Eric M. Berlin...

Archives - How do you judge your progress?

2012-02-10T12:04:00.007-05:00

For some reason, students have a difficult time embracing recording in their practicing. At this time of the year, my students are in the midst of a mad rush to create a recording for a competition. It is always a struggle for some to get it done, but it's eye-opening for them when they do.

The other day I pulled out a treasured find to play for a student and it was incredibly enlightening not only for him, but also for me. Many moons ago, I was working in building operations at my alma mater, New England Conservatory. A good friend and I were given the task of cleaning out a basement room in the office building across the street. While we were there, we browsed through a treasure trove of records in filing cabinets including the file of one of our most notable alumni, Adolf Herseth! Yes, grades, GI Bill paperwork, letters from Roger Mager etc. I wish I had thought to photocopy it for Bud! Someday I will get back there and find it again.

Among the things marked for trash were several boxes of cassette tapes. Still in the era when this was the standard recording medium, we decided to walk a couple of blocks over to my apartment and dispose of them to my living room. Later that night we sorted through these to find the "hi bias" and "metal" tapes to reuse and discarded the rest. Most of these tapes were audition tapes, but there was also one marked "Philadelphia - Brass" and on the side was printed "Eric Berlin - Trumpet". It was an amazing find.

This recording of my live audition for NEC is a priceless time capsule of a 17-year-old me. Is it perfect playing? No. I often pull out this recording or my senior recital recording from NEC to show that you don't have to start out life as a superstar to succeed. I laugh at some of the musical choices that I made without the benefit of a conservatory education and cringe at a few less than beautiful sounds that I produced, but it is still unmistakably me. There was a fearlessness in the playing which I think most of us lose once we begin to believe that playing trumpet is hard!

It is impossible for us to judge our playing objectively while performing. We are hyper-aware of our mistakes and what we are trying to improve. The only thing that we can hope for is that we are on an upward trajectory. My primary teacher through Junior High and High School, David Rentschlar, was very keen to point out that learning is not just a straight upward trajectory. It is filled with peaks, some valleys, and lots of plateaus. It is only from a distance that we can see the true landscape of our progress.

When you look back 10-20 years from now, how will you judge the work you are doing today? Will you have any way of knowing whether you have gotten better? A regular habit of recording your practice as well as archiving performances for future reference will allow you to more objectively see your progress. I imagine that you will be pleased.

To Err is Human

2012-02-01T22:34:00.009-05:00

This is a trumpet blog, and this idea is something that trumpeters have to accept. "I play trumpet, and therefore, on occasion, I miss." We sometimes miss more often than we would like of course, but we must accept this possibility if we are going to actually say something which anyone wants to hear. Too often, we get so caught up in hitting the right buttons and "not missing" that we forget that the point is to express something. Nobody pays me to merely get the right buttons down at the correct time. That sounds like math class! I used the band room as an escape from math class as often as I could! There must be something more to music or we would have been replaced by MIDI orchestras long ago.

When the wheels start to come off with my playing, my brain is most often wrapped in knots focused on "not screwing up". In these moments, there is no flow, no expression, and certainly, nothing worth listening to. While in this place, I can usually recite a laundry list of what I should NOT do and the consequences of FAILING to successfully navigate this minefield.

In those moments when I find myself so wrapped up in what "not to do", I try to catch myself and take a piece of sage advice from my mentor, Charlie Schlueter: "give yourself permission to screw up". When I was missing everything, he could sense where my thoughts were. This simple reorientation of thought got me out of my own way and allowed the music to finally flow. The result of that permission was not only more accurate playing, but more engaging music making. It worked while a student and still does today.

In your practice, make a point of setting aside a large portion of your session to just perform. This is a time to completely let go and trust the good work you have done. If the first time you do that is on stage, it will be a completely foreign experience. During this portion of your practice, allow yourself to truly separate yourself from judgement of good or bad and engage in "playing" your instrument. Experiment and see what you can come up with. See how many ways that you can shape that phrase. Charlie constantly encouraged us "never play it the same way twice". That experimentation is how you define who YOU are as a musician. Vince Penzerella used to say to me "If you don't have your own personality, it is wrong." "Playing" your instrument is what we did as kids. Stay in touch with the essence of what made us love playing our instruments in the first place.

The act of reaching toward perfection is admirable. This can be your practice room priority when you are working on your technique. But let us not forget that the purpose of perfect technique is its ability to communicate that which is uniquely human. That human component is what makes music art.

The regular rattle and hum of my refrigerator as I write this, is not something that I consider music. There may be some that challenge this, but to me, music is a method of communicating. As with any art, it begins as a picture in one person's mind, transmitted through an instrument such as a paint brush, pen, trumpet, or voice so that it can meet the eyes or ears of another human so that the image can be shared.

