BREAKTHROUGH!!! (I have finally broken the embouchure code.)

sabutin · Regular Member Joined: 20 Aug 2002 Posts: 59 Location: NYC

(In light of the seemingly outrageous title of this thread, I would like to introduce myself before I get to work so's y'all know that I am not some sensationalistic faker selling a get rich quick/get high quick can of dreams. My name is Sam Burtis and I have been a successful first call New York City lower brass player since the late '60s, specializing in American styles of music. [Jazz and latin music primarily, although when civilians ask me what kind of music I play I most often answer ""Any kind that they will pay me for."] I have written two very well received books on my approach to trombone playing and brass in general, The American Trombone and Time, Balance And Connections-A Universal Theory Of Brass Relativity (Trombone Edition). [The second one is soon to appear in valved instrument/treble and bass clef editions.] I studied extensively with Carmine Caruso and under the name of "Sabutin" I have been writing about brass on the web for well over 10 years. In point of fact, I considered titling my first book Double High C in 37 Years but I was afraid not enough people would get the joke. No instant chop schemes here...just a breakthrough that I really want to both share and develop with input from others. Read on.)

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OK...hot off the press, hot out of the practice room/laboratory on this matter.

Those of you who have had lessons w/me or attended one of my clinics know that I deal with the idea of hearing, identifying, isolating and controlling "formants"...the overtones that are more (or less) emphasized above a brass player's sound...as a way to practice long tones. I have been studying and practicing vocal techniques for isolating those formants above my voice for many years. Check out David Hykes and the Harmonic Choir for more on this idea. There are other approaches, other techniques that are used to do this vocally but I took a lesson w/David Hykes 20+ years ago and have used his approach to do certain meditational exercises on a regular basis ever since that time.

However, this is a brass site, so I will limit my comments here to what I have found recently...over the last several weeks, actually...regarding the use of this idea coupled with freebuzzing to essentially "break the embouchure code". I use that term advisedly, by the way. On the evidence of what has happening with my chop over the last few weeks I believe that I have indeed found the Rosetta Stone that unlocks the secret of relatively effortless brass playing through any and all reachable octaves.

Up or down. Or anywhere in-between.

Outrageous?

Keep reading.

Let me begin by saying this:

The mainstream use of vowels...as in "A E I O U", as they have been taught by any number of brass teachers...is too unfocused and too artificial to be of much use to a brass player who wants to be able to play in a truly expressive manner.

When are you going to use a particular vowel sound?

Where does one vowel sound end and another begin? Long A? Short A? Which long or short A? French, German, English, Japanese, Fiji Island, North Carolina, Manchester England, Maine? Ridiculous on the face of it. On which note of which phrase of which melody or accompanying harmonic pad? If that's the way you that are going to approach this idea...which is simplistic beyond belief, actually...then you are much, much better off with the Arnold Jacobs "Song and Wind" idea. If you are musically gifted, play the horn well and understand the idiom in which you are playing, then the proper vowel sounds will automatically happen as you play a given phrase of music. See the vid of this Clark Terry clinic for a fine illustration of how a real artist approaches this idea in a musical sense.

However on a purely physical level I have found that combining the study of my own vocal breaks...head, chest, mixed range etc. in the bel canto sense of the terms...with an experiential knowledge of:

1- How to isolate overtones vocally through about 16 partials using the David Hykes approach.
2- How to identify the overtones that make a given brass instrument sound “good” according to my own definitions of that word.
and
3- Freebuzzing techniques and the application of those techniques directly to playing the horn without large or unacceptable compromises between the two.

has provided an unexpected breakthrough in my whole embouchure study.

Long story short? (Remember...I am only a couple of weeks into this idea.)

As a way to set up my own inner resonance system...chest, throat, back of tongue, soft palate, the rest of the tongue, jaw position, lips etc...so that when I freebuzz any given note the setting(s) for that note are the most efficient ones that are possible for me to achieve, all I have to do is to sing the note while my lips are in some sort of ready-to-buzz position and isolate the overtones which would be most desirable to me if I was playing the note on the horn. (The 5th and 6th partials, mostly. The 3rd and 5th of the “brass” chord.)), then w/out appreciable change of that system transfer said “buzz” from my vocal cords to lips, then place the m’pce on my chops (again w/out serious compromises) and start playing.

The results have been truly amazing to me. Almost effortless playing and much-improved connections throughout ranges...up down and middle...where previously there had been required much more effort. Physical effort and/or attention effort.

I have been sneaking up on this idea for several years in terms of freebuzzing, but this seems to have capped it off. In the previous week or so, besides a great deal of practice I played a strenuous two set lead/solo gig w/the Chico O’Farrill Band, a three hour rehearsal followed by a two set gig with the Mike Longo Band on the same day (!!!) and two rehearsals with an amplified rhythm section and three horns playing hard parts and long solos for a gig this week. (Mike Longo’s “Funk Band”. Dizzy Gillespie-style funk. Funk with deep harmonic changes. Beautiful stuff.) During all of that time I played my smallest equipment...my gold-plated Shires .500 bore w/a Minick 11C-ish jm’pce...and I swear to you it now sounds and feels almost as big as my favorite .525 Shires/Clarke L setup only with about one quarter of the effort that I had to make in the past on the same equipment. Double Bbs, good low range, singing mid-range, good connections (Until fatigue sets in, anyway. ..which has happened much later than has been usual for me.)...the works.

Now...please...I am not trying to blow my own horn or brag here. After 40 years of trying to learn how to play, it’s about damned time that I figured something out.

And there is much more to learn.

But there it is.

Use it if you can.

Expand upon it if you can...I would love to get some feedback, especially from trumpet players. You are the ones who can really profit from increased high ranges and endurance.

