Embouchure Advice for Tear Drop + Inner Lip Vibration

[et18]

Hi all, 

I'm a high school senior that has been playing since 5th grade. TH has been a treasure trove of advice (and headaches haha) these last few years. For some context, I've mostly been playing orchestral stuff, though this year I'm only playing cornet with a British Brass Band (while continuing with trumpet as well). I'm really hoping to get into my college's symphony this fall, but there's going to be some stiff competition, so I'm trying to make the most of this summer to prepare. (Reference: they played Til and Mahler 4 last year) 

A year ago, I had a complete embouchure change. For reference, it used to look something like you see in image 1. The image quality isn't great, but as you can see, it's smack on the red of the upper lip. (At the time I had super crooked teeth, and that was the only comfortable way I could arrange the mouthpiece.) I had no problem playing my orchestra's rep (American in Paris, Tchaik 5, Rodeo, Carmen Suites, Fanfare for the Common Man) and got through some solo stuff (Hummel m1+3, Haydn m2). My range was maxed out at C above the staff (and it wasn't super consistent), and my endurance wasn't great, but I had pretty good tone and projection. 

I changed my embouchure after hearing from teachers and people in the trumpet community that playing on the red was what was limiting my range and endurance. Around this time I also got my teeth straightened out, so my embouchure became more centered and higher. (The inner rim is usually just touching the top border now.) 

To be quite honest, though, ever since the change, nothing's been the same (more exclusively on trumpet). My endurance has gotten worse, as has the range. Tone quality is a hit or miss. The tone on my cornet is fantastic, but not so much on the trumpet (very thin and bright). On both, the range is at a ceiling of A.

I've been doing some more self-assessment, and I realized that while my embouchure is off the red, my lips aren't vibrating the way people talk about in these forums and on yt. I have thick lips and a big tear drop (see image 3), so I've found that I tend to pucker out my inner lip for most of my low/mid range playing (see image 2). That puckering is also advised by my private teacher (a good steady airstream on my end always pushes out that sucker teardrop). On the cornet, this setup is mostly fine. I get a really thick, warm tone up to D in the staff, and then my tone brightens and thins out for anything higher. On trumpet, though, it's not so good. My endurance levels out super quickly (especially in longer lyrical sections like in the Goedicke etude). I think all that vibrating really wears out my inner lips.

Unfortunately, though, it appears that nothing else on my lip vibrates...? I've tried to hide the tear drop against my teeth by pulling my lips out, but then there's no vibration whatsoever, and I can't even get a sound out. I know it's all about the air leading, but I want to be positive that I have the right set up so I can improve on that.

I'm not intending any of this to be an anatomical sob story. (I've gotten off that train of excuses some time ago.) I also need to be more diligent with air exercises and just general volume of practice, but I can't help but wonder whether my whole approach to setting up my embouchure is wrong. Any pointers? I've ventured a lot through forums and such, and they've been helpful, but something more personalized would be much appreciated!

https://imgur.com/a/usb09tq

[et18]

Also, here's a quick run-down of my equipment:

Cornet: YCR-8335IIS, Denis Wick Ultra 5C mpc
Trumpet: Bach 37, Curry 3c mpc (hoping to get bigger ones soon)

[abontrumpet]

[et18]

Thanks. I'm treading a bit of a via media at the moment (mostly just following my tone and day-to-day response while ignoring where the rim ends up).

The issues with the lower mouthpiece were mostly physical (endurance in particular), not necessarily auditory, which is why it's hard to assess how successful the switch has been.

[JayKosta]

[Doug Elliott]

I'm here if you want help wih that. PM me and say when you're available. I'm in Eastern time.

[abontrumpet]

[ericmpena]