What makes a Mahler symphony transport us to another plane of existence? Could it merely be the elevation of the notes that Maynard Ferguson played which grabbed me or the incendiary spirit and passion which simply refused to remain silent?

As I write "To Err is Human" and suggest that humanity is what separates music from noise, I must also ask the questions - "Just what is humanity?" and "What does it mean to be Human?"

When I need a definition, my first stop is Merriam Webster. I must admit that a personalized edition sits on my shelf as a gift from a dear friend and fellow trumpeter who is an editor at large. Thanks Peter Sokolowski!

1: the quality or state of being humane (Humane: marked by compassion, sympathy, or consideration for humans or animal)

2a: the quality or state of being human (Human: susceptible to or representative of the sympathies and frailties of human nature)

2b: plural : human attributes or qualities humanities

3: plural : the branches of learning (as philosophy, arts, or languages) that investigate human constructs and concerns as opposed to natural processes (as in physics or chemistry) and social relations (as in anthropology or economics)

These definitions describe what is most meaningful for us as artists. Ponder them and how they can be expressed through your art. As you strive to build your technique, make sure that you keep in touch with the purpose behind it all. Force yourself to say something meaningful and unique when you have the horn on your face. Push yourself out of your comfort zone and "Give yourself permission to screw up". If you say something meaningful, the message will resonate whether or not you have perfect spelling, grammar and punctuation.

To those in my life who exemplify this higher consciousness and live in the world of endless possibilities, I give you an A. There is nobody I would rather make music with and I am thankful for the opportunity to study at your feet.

Practice Space - The Warm Up

2012-01-05T15:20:00.007-05:00

Many clinicians used to come for masterclasses armed with a sheet of whole notes and arpeggios to distribute. The "Bob Smith" warmup works for Bob and may work for you if you are thinking with "Bob's brain". My teacher Vince Penzerella used to respond to the question "What do you do for a warm-up?" with "What does my warm-up have to do with you?"

The notes of my warmup may have some similarities from day to day, but what remains constant is the intent behind them. What any given person needs to play to be ready to perform on a given day will vary and what notes you play is not nearly important as what you are thinking and whether you are intellectually engaged in the process. You will see that I will not give you any specific notes to play, but an insight into what motivates my choice of what and how to play. Use this as an outline to suit your own needs. Make sure to keep it fluid and flexible to address problems that arise from one day to the next. Beware of a “routine” as it can become just that, routine.

What is a warm up? The purpose of a warmup is to get your body and mind ready to perform. A good warmup will make the physical machine of your body work smoothly and efficiently and will strengthen connections from the mind to that machine. Both are important! My mentor, Charlie Schlueter used to call his warmup "checking the templates". Hearing him warm up backstage at Symphony Hall was very enlightening.

When I watch athletes of just about any sport before they play, I see common elements.

- Stretching and form (posture)

- Easy isolated function

- Calibration (for this we need a constant)

I believe that these three elements also apply to us as brass players.

Stretching: Anyone who has observed a sporting event would have seen athletes slowly stretching the different muscle groups needed for their specific sport. This is of course to gently prepare for activity and prevent injury. What are those muscles for a brass player? Immediately most people would think of the small facial muscles, however there is a much more basic function earlier in the chain. Before the lips can produce a vibration, there must be fuel provided to them. Delivering air to the lips in the most efficient way should be your first order of business.

During one of my first lessons, Charlie drew this diagram in the front of my Arutiunian Concerto.

This is a great illustration of how to most efficiently move air. When most people hear "use more air" they assume that it means to use more effort and blow harder. With a full breath, we create much more power by allowing the fully expanded torso muscles to simply come back to rest. Charlie’s solution to nearly every difficulty you encounter is TAKE A BIGGER BREATH! It always works for me…

There is no way to expand your lungs' capacity as they could already expand well beyond the boundaries of our bodies. However, we can make sure that they expand to their maximum by reducing muscular tension and using proper posture.

The easiest and most helpful stretch is simply bending over at the waist and trying to touch your toes. (Object of this stretch is not to touch your toes, but to stretch the muscles of your back. Even if you cannot touch your toes, you will receive much benefit from this exercise.) Make sure to let your head hang so that your chin touches your chest. See how far your fingertips are from your toes. Now begin breathing slowly with the sound OH and release when you are at capacity by saying TOH. Imagine the air filling the spaces between your ribs, the kidneys, and the area under your arms. Do this for a few minutes and be aware of the tension that you feel in your neck, back and shoulders etc. Direct the focus of the air to those places and see if you can feel them expand and release. You may notice that your fingers have moved closer to your toes as a result of this. This is an exercise that you should do every day and often throughout the day. Incorporate other stretches for the rest of your torso into this part of your warmup as well.

