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Middle register cutting in and out



 
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ErikA
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Joined: 24 Jan 2022
Posts: 27
Location: San Francisco

PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 10:24 am    Post subject: Middle register cutting in and out Reply with quote

After warming up and playing for ten minutes I sometimes lose part or all of my middle register, from around E to G above the staff. Above and below that is fine. This happens especially when doing flexibility studies or arpeggios.

This has something to do with my chops getting tired because the middle register pops back in again after a couple minutes of rest. But I feel it’s more than an endurance issue. I mean, ten minutes of playing shouldn’t blow the chops out. And when it happens, my high register is still fine. I could be doodling around between high C and high E only to suddenly discover I can’t drop down to E above the staff although I can drop down to G in the staff. Any thoughts on what is going on here?
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Don Herman rev2
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Joined: 03 May 2005
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Location: Monument, CO

PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 10:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Several thoughts, probably none correct... Do you have a teacher?

1. You could simply be losing mental (and thus physical) focus and dropping the notes. Then you think about about and drop even more... Make sure you have the sound you want in mind as you play.

2. Airflow usually changes over frequency (pitch) so perhaps there's a place where you are not "supporting" the sound. Try varying the volume, e.g. playing very quietly from low to high and back, or relatively loudly, keeping the volume the same.

3. Some people adopt a "two-pronged, high-low" embouchure wherein the "setting" for high note and low notes is different, leading to a "gap" when there is insufficient overlap or time to "switch gears". That is usually undesirable IME but some great players have used it, usually to attain high notes then work to "blend" their setting into a single continuous embouchure.

There are probably as many cures as teachers. A number of teachers/methods in the various fora here can address this issue, but it is usually better to do it in person.

FWIWFM - Don
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kehaulani
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Joined: 23 Mar 2003
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Location: Hawai`i - Texas

PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 10:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Play a beautiful Middle C then go to C# slowly, keeping that same sound, then back to C.

When you can do that, Play C-C#-D-C#-C slowly and with a pure sound.

Then C-C#-D-Eb and back. Very slowly and sonorously. Continue pattern until you can play Middle C, chromatically, up to an F and back down, similarly.

And pull the sound downward from a G-F# etc., in the same manner.

It couldn't hurt, later, to play in and out of the trouble spots by playing Cichowicz' Long Tone Studies (wrongly known as Flow Studies).
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JayKosta
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Joined: 24 Dec 2018
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Location: Endwell NY USA

PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 11:42 am    Post subject: Re: Middle register cutting in and out Reply with quote

ErikA wrote:
... This happens especially when doing flexibility studies or arpeggios. ...

-----------------------------
Use a wider range of notes for those routines, always include those troublesome mid-range notes in the playing pattern.

Yes, do separate practice of the high range notes to maintain embouchure ability. But to expand your 'flexibility range' you might have to re-establish a few of those upper range notes into the wider range.
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ErikA
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Joined: 24 Jan 2022
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Location: San Francisco

PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 8:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I spent the day zeroing in on that resistant middle register, doing C-C#-D-C#-C as kehaulani suggests and wider range per Jay. Both helped. I also think, as Don suggests, that I'm subconsciously using two slightly different embouchures. I don't reset. But I make more use of the soft inner soft flesh of the upper lip in the higher register. I can feel it flipping out once I get to G above the staff. It's like flipping on a light switch. Once it's "on" the high notes come easily. But then I have trouble flipping it back off again, trouble descending.
What also seems to help is closing my aperture down. A few months ago I switched to a wide, puckered Maggio "monkey" aperture, with the lower mouthpiece on the red of my bottom lip and my upper lip deep inside the cup. That opens up the upper range for me. But at the expense, I suspect, of placing too many demands on the soft inner tissue of my upper lip. Now that I've found the knack for the upper register I am able to access it--if I focus-with more of a 50/50 mouthpiece position and a smaller aperture.

I hesitate to make yet another embouchure change, but I think I have to. Anyway, it's more like moving back to my old embouchure but after incorporating the wisdom the Maggio embouchure granted me.

At least I hope so. Any other ideas, I'm all ears.
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JayKosta
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Joined: 24 Dec 2018
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 07, 2022 4:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You might be able to eliminate the 'two embouchure' situation by using a more conventional mouthpiece setting and by practicing 'transfer' of rim pressure onto the lower lip - by 'feel' of rim pressure changes, and perhaps very small jaw position changes. The distribution of rim pressure on the upper & lower lip can vary depending of the range of the notes.
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Most Important Note ? - the next one !
KNOW (see) what the next note is BEFORE you have to play it.
PLAY the next note 'on time' and 'in rhythm'.
Oh ya, watch the conductor - they set what is 'on time'.
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