To use wet or dry lips?

[Lionel]

That is the question. When I was a kid and practicing pedal tones through the Maggio System For Brass the book told me to

"Always use wet lips and buzz downwards".

Prior to reading this I'd always considered wet lips a given anyway. When anyone played trumpet, so I felt and had been taught? One simply always used wet lips. There was no doubt about this in my mind. Besides the directive in the Maggio book I'd previously always played wet since first ever picking up the horn in the 4th grade. Meanwhile I'd always been greatly mystified at WHY Satchmo kept drying his chops with the ever present white handkerchief. Thinking "How could he even do that"? It just seemed to me that Louie must have some most unusual technique. In order to play both so beautifully and well while his chops apparently remained dr

Later in college I made friends with a very helpful fellow trumpet player. Oh my God did he have good range ! G ABOVE double C. Back in the day. Heck I'd never heard such high tones. However he "Doug" played on totally dry lips. I asked him what his teacher thought about it? He replied,

"He knows I'm doing it but hasn't given me any grief about it". I should add that unlike Maggio my friend was told to
"Buzz UPwards". The exact opposite of Maggio.

Fast forward to my embouchure change of last November, 2019,
I began to "Buzz Up" and found dry lips at least possible. Unlike my former ways. As the weeks went by my range improved greatly from my former "buzz downwards" days on the Maggio system. Also I didn't play pedal tones after my embouchure change. Meanwhile my potentially useable range went up a clear octave from a high F before to an F above double C now and still climbing.

Initially however I couldn't reach below the Low C predictably. Not without wetting the old chops first. Undaunted, I kept on practicing. Then just today found my notes from Low C to Low F# to come out reasonably well while my lips remained dry. Playing dry feels nearly completely normal now. It was a fantastic aid to help me play high notes at first. And now the lower register is coming together nicely.

It's interesting how what was right yesterday is wrong today. And what was wrong before is now right today. I've noticed this in the past with both mouthpieces and horns too
_________________
"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).