With your body prepared to expand, you will want to take full advantage of this added capacity. Proper posture is vital to allowing you to breathe with maximum efficiency and to allow your body to resonate fully while playing. The goal is to allow your skeleton to support itself so that the muscles of your body can relax. Think long and tall with little to no muscular tension.

While standing, place your feet shoulder width apart with the outsides parallel. Unlock your knees and move your hips forward and back until you feel your weight evenly distributed between the balls and heels of your feet. Now allow your head to gently lift off of your shoulders with your chin remaining down closer to your chest. While sitting, strive for this standing posture above. Your feet should be parallel and your knees should be directly above the feet.

I recommend studying Alexander Technique as a way to improve your muscular function in all aspects of your life. It has been extremely helpful to me. You can also find similar benefits with most types of yoga as well.

After all of that, we are ready to build good breathing habits for your day. Keep track of your body tension and stretch throughout your practice session. Also be vigilant about your posture. With proper posture, you will find an immediate increase in the size and resonance of your sound. These are new habits that must be reinforced with repetition.

Isolated Function

One of the best things that I learned from Vince Penzerella was the concept of isolating the different components of playing to more efficiently address issues. I break them up into these three.

a) Air - causes vibration

There is no shortage of discussion of breathing in brass pedagogy. I would recommend studying the teachings of Arnold Jacobs as the most influential teacher of wind instruments of the 20th century. There is a lot of great information on the website devoted to his teaching www.windsongpress.com. Check out the videos and try some of the breathing devices. You may also wish to check out a wonderful series called The Breathing Gym with Patrick Sheridan and Sam Pilafian.

Simple breathing exercises such as ladder breathing to a metronome is helpful and doing ANYTHING represents a significant advantage over nothing. Regardless how you get there, the goal of this part of your warm up is to get free flowing efficient air movement. Using the simple syllables "OH" for inhalation and "TOH" for exhalation is a great start. Remember that the inhalation is a mirror image of what you wish to exhale.

b) Tongue - defines the duration of the vibration (articulation)

I gained quite a bit of speed and clarity in my articulation merely by practicing in the car. No, I did not have my horn on my face, but just doing "wind patterns". I believe that this term originated with Vincent Cichowicz and it is great practice for airflow and to practice different types of articulation. My own priority with articulation is to make it as simple as possible. I want the vowel sound from a sustained pitch to always remain, even in notes of shortest duration. And I want the consonant T or D in the articulation to be clear and firm, and release to that vowel as quickly as possible.

With a full breath, just begin to articulate one of your favorite excerpts or etudes (without the instrument). For me, Ravel Piano Concerto in G or Charlier Etude #1 are two good examples. Remember that we are now isolating the articulation from pitch. Avoid trying to producing an audible contour, but rather make each note sound the same. Slurred and repeated pitches should sound like one longer note. This will encourage a consistent articulation when you bring it back to the horn.

c) Lips - change the pitch of the vibration

My approach to pitch is that we play a fretless string instrument. Our instrument is simply singing with the vocal chords on the wrong side of the mouth! As with a string instrument or the voice, we can produce every small microtone between pitches as we buzz the mouthpiece.

This part of my warmup can start a variety of ways, but usually, I do the opposite of what most of us have learned. I start high and work low. This may take a moment of explanation.

The low and middle registers of the trumpet have the largest margin for error to still allow successful tone production. (I illustrate this playing off to the side or using my tongue as my bottom lip.) As we learned as children to play a low C or G and then filled in the gaps and ascended, we often play in the lower register with a less refined embouchure and less attention to pitch. This also sets us up to make the upper register difficult for young players to attain.

Some players even develop a second set to play in the upper register. This is usually a smaller aperture than the low set. Using two sets often gives a break between registers, which is difficult to traverse. With my own practice and what I advocate for my students, I use a high register set and bring it into the low register.

Buzzing the mouthpiece is the best way to isolate pitch production from the rest of the functions and also addresses the final part of the total warm up process - calibration. To calibrate anything, we need to have one fixed constant. In this case, I want absolutely constant air flow to fuel the pitch mechanism.

Beginning on any easily produced higher register pitch, buzz slowly down two octaves (for example High G to Low G) in a glissando at a MP dynamic. The slower that you perform the glissando, the better as you will feel the "breaks" and be able to connect through them. One of my former colleagues and good friend Matt Gaunt called this "the stupid exercise". It is important to be able to again re-ascend to your starting pitch so take a big breath. If you find that you are unable, it is likely that the intensity of your air stream has decreased as you descended or that your embouchure has shifted to a more open set along the way. Stretch each end of the scale a bit but don't worry too much about buzzing up to high C. A little above the staff, the mouthpiece shank begins to act as its' own bugle and tries to force you into a fundamental making buzzing up here very difficult.

