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NickD Heavyweight Member
Joined: 19 Jun 2005 Posts: 679 Location: Chicago (northern suburbs)
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INTJ Heavyweight Member
Joined: 25 Dec 2002 Posts: 1986 Location: Northern Idaho
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 6:54 pm Post subject: |
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Great advice!! I find that once I developed the muscle memory for the upper range that backing off ocassionally didn’t hurt at all and in many cases it helped. _________________ Harrels VPS Summit
Wild Thing
Flip Oakes C
Flip Oakes Flugel
Harrelson 5mm MP |
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trtrtr1 New Member
Joined: 21 Oct 2015 Posts: 7
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Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 9:47 am Post subject: |
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In the old days it was warm up/practice soft for loud gigs. Carmine Caruso always worked for me. |
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NickD Heavyweight Member
Joined: 19 Jun 2005 Posts: 679 Location: Chicago (northern suburbs)
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NickD Heavyweight Member
Joined: 19 Jun 2005 Posts: 679 Location: Chicago (northern suburbs)
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Lionel Heavyweight Member
Joined: 25 Jul 2016 Posts: 783
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 2:49 pm Post subject: |
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Nick's advice has merit. I just kinda wanted to see him go into some of the hazards of developing an over-trained embouchure. As playing what he calls a "brutal" set of gigs is most likely to induce those common symptoms of over-trained chops. Specifically,
A. Swollen lips. An embouchure which is hard to get a good tone out of. Esp early in the practice session. So I can see why Nick likes the size and depth of his flugel horn piece on "the morning after" lol. As when my own chops have become swollen from abuse? A larger diameter, deeper and more free blowing piece helps.
B. "Charlie horse" lip(s). Sort of like a "sprained ankle" but in the chops. Although I haven't had this self-inflicted wound since my college days? I wouldn't recommend any practicing under these conditions at all.
Lastly, one advantage that I've discovered in only recent years is how to get a good tone on absolutely the shallowest of mouthpiece equipment as I can work with. This usually involves customizing thle mouthpiece. Opening the throat/back-bore is probably a must. Perhaps making a "second cup" a la Parduba is helpful. Ditto the "convex" or funnel entrance to the throat Maynard popularized. Something he borrowed from French horn mouthpiece design. L
My "graduation" into really shallow pieces wasnt an overnight discovery. As sometimes it takes a whole year to work into a mouthpiece. And I had to make several changes. Each requiring a year or so to work down into these customized, special pieces. However I've finally started to near a certain plateau in my performance where I do not need to practice in order to maintain my range and endurance. Now that's a relief!
Lynn Nicholson advises this kind of idea. And granted I'm certainly not the great player he is. However I have continually improved. Even after having long since past "my prime" physically. I'm on my mid sixties now but as we age we "work smarter". I only wish that I vould have learned more about moutpiieces fufty years ago. Way back then I could have been able to market myself easier. Back when I actually had the incentive to play professional gigs.
If I can produce the same results in sound and control on a very shallow mouthpiece? Sure! Why not?? Only makes sense. And while others may struggle to maintain a consistent range on their larger mouthpieces? I'm guessing that they do so only at the risk of developing over-trained chops.
Thank you Nick for stopping by. _________________ "Check me if I'm wrong Sandy but if I kill all the golfers they're gonna lock me up & throw away the key"!
Carl Spackler (aka Bill Murray, 1980). |
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NickD Heavyweight Member
Joined: 19 Jun 2005 Posts: 679 Location: Chicago (northern suburbs)
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 4:07 am Post subject: good points, IMHO |
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I like your thinking, Lionel!
The shallow mouthpiece thing can be controversial, but I am totally on the same page with you on this. However, apparently, Arturo does his altissimo gymnastics on a Bach 1&1/4 C! I can HIT a lot of those notes on one (well up to DHD, maybe, not the pyrotechnics Arturo unleashes in the neighborhood of G over DHC!), I can't last for long on one and I can make them sizzle like that. I suppose I could train myself do that sort of thing on a big deep legit setup, but I PERSONALLY prefer not to.
Also, my embouchure is not the same, so my approach has to suit my physical structure.
My scream mouthpiece has about a Bach E cup - very shallow. This direction in the discussion has just triggered the subject for a forthcoming blog post!!
N _________________ Nick Drozdoff - Getzen Endorsing Artist
http://www.nickdrozdoff.com
http://www.getzen.com/
http://www.youtube.com/nickdrozdoff
https://www.facebook.com/nickdrozdoffandthevariabledpostulateensemble
https://soundcloud.com/nick-drozdoff |
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