Emb_Enh
Member
Thought I might do something for the library section of this forum!
AIR+LIP RESISTANCE......
Any normal body has enough air to play brass instruments well.
Even young beginners, provided they have the proper coordination between their use of air / chops, can play loud and high with no problems.
If your natural air is not making the intsrument produce pitches effectively, it is probably a faulty embouchure which is interfering with the air from entering the instrument and resonating in sympathy with it to produce a clear tone.
Splits/clams, bad note production [attax], poor articulation skills/intonation problems etc., are often exacerbated by bad breathing in conjunction with their basic set up as described above.
Guys who hold down top brass jobs have their basic set up SOOOOO well down that most playing for them is a cinch. They make it look easy don't they?! ---why?...because for them it IS easy!!!
YOU ARE NO DIFFERENT --IT'S JUST YOUR BASIC SET UP HAS A MAJOR FLAW STOPPING YOU FROM MAKING GOOD PROGRESS AND INTEREFERING WITH THE MUSIC PRODUCTION THE WAY YOU KNOW IT OUGHT TO BE PRODUCED.
POINTS TO PONDER..........
BREATH INSIRATION / EXPIRATION
Size of LIP aperture.
Position of LIP aperture
in the mpc cup.
Mouthpiece pressure load
equally divided on both lips? [greater on lower]
Air pockets?
[maybe used for tonal enhancement for experienced players but not advisable generally]
TENSION/RELAXATION ---- FACIAL/CENTER OF LIPS [event horizon]
Experiment with the inward lip curl [too open players]
Experiment with RELEASE of the inward lip curl [too closed players only]
Beware the spread-out embouchure [too open] which has very unfocussed air and a focused embouchure, which concentrates the air stream, to a laser beam [brisbois]
Beware the clamped tight shut [too closed] embouchure which has very little air flow, although allowing good control over a miniscule range at pp ...but...ff is too great an effort!
Beware overlap of top lip over bottom lip which hinders successful delivery of air to mpc drill venturi.
TONAL EXPERIMENTATION
Try increasing or decreasing the size of your aperture.
[more meat in the mpc if you are too open an aperture / less if too closed] --beware this is only a pointer...to make a permanent change requires more than an instant physical change [more info in the emb_enh materials]
Target the air
...at differing points in the mpc cup either in conjunction with or without horn angle pivot.
Jaw angle/bite distance [playing]
Mpc Pressure [osmuns gadget]
THINK ABOUT THE ABOVE FITTING INTO THE
OVERALL BRASS INST. EQUATION...
..NOT JUST ONE SPECIFIC FACET!
Keeping an open throat is not even a consideration if everything is coordinated in the OVERALL INST. EQUATION ie:
Correct size aperture for the amount of air you are blowing through it, unhindered by the tongue. Playinng trumpet 'throatwise' is best when using normal throat feeling for speech/songs [vocally] blowing out candles etc...
Air mass + speed /aperture size co-ordination is the KEY to successful easy BRASS playing.
RANGE
Don’t expect your range to improve simply through repetition of certain exercises. If you are playing incorrectly with flaws in your basic set up, your bad chop habits will just be reinforced and all the more difficult to remove.
For change to occur you must change something in your basic set up.
The AIR must flow freely through the instrument out into the audience at all volumes / ranges. If the air is coming back at you BIG TIME in the form of BACK PRESSURE [some is required for control] then you have an imbalance in your basic set up [too much resistance either in the physiological set up or equipment]
SYNCHRONICITY
Balance of air v. chops is VERY important.
TOO MUCH AIR MASS v. Weak chops is inefficient and blatty.
CLAMPED TIGHT LIPS v. little air usage, results in thin weedy sounds.
THE OVERALL EQUATION IS THE KEY!
AIR+LIP RESISTANCE......
Any normal body has enough air to play brass instruments well.
Even young beginners, provided they have the proper coordination between their use of air / chops, can play loud and high with no problems.
If your natural air is not making the intsrument produce pitches effectively, it is probably a faulty embouchure which is interfering with the air from entering the instrument and resonating in sympathy with it to produce a clear tone.
Splits/clams, bad note production [attax], poor articulation skills/intonation problems etc., are often exacerbated by bad breathing in conjunction with their basic set up as described above.
Guys who hold down top brass jobs have their basic set up SOOOOO well down that most playing for them is a cinch. They make it look easy don't they?! ---why?...because for them it IS easy!!!
YOU ARE NO DIFFERENT --IT'S JUST YOUR BASIC SET UP HAS A MAJOR FLAW
POINTS TO PONDER..........
BREATH INSIRATION / EXPIRATION
Size of LIP aperture.
Position of LIP aperture
in the mpc cup.
Mouthpiece pressure load
equally divided on both lips? [greater on lower]
Air pockets?
[maybe used for tonal enhancement for experienced players but not advisable generally]
TENSION/RELAXATION ---- FACIAL/CENTER OF LIPS [event horizon]
Experiment with the inward lip curl [too open players]
Experiment with RELEASE of the inward lip curl [too closed players only]
Beware the spread-out embouchure [too open] which has very unfocussed air and a focused embouchure, which concentrates the air stream, to a laser beam [brisbois]
Beware the clamped tight shut [too closed] embouchure which has very little air flow, although allowing good control over a miniscule range at pp ...but...ff is too great an effort!
Beware overlap of top lip over bottom lip which hinders successful delivery of air to mpc drill venturi.
TONAL EXPERIMENTATION
Try increasing or decreasing the size of your aperture.
[more meat in the mpc if you are too open an aperture / less if too closed] --beware this is only a pointer...to make a permanent change requires more than an instant physical change [more info in the emb_enh materials]
Target the air
...at differing points in the mpc cup either in conjunction with or without horn angle pivot.
Jaw angle/bite distance [playing]
Mpc Pressure [osmuns gadget]
THINK ABOUT THE ABOVE FITTING INTO THE
OVERALL BRASS INST. EQUATION...
..NOT JUST ONE SPECIFIC FACET!
Keeping an open throat is not even a consideration if everything is coordinated in the OVERALL INST. EQUATION ie:
Correct size aperture for the amount of air you are blowing through it, unhindered by the tongue. Playinng trumpet 'throatwise' is best when using normal throat feeling for speech/songs [vocally] blowing out candles etc...
Air mass + speed /aperture size co-ordination is the KEY to successful easy BRASS playing.
RANGE
Don’t expect your range to improve simply through repetition of certain exercises. If you are playing incorrectly with flaws in your basic set up, your bad chop habits will just be reinforced and all the more difficult to remove.
For change to occur you must change something in your basic set up.
The AIR must flow freely through the instrument out into the audience at all volumes / ranges. If the air is coming back at you BIG TIME in the form of BACK PRESSURE [some is required for control] then you have an imbalance in your basic set up [too much resistance either in the physiological set up or equipment]
SYNCHRONICITY
Balance of air v. chops is VERY important.
TOO MUCH AIR MASS v. Weak chops is inefficient and blatty.
CLAMPED TIGHT LIPS v. little air usage, results in thin weedy sounds.
THE OVERALL EQUATION IS THE KEY!