notes. If you want more of a bugle sound you could have the part played with a bugle, just a thought. When I play Flugel I don't like to play loud, esspecially down low, but its possible. Its low register really pops out anyway. Kinda like when you have a french horn playing low.
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