You know that I’ll be on it like white on rice.

And...have fun.

I am.

Later...

S.

P.S. For starters, there is an ongoing thread regarding this in a trombonistic sense on my discussion board The Open Horn. Go there for another week's worth of information.

BigGuns · Veteran Member Joined: 15 Jul 2008 Posts: 231

Whaaaa??? Here is all I got from reading that:

1. Vowels are bad for teaching.
2. Listen for overtones.
3. Sing while you buzz.

Am I seriously missing something?

Hack001 · Heavyweight Member Joined: 20 Jun 2004 Posts: 1685

Made virtually no sense to me either.

But I appreciate the enthusiasm!

sabutin · Regular Member Joined: 20 Aug 2002 Posts: 59 Location: NYC

sabutin · Regular Member Joined: 20 Aug 2002 Posts: 59 Location: NYC

cjl · Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 10:37 am Post subject:

I think this paragraph may be the most important:

BigGuns · Veteran Member Joined: 15 Jul 2008 Posts: 231

jhatpro · Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 10:57 am Post subject:

Who let that trombone player in here?
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sabutin · Regular Member Joined: 20 Aug 2002 Posts: 59 Location: NYC

Hack001 · Heavyweight Member Joined: 20 Jun 2004 Posts: 1685

Sabutin... please don't barge in here with your long empty post and then insult the members when we don't understand you. A more mature thing to do would have been to ask why we are having trouble understanding your "revelation."

Even your insults didn't make much sense. Try again.

What do you mean by "singing an overtone?" An overtone is a resultant pitch, not something that can be produced directly. How do you "isolate an overtone?" This is what is confusing.

You say very little about what you are doing, but a lot about yourself and how great your playing is. Maybe a little more detail of the method would help us grasp this concept.

Or not. As you must.

sabutin · Regular Member Joined: 20 Aug 2002 Posts: 59 Location: NYC

PH · Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:20 am Post subject:

I encourage you all to try and grasp what he is presenting. Sam is far from a charlatan. He really plays and really knows his stuff.
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sabutin · Regular Member Joined: 20 Aug 2002 Posts: 59 Location: NYC

sabutin · Regular Member Joined: 20 Aug 2002 Posts: 59 Location: NYC

Derek Reaban · Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:40 am Post subject:

Sam,

Thanks for your post. I’ve enjoyed reading your topics over the years related to Caruso and buzzing. It’s been a while since I’ve been to the online trombone website, though.

I wrote a topic several years ago called PH – Focusing on the 3rd Harmonic which I directed to Pat Harbison here on TH. There was an interesting discussion that followed.

There is also a great topic about harmonics and how they cause the lips to vibrate in this post (with a reference to an ITG article by Thomas Moore.

I haven’t read about “formants” in the past, but clearly, if there is a way to hear the individual overtones in the sound when you are “meditating” on long tones in the practice room (as PH mentions that he can do), I would be interested in hearing more about it. I do long tone word every day and I know when my sound is resonating with color and vibrancy, but I personally just experience the whole package (fundamental and all the overtones). It would be neat to refine my ears to bring out more of the 3rd or 7th overtone.

I looked at the David Hykes web site but didn’t see what I was looking for related to formants. Can you give me a little more information about the lesson that you had with him and how you incorporate this in the lessons that you teach? I would be very interested!
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cperret · Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:49 am Post subject:

Sam, I'm a bit embarrassed at the initial responses to your post. I appreciate the time you spent sharing your experience, and I look forward to trying out your ideas in my own playing... That's cool stuff!

I'd like to echo Pat Harbison's post: If you are genuinely trying to grasp what Sam's saying, you may benefit from first doing some research on harmonics, and how the proportions of harmonics we have in our sound determines, to a large extent, our 'tone'. (Or the 'tone' of any sound, for that matter.)

Here's a short experiment in hearing harmonics, to try on a piano:

-gently press down a middle 'C', without letting the note sound. (Wait till it dies out, if you have to.)
-while holding the middle 'C' down, attack and release the 'C' below middle 'C'
-notice that the 'C' below middle 'C' cause the middle 'C' to ring... (this is to help 'prime' your ear to hear that pitch)

-now, simply play the 'C' below middle 'C', and listen for that middle 'C' in the tone...

-you can repeat this experiment holding down any other note that is a harmonic of the 'C' below middle 'C', ie:
-'C' above middle 'C'
-'E' above that
-'G' above that, etc

...On a side note, Sam, you alluded to certain harmonics which contribute to what you consider a 'good' sound. May I ask just which harmonics those are? I'd be curious to see how different people perceive 'good' sounds.

Thanks!

sabutin · Regular Member Joined: 20 Aug 2002 Posts: 59 Location: NYC

sabutin · Regular Member Joined: 20 Aug 2002 Posts: 59 Location: NYC

sabutin · Regular Member Joined: 20 Aug 2002 Posts: 59 Location: NYC

BigGuns · Veteran Member Joined: 15 Jul 2008 Posts: 231

Man I didn't know my confusion to the first post would be taken way too personally. That's not how I work. If something confuses me, I'm going to let you know so that maybe things could be communicated differently so in the future I could begin to understand it.

I did check out the link, and those youtube clips of the singers are pretty crazy! Once you can sing like that, are you then supposed to play while maintaining that singing? Or just maintain the mouth and tongue positioning without the singing. Whenever I sing while I play I get either multiphonics (one from the voice and one from the horn) or a growl. I'm trying to understand this. Like the singing, if I were to play a middle C, could it automatically turn into the higher Bb just by the way I sing into the horn? That would be awesome!

Like I said please don't get mad when all we are trying to do is understand something that most people here probably know nothing about, or have ever heard of for that matter. We're all here for the same reasons.