Once we have connected high and low registers with glissando, we can begin to calibrate by using real tunes. This is the purpose of all of this work anyway!

Calibration

Taking simple tunes such as those Arban's art of phrasing, buzz them without articulation. Be expressive and connect across the rests to keep constant air. Remember, this is isolating the pitch part of the process, so continue to glissando and don't worry about articulations. Think of a great singer as you do this.

What we are doing here is calibrating the muscles to move precisely in response to the pitch signal in our heads. Just as we sing with the voice, we need nothing more than the picture of a sound in our heads to sing with the lips. Once we put the trumpet on, most of us become less concerned with that primary image and worry about all of the physical feelings and external judgement. The more time we spend buzzing the string instrument without the "frets" of the horn, the more we reinforce a strong connection from song in the head to an automatic body response to it. Then the trumpet doesn't have to bully us into a slot, but rather merely amplify a pure signal. This results in faster response and a sound which is more pure in all registers.

These principles should be revisited throughout your session and will become problem solving tools as you work.

Best wishes and happy practicing!

Exciting new work!

2011-12-31T22:58:00.014-05:00

The most satisfying part of my career as a performer is being a part of the creation of new works. I will premier the newest of these on March 17th, 2012 with the Albany Symphony Orchestra.

A couple of years ago, the ASO started recording the works of George Tsontakis. An incredibly imaginative composer with a gift for orchestration, I was captivated especially with his percussion concerto Mirologhlia. Dramatic, with a powerful narrative and a uniquely varied color palette, I began to imagine a concerto for trumpet by this incredible voice.

We recorded Mirologhia with wonderful percussionist Colin Currie along with George's first Violin Concerto with Cho-Liang Lin and October, an orchestral portrayal of the transition of seasons in the Catskills. Check this fantastic recording out at amazon.com

I am extraordinarily honored that George has agreed to write this concerto and that the Albany Symphony Orchestra has commissioned it for me to perform. The recording will be paired with another concerto by Tsontakis for Clarinet, Anasa. We recorded this in May 2011 with the incredible clarinet virtuoso David Krakauer. Hearing what George made David do was frightening! Holy crap can that guy play!!!

George had me out to his beautiful home in the Catskills in the early summer where we explored sounds and colors that were possible from the trumpet. I brought along a ton of mutes and even brought along multiple horns. We discussed music, our favorite works, personal connections to it, my background growing up and my early training in jazz and commercial music. From our work together with me playing his music in the Albany Symphony Orchestra, George had a very good grasp of who I am as a player. Early on, he talked about a sound and power piece. Combined with his gift for orchestration and long lines of surprising contour, I was eager to see what he would come up with!

In mid November, the first sketches arrived in short score form. I was incredibly excited to finally have some notes to play! What struck me first was that the lines he wrote were challenging but so vocal. Imagining the textures underneath was more challenging with only a short score, but it showed all the makings of George's unique voice. Practicing the lines was fun but frustrating without the context of the orchestra.

Just this week, George and I met again in the Catskills to play through the piece together and make some decisions. Now complete with the prelude, "True Colors" is ready for orchestration. We made some mute decisions and he was able to clarify some gestural ideas for me. Much as I hated to admit it, much of it will be much easier with a conductor!

It is meant to show my true colors and I think he has captured me well. We will meet again out in California at the end of the month while he is working out the orchestrations. By this point, I hope to have the hardest passages mostly in my ears and fingers and ready to do some more refinement. Then it is just a few more weeks until the premier and recording. I can't wait to put it all together with the orchestra!

Practice Space - Mental Space - Part 1

2011-09-19T01:19:00.021-04:00

Now that you have a good place to practice, you need to have the right mental approach to get maximum results. It is vital to find the focus necessary for good work.

With our lives increasingly busy, we tend to cram practice in the midst of other stresses. Real practice takes a focus and clarity of thought that demands our complete attention. Finding the time is hard enough. Once you have scheduled it, make sure that you get the most out of it. Find a way to leave all other thoughts behind. It is often easier to find this focus when you have a regularly scheduled practice time within a well-budgeted calendar. Optimally, find several shorter intervals during the day to keep your mind sharp.

Once you have a good space with plenty of focused time to practice, you are ready to build the new trumpet player within you. My goal is to help my students become as physically efficient and musically informed trumpet players as possible. Help set the stage for great practice before you begin.

1) Have adequate fuel for the machine - make sure that you have eaten a meal to fuel the brain. A grumbling stomach will distract you from the task at hand.

