Often we are told to listen to our sounds and evaluate our progress. As I demonstrated on an earlier post we were able to see what our tone looks like through recording software. The same is true when trying to improve other areas of our playing, and in this case we will look at single tonguing and multiple tonguing through the eyes of the recording program Audacity.
As in our other visual studies, we will be using the free software program Audacity. which can be downloaded at this site.
To understand what is happening when you tongue a note, we will follow the photos I have included at the end of this post for you to get started in your own visualizations of your tonguing style.
I have chosen one of the best examples of the older technique of single, double and triple tonguing with these recorded examples offered to us through an educational recording done by the great cornet player James Burke. I chose these examples for they contain little distortion and background noise.
Example #1
As you can see in Example #1, Mr. Burke increases his tempo and switches from single tonguing to double tonguing. When he eventually increases his speed to the point that he switches from Tah, Kah to Dah, Gah, the point of change is very obvious.
Example #2
In Example #2 you have Mr. Burks triple tonguing on four beats and then sustaining a whole note.
The lower recording was done by yours truly and indicates what my triple tonguing looks like.
When you record yourself, look for any inconsistencies in attacks and releases as well as inconsistencies in volume.
If you would like to see what your tongue is doing at the time of starting a note, you will find this post very interesting also.
What is Really Happening in Your Body When You Play Trumpet?
