Should I come over to the (Callet) Dark side?

[Douglas James]

[Douglas James]

[Seymor B Fudd]

[Robert P]

[peanuts56]

[Mike Prestage]

Doug, I really appreciate the kind words about my teaching and it's great to hear that you're feeling more positive about your playing future.

I'll definitely look into Doozzoo, thanks.

I'll be sure to get in touch when I've found the time to put my thoughts on TCE together.

Mike
_________________
www.facebook.com/MikePrestageTrumpetTeacher

[herbievantetering]

Allrighty, let me say I used to be a traditional player, Arban and Jazz up to high E flat. Currently I'm redeveloping my embouchure to encapsulate 21st century trumpet music.

So perhaps my perspective is limited, but I might still be able to help because I myself am now at the crossroads.


[i]

[b]So, I have a lot of questions.

1. what advantages would TCE/Callets system have over a standard or conventional embouchure?[/b]

When you use the TCE I would call it the Tongue Controlled Balanced Embouchure (TCBE), where you use the tongue and the embouchure to control your balance. The tongue arch can help, as can cheek puffs or air pockets in your cheeks.

* the embouchure and the tongue are connected.
* the cheek puffs and tongue arch can direct air.
* balance your tongue articulation and embouchure.

[b]2. Does it take the same amount of time to progress on TCE as a conventional system? given two students of the same ability, teeth structure, etc.[/b]

The TCBE is completely different and it's important to realise that the conventional system can get in the way of the TCBE, limiting the players ability to play. I don't know much about teeth structure only that the principal trumpet player of the symphony orchestra and orthodontist suggest Class I configuration.

[b]3. Other than Bahb, who else is a big name (world class player) proponent of TCE that can vouch for the system??[/b]

Perhaps some commercial players and some jazz players, you can sometimes hear it, but TCBE is only an aspect.

[b]4. Is it more difficult to learn?[/b]

The difficult part is getting past the 'squeeks' and 'byproducts' in the sound; I don't know how long it might take.
The difficult part may be to incorporate compression and 'mallet slotting' (instead of an Arban 'click' you should imagine a 'mallet' hitting the 'fundamental' of your trumpet bell)
and to NOT fallback on your initial 'high c' embouchure, because that one will only get you lower and lower what I know from experience.

The way to do the excercises is to play musical motifs (similar to Arban) that may appear in etudes and improvisations. For example articulations, slots, long tones, scales etc. but SLOWLY and SOFTLY with some MF as loudest notes.

focus on:

* excercises similar to Arban but higher and lower
* articulation of individual notes, repeat repeat repeat
* try to focus on SOUND as much as your embouchure allows
* take a DEEP BREATH and stay calm and relaxed
* if you miss the notes, try some SQUEEKS instead
* different type of (softer) slotting for partials
* when things fall apart use TONE SOFLEGE

NOTE: Tone soflege is different from regular soflege where you must first understand where your own tone might be (through the squeeks) and then imagine that tone and the pitches, point at them as 'targets' with your mind, and then try to hit them SOFTLY with your TCBE articulation. So when you aim and then ARTICULATE, it MAY become a complete miss, repeat repeat repeat.

[b]5. where would someone start if they were going to invest time and money into that system?[/b]

Perhaps ask a principal trumpet player of a symphony orchestra, how do you play double high A and how do you play triple high G?

[b]6. I wonder if any of the recordings mentioned may have been altered or done in sections?[/b]

Sometimes, but when you master the technique you can go all over the trumpet. Listen to some famous players like Arturo Sandoval, James Morrison and so on.

[b]7. What are the players thoughts here that have looked into it?[/b]

I consider it to be an aspect, and omit some parts.
[b]
8. are there any seasoned players in this forum that could help me learn more about it?[/b]

Many players apply the technique.
[b]
9. Would I need to invest a lot of money into different equipment to do TCE?[/b]

Try to focus on ARTICULATION, and on SLOTTING across 3/4 octaves and also try to do some of the excercises, then use your imaginations and also realise you are 'resetting' your embouchure with a modern setting.

A good professional (non baroque) trumpet, on which players also play high, is a good idea.
An 'X-Line' or 'cross-over' trumpet might not be a good idea because it reinforces the 'old' embouchure and slaps on the 'new' at the top; and then you won't be able to strenghten your embouchure.

[b]10. are the claims made by TCE practitioners, legit? i.e. less air use, no overblowing, easier higher register etc??[/b]

The overblowing part is something I don't understand, because in order to get somewhere you must make mistakes. The higher register should be as easy as you can make it, it's all about using your setting to play all across the instrument. My approach is to take a DEEP BREATH, and also circular breathing can help to do the excercises of for example position slotting more SLOWLY at first.
[b]
11. I welcome all feedback from all players whether indicting TCE or promoting it. I want to get a fair assessment of it.[/b]

I would say it's an aspect and would call it TCBE and use the tongue for double/triple tongueing, K tongueing and spit attack. Let your embouchure FLEXIBLY reply to your tongue articulation and arch.


The big question is, how to use it in Doodle tongueing, so be flexible otherwise you might get too constrained for Doodle tongueing.
[b]
my current bias of it is, that it looks to me to be the same work, effort, and time, money etc. as any other system?[/b]

That is for you to discover, perhaps also look at Cat Anderson (soft humming or whisper) and Dizzy Gillespie (puff cheecks slightly), they "set" the embouchure position to be in. Perhaps with Cat you can play with a soft humming and with Dizzy only slightly puffed cheecks.

Remember when you apply the system, the idea is to also apply it to Jazz standards and Arban 1.0 if you can.

[/i]

[Weekend Warrior]

My two cents:
I benefited greatly from just one simple thing that Jerry Callet always harped on, which was to SPIT BUZZ.

In my experience, the spit buzz wasn't something that I needed to practice in order to be able to play different pitches as in free-buzzing. Free-buzzing like that, is a waste of time that does more harm than good. But what the spit buzz did for me, was teach me the position that my lips, tongue, and jaw need to be in when I place the horn and play. So you spit buzz over and over to remind you of the position that your chops need to be in when playing. The only difference is, is when you're playing the trumpet, your lips are not as flattened out in the center as they are when you spit-buzz. You pucker them, or bunch them in in order to play.

It felt very awkward at first, but that's because I had been playing incorrectly previously. Then, once I was able to spit buzz into the trumpet and get a decent sound, it was just a matter of developing it from there.

Other than the spit buzz, the only other thing that I thought about was the position of the tongue when slurring and sustaining. When I'm sustaining notes, I can feel bottom part of the tip of my tongue touching the upper edges of my bottom teeth and the very tip of the tongue is touching the back of my bottom lip. It feels almost as though I'm whistling - in fact, it was Roger Spalding (author of "Double High C in 37 Weeks") who mentions doing that in the beginning of his book.

The other thing to think about is to thing of the lips forming the aperture like a drawstring on a laundry bag. As you ascend, the lips close in on the aperture from all directions, making the aperture smaller and smaller as you ascend, as opposed to stretching the lips to the sides. Try to keep that bottom lip forward and puckered in the center. Far too many players place too much burden on the top lip. This is an unbalanced embouchure. Keeping that bottom jaw/lip forward and supporting the top lip is what gives strength and endurance to the embouchure.

Jeff Smiley's "Balanced Embouchure" book is a great one to have, particularly for the routines that are in it. Doing those slurs and flexibility routines and "snapping" the upper intervals (which is a technique that Claude Gordon taught) is GREAT in developing the embouchure.

Everything that I've just mentioned are the things that helped me the most in developing the ability to play lead trumpet. That, plus LOTS AND LOTS of practice.

[Douglas James]