2) Have a notepad with you. Should distractions of "to-dos" arise, you can jot them down and continue.

3) Turn off notifications on your smart phone. I am guilty of being tied to my email.

4) Get rid of any other possible distractions that you can. Life does intervene, but do your best.

Now you are ready to begin.

The purpose of practice for me is simple: I want to improve the process of getting the sound in my head out through my chosen tool, the trumpet, so that it can enter the listener's ears and we can share that sound together.

Arnold Palmer, the great golfer said, "Practice with INTENTION and ATTENTION." These are wise words from a master, which truly apply to us as trumpet players. Amateur golfers often hit the driving range and just hit balls and watch where they go. For Arnold, there was always a clear target in mind and a purpose for what he was doing. How many of us have gone through our lives practicing scales mindlessly in front of the television?

For a long time, I was concerned with "putting time in". There is no doubt that at some point in all of our lives, we need to spend time developing the muscles which help us produce a sound. However, if we are not careful, the incorrect muscle memory that we develop early on can remain a burden throughout our careers. In many ways, some of the repertoire that I learned first is the most challenging for me now. The haphazard practice of youth ingrained habits that remain difficult to re-program. As a sort of vaccine against these habits, Norman Bolter, the fantastic former trombonist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and educator counsels his students to approach everything like it is their first time, even if it is a solo or etude they have played for decades.

I do a fun exercise with my students every once in a while. Just as they are about to play, I pull the trumpet away and ask them to sing the first note. It is amazing to them when they actually play the note and hear how far off they are. So many players get in the habit of just blowing into the horn and waiting to see what the note sounds like. This is backwards!!!

Imagine for a moment the creative process of other artists. Don't forget, you ARE an artist. A painter doesn't wait to see what the brush does, nor does a poet wait to see what words come out of his pencil. The creative process must begin with the intention in your mind to communicate a sound, an image, a texture etc. Years ago, I asked a young student named Madeleine to define music. Her response has always stuck with me. Even as a 6th grader, she understood; "Music is talking without words." We must always have a clear image of what we are trying to communicate or we are just potters throwing our clay on the wheel and hoping for the best.

That sound in your head is the target that Arnold Palmer was always hitting to on the range and on the course. It is that INTENTION to communicate the sound in your head that begins to make the physical process work. The rest of practice is ATTENTION to the details of what you are trying to communicate as well as to your physical habits. More on both to come!

Practice Space - Physical Space

2011-08-28T21:57:00.028-04:00

The majority of my Sunday was spent making a good practice space for myself in the basement of our new home. I cannot stress enough the importance to me of a good space to play.

In the late 1990's and early 2000's I spent countless hours practicing in an amazing church in Brighton, MA. A good relationship with the clergy and organist scored a key and security code which allowed me to practice late into the night whenever I could.

It was in this space that the most dramatic improvements I have ever made in my playing happened. What I found in those magical days was not only a space which made me sound good, but a place where I could truly remove myself from all distractions and focus entirely on the task at hand. Practicing at home or in my office has always been difficult with the constant reminder of and ease of access to the rest of life. There are always emails to answer, laundry, dishes, and the worst distraction of all, the television.

In discussing "practice space" I want to first describe the physical characteristics of my optimal practice space and in a later post, discuss the equally important mental space one must inhabit to make the best use of that physical space.

For a trumpeter, I recommend the following features for your practice space

1) Find a large a space if possible. Let's face it, nobody likes to practice in a small room.

It is for your own protection: As trumpeters, we produce a lot of sound. Mike Keough, a former UMASS student, during a semester abroad, did research on noise levels at the Royal Academy of Music in London. This was due to the European Union's new standards for workplace noise levels. Upon his return, he gave a fantastic presentation to the entire student body on the result of his findings. Trumpet and trombone rank as the loudest acoustic instruments and cause the most damage to our hearing. The most interesting thing to me was that the person suffering from a lead trumpet the most was the player him/herself, not the bassoonist in front.
A larger room helps you hear your sound more realistically. The physics of the trumpet do not allow us to accurately hear our own sound directly. We must wait until the sound is reflected back to us to hear it. (or better yet, record ourselves - more on that later) In most small rooms engineered for practicing, the environment is acoustically dead. I spent many hours in these rooms and didn't realize that I was playing louder and working harder to get the sound I wanted to reflect back to me to no avail. (To avoid this pain when you need to use one of these rooms, I recommend using ear plugs and tune in completely to the sound in your own head. You would be amazed at what you can accomplish!) In contrast, the church in Brighton had a 4 second reverb that allows one to play arpegios and hear them ring as a vertical chord. Nice way to find out if you play in tune with yourself!

