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Prana Backbore?



 
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Masterplayer1000
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Joined: 23 Aug 2018
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 7:42 am    Post subject: Prana Backbore? Reply with quote

So I just got my new prana mouthpiece, but I am getting tired very easly after like 45 minutes my chops just run out and I cant hit anything above a c in the staff. is it because of the backbore? if it is how do i get used to it?
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GordonH
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Joined: 16 Nov 2002
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 7:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You might be trying a bit too hard. I feel I sound fluffy on mine so I try and articulate more cleanly and sound brighter only to find that it sounded OK out in the audience with less effort being put in. You might be putting too much in.

Might be worth practicing on it very quietly doing schlossberg studies etc to get more acclimatised to how it works.
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RussellDDixon
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 7:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It may take some time to get use to the Prana. Prana's have larger throats in addition to the Prana back-bore. Just takes more air.
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scottfsmith
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 10:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good advice above.. also make sure you have read Dave's own suggestions:

https://www.monette.net/single-post/2016/08/26/Monette-Mouthpiece-Acclimation-Guide-Repost

It took me about a year of off-and-on playing to finally feel I am in the Monette groove.
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blasticore
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 09, 2020 6:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So, my own experience from recently:

I switched to a Monette BLS23 Prana XLT, which sounds like a car model and license plate number at first.

Small details aside, I felt like I was at about 80% grasp on controlling everything at first. This continued to get better overall, without an regression in what I was able to do.

As I realized little stuff I'd previously justified in my playing to make things work, I made it a point to fix anything I was doing wrong - tension in certain registers, articulation, some breathing (this was actually the least of my worries), etc. The result was being able to do things more securely, and gaining a trust in the mouthpiece to do what I was asking.

It took about 2 weeks until I felt like I was doing things without misfires, which were my own fault in the first place, since I was trying to play it like a different mouthpiece. The throat size doesn't seem as big now, and I'm not poising my lips to play based on the throat/backbore I was playing before.

The biggest thing for me, was realizing continuously, "I was doing that wrong before."

I've never been into big throats and backbores, but they balance to this type of design, when done in a thought-out combination. All mouthpieces use different aspects of balance, in order to make them work. There's usually a middle ground that works or most things, at least to a degree, but to balance the whole design takes some work in the design process.

Some advice I can give, which is going to sound counter-intuitive, is to play it like you're on stage. I had a bit of an issue with some things at first on this mouthpiece, but started to let things flow more normally once I was in my element during a performance. For me, this was when I did a show with choreography. I've long realized I'm uncomfortable sitting while playing, so getting to stand up and move around let me loosen up, and approach the mouthpiece like someone was listening. All necessary fundamental practice was immensely helpful, but the end result for anybody, is playing music on the gear, rather than just making noises.

Disclaimer: I actually play a lot of noises. I've gotten pretty decent at chicken noises, bird calls, and Pac Man sounds on trumpet over the years. Totally irrelevant, though.
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Jaw04
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 09, 2020 9:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The problem people have is the mouthpiece is more open and free blowing- but just because it CAN take more air does not mean you need to be blowing harder overall. Learning to back off and finding the right airflow is important. You just have to experiment carefully by listening to your sound and making the horn speak with less effort and as little strain as possible.
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teacherdad
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Joined: 20 Jan 2012
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 10, 2020 4:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

blasticore wrote:


The biggest thing for me, was realizing continuously, "I was doing that wrong before."

Some advice I can give, which is going to sound counter-intuitive, is to play it like you're on stage. I had a bit of an issue with some things at first on this mouthpiece, but started to let things flow more normally once I was in my element during a performance. For me, this was when I did a show with choreography. I've long realized I'm uncomfortable sitting while playing, so getting to stand up and move around let me loosen up, and approach the mouthpiece like someone was listening. All necessary fundamental practice was immensely helpful, but the end result for anybody, is playing music on the gear, rather than just making noises.


What do you mean by "Play it like you're on stage"?
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blasticore
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Joined: 09 Aug 2002
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 10, 2020 8:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

teacherdad wrote:
What do you mean by "Play it like you're on stage"?


Most people play wildly different when they're practicing, versus when they're performing. Practicing - for me anyway - only does so much to make sure my face is capable of doing things. The skill has to be employed into a real-time setting, or I just sound like I only ever practice at home. What that means:

-Not focusing on projection of the instrument
-Playing as if you're in a controlled environment when it comes to flexibility, articulation, etc.
-Simply putting the instrument down when you feel like it, which can be a false positive in the real work where your face might not feel quite up to the task
-Not adapting the variation of the other players around you (pitch, timing, errors in chords that make you adjust over changes, etc)

We can all sound great in a practice room. To a degree, play-along tracks are useful for getting in gear for playing with people, but it's still a different conception. If the sound in just coming out of speakers, you're adjusting your playing for that. If it's a live band, you're adjusting for that. I do a fair amount of gigs wearing in-ear monitors, and there's definitely a variation in how I'm playing with them, as opposed to playing acoustically, or with floor monitors. The sound guy can make a big difference, too.

I just played a musical on in-ears. I did the first couple nights with both molds in my ears, but realized I was approaching some things differently than I would normally, so I pulled one out to see what was going on, and corrected myself in terms of the follow-through on certain passages. I did the rest of the run with only my right mold in my ear.

This would've been a little different, had I had more control over my own mix. My box only allowed me to adjust my own levels in my ears, and the overall mix. If everything was tracked out onto an Aviom, I could've boosted certain levels (like the drums, which weren't coming through in the space the drummer was stuck in), and toned certain things down in volume; as well as EQ'ing each of the elements to make them present in a more understandable way for the overall picture.

One of the issues for me, also, was playing in close proximity to a music stand. Once I got the angle of the table right, I had better luck with acoustical feedback, and mitigated any issues of how the mic was picking up my sound.
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jdinu613
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Joined: 29 Feb 2020
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 9:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It sounds like your mp is too large for you. It could be a combination of throat, backbore, cup, or rim...
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