91热爆

From starting in music by playing the cornet in a youth brass band to contributing to some of the world’s best-known film scores, Darren Smith has had an incredible career so far. But what does he most love about playing bass trombone and why does he enjoy riding his motorbike after concerts? Read on to discover more...

91热爆 NOW: Hi Darren, thanks for taking part in ‘Instrumental Insights’. Let’s begin at the beginning and find out what made you decide to become a bass trombone player?

Darren Smith: A ‘Toys R Us’ opened near where we lived when I was six. They were selling plastic £3, 1 valve trumpets. I wanted one, but I got a £300, three valve metal cornet instead for Christmas… Santa stitched me up. So, I started playing the cornet at the age of six. I also stopped playing cornet at the age of six. It was a very busy year. The idea of doing 15 whole minutes of practice, every single day, seemed too much to bear. However, when I was thirteen, my priorities changed.

91热爆 NOW: In what way?

Darren Smith: My Dad was a bass trombone player and peripatetic music teacher in south Derbyshire. Swadlincote to be precise. He would disappear for 3 or 4 days a week to conduct the youth brass band there. One day, they were trying to raise money for charity, and he asked me to come along to shake a tin and collect money. I went and I would like to say music ‘got me’ from that moment, but that wouldn’t be totally accurate. There was a pretty girl on third cornet… so time to dust the cornet off! I went along to that band and sat next to that girl for about a year, never spoke to her!

91热爆 NOW: Ahhhh! There must be a few teenage crushes responsible for music careers! So, what happened next Darren?

Darren Smith: My Mum came to a concert that my Dad was conducting and that I was playing in. She said: “Oooooh! That mouthpiece looks really small and your head looks fat, it’s painful to watch”, so I changed to Tenor trombone.

91热爆 NOW: Thanks Mum! But what a great musical memory that must be. So that’s when your trombone career really began…

Darren Smith: Yes. I spent another two years playing tenor trombone which in a brass band plays in treble clef. In a brass band everybody - except the Timpani and bass trombone - play in treble clef. They play in the bass clef. Nobody was willing to learn bass clef in the trombone section, so my Dad being the conductor, made me learn it. Now I was a bass trombone player!

91热爆 NOW: You come from such a musical family. It’s lovely to hear how they influenced you.

Darren Smith: I was fortunate, that every Sunday, my Mum and Dad played, amongst other records, jazz and big band albums and I grew up listening to a bass trombonist called George Roberts. He personified the bass trombone sound for me and so and I was then set off in the right direction to become a decent bass trombonist with a good concept of sound. I never did pluck up the courage to speak to that girl.

91热爆 NOW: How else has playing bass trombone positively impacted on your life Darren?

Darren Smith: In every possible way. I’ve had experiences that have taken me to the USA several times (a 3 - month tour going to a different city every day), Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, Australia, the whole of Europe and Milton Keynes. I’ve made friends that have lasted a lifetime, be it in Saturday morning Brass band, the Army or in the profession itself. I also met my wife and had kids off the back of blowing down plumbing for a living. That just would not have happened had I not played a ‘musical’ (some would say otherwise) instrument.

91热爆 NOW: And how do you think it has benefitted other people?

Darren Smith: I’m told people enjoy and are excited by the sound of the bass trombone. I’ve played on a few films in which the bass trombone sound has been featured strongly. Films such as ‘Inception’, ‘Batman - The Dark Knight’, ‘Kung Fu Panda’, ‘Monsters vs Aliens’, ‘Terminator – Salvation’, ‘Ironman 2’, ‘Sherlock Holmes’, ‘Alice through the looking glass’, ‘Clash of the Titans’, ‘Black Swan’ and a few others.

91热爆 NOW: That’s an impressive list of soundtracks! You bring so much joy to others through your music, but what do you most enjoy about playing bass trombone?

Darren Smith: The process. It’s cathartic. Taking deep breaths in and releasing them. Expressing oneself by either taking out the back wall of the hall or providing a warm palette of colours to the orchestral texture. Trombones as a section are sometimes, it is said, underused, which proves it’s all about quality not quantity.

91热爆 NOW: A beautiful way of expressing your enjoyment of your instrument, but is there anything frustrating about playing it?