2) Find an isolated room. If you can find a room which is physically removed from the distraction of other people and distractions of your own making, all the better. This is often unrealistic physically, but can often be accomplished in other ways. While at the New England Conservatory of Music, we would often hang a jacket over the door window to shield us from the prying eyes of those looking for a friend to talk to. It doesn't hurt to leave the laptop and smart phone behind as well.

3) Find a good sounding space. Not everyone can find a church with 4 second reverb to practice in. (Doc Severinsen is a big fan of stairwells too!) However, small rooms, carpeting, acoustic tile and low ceilings can all deaden the sound. Although harder surfaces will make the space louder, it helps give a more accurate picture. If a space forces you to play harder to get the sound you want, you will ingrain bad habits and possibly injure yourself.

4) Equip it with the right equipment

Mirror
Metronome
Tuner
Chromatic Drone
Amplified speakers or headphones
Recorder!!!

With all of this said, making an absolutely perfect practice space in one's home is difficult. All we can do is the best we can. As for my own space, I laid claim to one quarter of my basement for my dedicated practice space. (Thanks to my wonderful wife!) Finishing the space was not difficult as 3/4 of the basement walls are concrete. The fourth wall still had exposed fiberglass insulation. My first step was to enclose the insulation and make a hard reflecting surface. With plastic sheeting and a staple gun, I laid a vapor barrier to further insulate and protect the new wall I was about to install. To create a better reflecting surface, I used furniture quality plywood sheets which I cut to fit. Regular plywood would have been okay, but for $5/sheet difference, I felt the smoother surface would not only look better, but may reflect better. Once these sheets were attached to the walls, the experience of playing became MUCH easier.

After hanging a mirror across from my chair, the rest of the project was merely setting up some electronic stuff in a comfortable place. My own space contains the following because I already owned these things and they work great. However, as I will describe below, it is easy enough to function well more simply and less expensively.

A matched pair of Rhode NT-5 small diaphragm condenser mics mounted across the room from where I sit or stand.
These are powered by a small M-Audio DMP-3 two channel microphone pre-amp.
An old Realistic powered mixer which I use to channel, balance and control volume from a metronome and drone.
Matrix MR-800 Quartz Metronome (This is the loudest metronome I have ever found. Even a brass quintet playing mezzo-forte can hear this!)
Korg Master Tune MT1200 Chromatic multi-temperament tuner - this is overkill for most purposes except for piano tuning, and it is no longer made, but I own it and it allows full chromatic tone generation.
Seiko ST1100 Chromatic Tuner - this is the tuner that I prefer and is always in my case. The response time is quick, but not so quick that the needle never stays still. Also produces full chromatic tone generation. In my office, I prefer the Peterson V-SAM Virtual Strobe tuner.
Pair of Fostex PM-1 MKII ACTIVE 6.5 inch powered monitors. These produce a large volume of sound and are helpful if playing with Smart Music or any play along system.
M-Audio MicroTrack II digital recorder. I have had this for many years and it records great to .WAV file.
Audio Techinica ATH-M40FS Studio Headphones - these are relatively inexpensive but very true sounding. I listen to playback of my practice through these to hear more objectively.

This is far beyond what most people need to practice well. In fact, I can do everything that I need with a small portable set up which I carry in my trumpet case (which I take to my practice church). It includes:

Matrix MR-800 Quartz Metronome - anything with a headphone jack works
Seiko ST1100 Chromatic Tuner - anything with a tone generator and headphone jack works
Sony Stereo Microphone - I have been using it since I was in college and it has held up great. It is a discontinued model similar to ECM SM957. I set it across the room with a 16 foot extension cord from Radio Shack
M-Audio MicroTrack II digital recorder. There are many great recorders available now. I only recommend that you insist on user variable gain control. Otherwise, you will have high dynamics lowered and soft dynamics raised on your recording negating all of the good work you do creating dynamic contrast.
Shure in ear monitors. These are a discontinued model similar to the Shure SE215 - use the best headphones that you own.
A few small cables and adapters from Radio Shack to make a small mini-mixer. To do this, insert a headphone volume control into the tuner and metronome (I have older, cheap radio shack versions of these) Then plug each of these to one of end of the 1/8 inch stereo plug to two mono splitter. By then inserting your headphones into this, you can control the volume of each the drone and tuner for practice purposes.

This small package is a complete practice recording setup. It will allow you to follow the practice routine which I will detail in upcoming posts and helped me make major improvements in my playing while practicing in my beloved church in Brighton.

So, find a good space to practice where you will be as far from distraction as you can manage and then equip your space with the ability to record and assess yourself while the instrument is not on your face.

Practice Space - Head Space

Just published!

2011-08-25T15:53:00.002-04:00

Hey all,

I would like to put in a plug for a great work which has just been published. I asked Evan Hause to write a piece for me and Eduardo Leandro for our 2005 ITG Recital in Bangkok. His immediate response was "Trumpet and Bongos!" It turned out to be a great piece which is on my first CD.

Available until now only directly through Evan, it is now available at the link below. Check it out!

http://www.musicdispatch.com/product/viewproduct.do?itemid=220359

Best wishes,

Eric

Launching First Annual Trumpet Day at UMASS - October 1, 2011

2011-08-20T10:34:00.008-04:00

World renowned trumpeter and educator, Vince DiMartino will be joining me and my UMASS colleague Jeffrey Holmes for a day of performances and clinics.

The basic schedule is below with more information available on the UMass Trumpet Studio website at www.umasstrumpets.org

October 1, 2011

10:00 am Eric Berlin Recital

11:00 am Exhibit and Lunch hour

12:30 pm Clinic by Jeff Holmes

3:00 pm Clinic by Vince DiMartino

4:30 pm District Solo Clinic with Eric Berlin featuring the UMASS trumpet studio

5:30 pm Exhibits and Dinner

8:00 pm Evening concert featuring Vince DiMartino and Jeff Holmes

This event is hosted by the new student run Pioneer Valley Trumpet Guild. Many thanks to Steve Shires Trumpets for their support.

http://umasstrumpets.org/

Reflections on 2010-11 season

2011-08-18T16:20:00.039-04:00

After settling back in to my home routine after a fantastic summer in Boulder, I am beginning the annual process of documenting the past academic year, known here at UMASS as the Annual Faculty Report. Upon reflection, it really has been a banner year!

As the host of the 2007 International Trumpet Guild Conference, I infused it with my own personality by featuring new music of my favorite composers and commissioning new works specifically for the opening concert with the US Coast Guard Band. Composer James Stephenson and I both had the privilege to study with former BSO Principal Trumpet, Charles Schlueter at the New England Conservatory of Music. What better way to honor my musical father, than to ask Jim to write a piece for us. The resulting work, Duo Fantastique is colorful and flashy work that plays with the audience’s expectations (in particular an audience of all trumpeters!) while giving Charlie and me a chance to have a real ball!

Stephen Paulus wrote his Concerto for Two Trumpets and Orchestra for Doc Severinsen and Manny Laureano in 2003. Unique in its use of stereophonic phasing and composite lines which team the duo against the orchestra and a powerful Elegy in the middle, I was determined to find a way to perform it. For the opening concert at ITG, Stephen wrote a new orchestration for wind ensemble, which I premiered with former Boston Brass lead trumpet, Richard Kelley.

In December of 2010, with these two wonderful works, we began a new recording project with the UMASS Wind Ensemble. Thanks to Charlie and Rich as well as James Patrick Miller on the podium and the wonderful UMASS students for a job well done!

Also to be included on the disc is a new work to be written for the project by my UMASS colleague Jeffrey Holmes and Evan Hause’s Concerto for Trumpet The Hause Concerto was commissioned by the Albany Symphony Orchestra for me in 2001 and I performed its 2004 band orchestration at the 2004 ITG Conference at Denver University. I am really looking forward to getting these works out there!

Shortly on the heels of this performance, I was able to perform the Paulus Concerto again with my colleague Terry Everson with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Terry and I were delighted to be able move from the back of the orchestra where we normally reside and enjoy the unobstructed view of Jordan Hall from next to the conductor’s podium! What a real treat it was to play together up front and get a nice Boston Globe review in the process! Stephen was able to attend and it was a great opportunity to actually hang after so much contact on the telephone!

In addition to the Paulus, BMOP never fails to stimulate my hunger for new American Music. I eagerly await recordings of some smaller works which were all new to me by Milton Babbit, George Rochberg, George Pearl, and Wayne Peterson. One of the nicest works that we premiered was a delightful Puckish new work by Martin Brody. It has a great piccolo trumpet solo which I must put on a sightreading list some time!

The Albany Symphony Orchestra presented a wealth of new American music for an audience who must be applauded for their support of the adventurous programming that has brought us numerous ASCAP and other awards. We recorded magnificent works by our two resident composers, John Corigliano and George Tsontakis. For a disc featuring the music of John Corigliano, we recorded Conjurer, a truly magical journey with Dame Evelyn Glennie as percussion soloist and Vocalise where the breathtakingly beautiful voice of Hila Plitman melds with antiphonal trumpets and electronic effects to give us a glimpse into the future of classical music.