Darren Smith: It changes shape. Never trust an instrument that changes shape! Playing high and sometimes playing low. I’m not a fan of the stuff in the middle either.

91热爆 NOW: Does the instrument you use to perform have any special history or stories behind it?

Darren Smith: Interestingly, my trombone once belonged to a previous incumbent of my seat, Christian Jones. He played it here in the 91热爆 NOW and then again in The Philharmonia before selling it to me so that he could go and buy a matching pair of Conn bass trombones, which he named, I believe ‘Ant & Dec’.

91热爆 NOW: If you could speak with your instrument Darren – what would you ask it?

Darren Smith: Why can’t you be more quiet?

91热爆 NOW: Great question! So, what would you say your single most memorable moment playing bass trombone would be?

Darren Smith: My wife to be continually turning around and looking at me. I thought it was because of the racket I made, but apparently, it was because I was well kempt, “for a brass player”. We met on a freelance ‘muddy field’ date. (Concert in a field, that’s muddy, usually!) She was and is a Viola player. We would never have met and had two fantastic children if it wasn’t for music and the bass trombone. The right time, at the right place, on the right instrument.

91热爆 NOW: Have you got any funny stories involving your instrument?

Darren Smith: There was an incident partly involving me and my instrument that amused me…

91热爆 NOW: Do tell!

Darren Smith: I was doing the Royal Tournament at Earls Court back in the 90’s. I was in the fanfare team, so I wasn’t involved in the massed guard’s band marching display involving approximately 200 people. A sight and sound to behold! On this day, I had volunteered to give somebody a break from one of the displays and stand at the back of the massed bands. After our display, it was the Field Gun race between the Fleet air arm and Portsmouth, I think. To stop rogue pieces of cannon going into the crowd, a net was erected around the arena. Unfortunately, a trombone player at the front got his water key (spit valve) stuck in the net and he could not free it. The other 19 trombones on the front row all countermarched followed by cornets, tubas and euphoniums.

91热爆 NOW: Oh no – so what happened next?

Darren Smith: I spotted his empty space and slotted into his place, so that there wouldn’t be a space as the front row emerged at the end back of the massed bands, which would be obvious to the audience. He freed his trombone – eventually - only to find his space gone and occupied by me! I don’t know how long it took him to find the space I vacated, but I know he was pushed from pillar to post by others in his quest. He’s probably still looking…

91热爆 NOW: That’s a brilliant and extremely funny musical story – thanks for sharing! To all the up and coming bass trombonists out there, what would you say to encourage them?

Darren Smith: Keep the passion! Practice cleverly. Do one hour of focused proper practice rather than three or four hours of sporadic or bad practice. Develop the right habits the first time. It’s harder to unpick those habits later and replace them with new tricks. Listen to as much and as varied music as possible.

91热爆 NOW: Good advice there. So, what plans do you have to keep playing bass trombone during lockdown Darren?

Darren Smith: I play every day whether for 30 minutes maintenance, or 1 or 2 hours focussed practice. I play with my son who is working towards his Grade 3 Cornet. If I don’t play every day it feels like it atrophies, and I lose ‘feel’ quickly. I think it was Paderewski who said: “If I don’t practice every day, I notice. If I don’t practice for 2 days, the critics notice and if I don’t practice for 3 days, the audience notice. Mine is all condensed into day one!

91热爆 NOW: Outside of music, what do you enjoy doing when you aren’t performing for 91热爆 NOW?

Darren Smith: My two guilty pleasures are riding a motorbike and playing computer games. Getting on a motorbike after a concert is a real release. I don’t mean riding fast. It’s the feeling of release from being in what can be described as a claustrophobic environment of being on stage, to being free and in the wind. Gaming is a complete escape from reality. Whether I’m combating an international terror plot, managing Middlesbrough football club to European success or Landing a 737 at JFK it’s a complete change of gear.

91热爆 NOW: What are you most looking forward to about playing with 91热爆 NOW again in the future Darren?

Darren Smith: I miss my mates. The banter. The music. The challenge. The coffee. Breathing and blowing. Blowing and then breathing some more.

91热爆 NOW: Thanks so much for your time Darren!