Of particular interest to me was the clarinet concerto written for David Krakauer by George Tsontakis. We recorded Anasa as the first work on a new disc of George’s music to which we will add a new trumpet concerto which we will premier and record in March 2012. David was simply spectacular and the piece was a deep and powerful work that was the perfect vehicle to show off his unmatched virtuosity. As George and I work on the trumpet concerto, I imagine that I will be begging for mercy!

The biggest event in the history of the Albany Symphony Orchestra happened on May 10, 2011. The ASO made its Carnegie Hall debut as part of the Spring for Music Festival. This festival showcased the innovative programming of the 7 winning orchestras. Our program was quintessentially ASO, titled "Spirituals Reimagined". Centered around the civil war and civil rights movement, it began with George Tsontakis’s 1994 “Let the River be Unbroken” and then to a series of contemporary settings of African American Spirituals with Nathan DeSchon Meyers, baritone. These settings were done by nine American composers including John Harbison and George Tsontakis, and several lesser known young composers who may become the recognized greats in the coming decades. I want to thank Stephen Dankner especially, for giving me the license to really take some liberty with his “Wade in de Water” as we closed the first half. The second half was devoted to the complete original version of Copland’s Appalachian Spring. This concert was a brilliant example of the dedication of the entire orchestra to the music of our time which makes me so proud to be a part of it.

NY Times Review

Streaming Audio - entire concert

Reading the above, one might assume that I never play anything but new music! However, the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra gives me a healthy dose of the meat and potatoes of the orchestral canon. The highlight of its season for me was the October concert. It was a program right out of an audition book with American in Paris, La Mer, Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G and Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments. I cannot imagine much more variety for a principal trumpet to do! It was great to hear Stephen Drury play the Ravel (and to see him still wearing his youthful leather pants!) and as always, conductor Benjamin Zander delivered the program to the audience with his unmatched and infectious enthusiasm for these incredible works. Another highlight of the BPO’s season was a fantastic soloist, Ilya Kaler, presenting Szymanowsky’s Second Violin Concerto. This was a new work to me and Ilya gave an incredible performance.

Also a wonderful source of nourishment for my standard orchestra fare hunger is the Colorado Music Festival. It is also a great opportunity for me to switch roles and enjoy learning from my dear friend and colleague, Jeffrey Work and his wonderful synthesis of Charles Schlueter, Armando Ghitalla and Maurice Andre as he sits in the hot seat. This was my sixth season in Boulder where I often feel humbled to sit among my rockstar colleagues. I spend every moment that I am not immersed in warmth of the orchestra’s powerful and refined sound in the mountains. Aside from listening to Jeff on Mahler 6 and his perfect Arbanesque rendition off the cornet solo in the Bal of Berlioz’ Symphony Fantastique, may favorite concert was with Norwegian violinist Hennig Kraggerud. As I told him after the first concert, I have never been so interested in the Mendelssohn Concerto. This warhorse has been nearly played to death, but somehow his modest simplicity, attention to detail and absolute clarity made this a completely new experience for me. And then… he followed it up with the Sibelius Concerto. Amazing! I promptly logged onto Amazon, purchased every recording that he has made.

For my chamber music fix, I have a wonderful quintet, which although we play fewer concerts than in years past, still play some really wonderful stuff together. We work often at Marsh Chapel at Boston University which has the best choir in Boston under the direction of Scott Allen Jarrett. This past Christmas, we began a new relationship with Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City. Video The music director, Julian Wachner is the closest I have ever gotten to Leonard Bernstein. As very young men, we played various church services together, and I never tired of his improvisational talents on the organ. Julian is an incredible composer, organist, conductor and general musical genius, we had a great time playing his very difficult, but amazingly effective new hymn settings. We look forward to doing it again!

On top of my performing career, my life as an educator has been equally rich this year! Whether they are serving as leaders and ambassadors for arts organizations, educational groups, service fraternities and sororities, on a local or national level, I am extraordinarily proud of each of my students at UMASS. Solid as soloists and section players in our ensembles, they all bring their A game.

This year, quite a few have achieved national and international recognition. John Mange and Adam Mejeur won International Trumpet Guild Scholarships and 4 students made it through the rigorous first round to perform live in the semi-final round of the National Trumpet Competition. Andrew Stetson MM ’10, Nate Wilson – MM ’12, Micah Maurio – MM ’12, and Steven Felix BM ’12 all performed brilliantly. Steven Felix placed second in the Undergraduate Division and Micah Maurio placed third in the Jazz Competition. Congratulations to all of my students for a fabulous year!

Amazingly enough, the coming year looks as exciting, if not more so! So, with this inaugural post, I begin this blog. Thoughts about trumpet playing, new music, old music and more will appear here in the future. Thanks for reading and I look forward to seeing you soon.