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How can I stop blurps?


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enviroman22
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PostPosted: Sun May 23, 2021 3:53 pm    Post subject: How can I stop blurps? Reply with quote

How do I stop blurps? Been trouble since I started back playing in 2014.
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Billy B
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PostPosted: Sun May 23, 2021 5:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Antacid
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enviroman22
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PostPosted: Sun May 23, 2021 5:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Billy B wrote:
Antacid
You think I am screwing around? This is an honest question. If you don’t have anything to help me with please refrain from honoring us with your brilliant wit in this post. I don’t need trouble so please don’t be a jerk to me.
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Shifty
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PostPosted: Sun May 23, 2021 6:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

enviroman22 wrote:
You think I am screwing around? This is an honest question. If you don’t have anything to help me with please refrain from honoring us with your brilliant wit in this post. I don’t need trouble so please don’t be a jerk to me.


What, in a trumpet context, is a "blurp?" A more meaningful question is likelier to elicit serious answers.
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enviroman22
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PostPosted: Sun May 23, 2021 6:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shifty wrote:

What, in a trumpet context, is a "blurp?" A more meaningful question is likelier to elicit serious answers.
OMG. A cracked note.
Just forget it.
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Jaw04
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PostPosted: Sun May 23, 2021 6:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

enviroman22 wrote:
Shifty wrote:

What, in a trumpet context, is a "blurp?" A more meaningful question is likelier to elicit serious answers.
OMG. A cracked note.
Just forget it.
Maybe your band director or teacher calls them blurps but I usually hear that called a chip or a cracked note. I've never heard blurp before.

I think it's important to practice setting up to play the very first note of a phrase over and over again. We usually miss the first note or an early note when we pick up the horn. Practice just coming in deadly accurately with clear sound and articulation on a single note and setting the horn down in between. Like shooting free throws in basketball.
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Crazy Finn
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PostPosted: Sun May 23, 2021 7:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In general - practice, good air support, hearing the note before you play it.
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blbaumgarn
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PostPosted: Sun May 23, 2021 8:50 pm    Post subject: how do I stop the blurps? Reply with quote

The person who suggested antacids may, indeed, be right. Seems like you may have enough tension to cause a variety of performance problems. If I can't take someone making a wise crack to me about my opinion I need to go somewhere else. Ultimately, here, people will help. They may jab you a little up front, but they want to help.
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Bryant Jordan
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PostPosted: Sun May 23, 2021 11:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Elaborate a bit more so we know how to help. What do you mean exactly by ‘blurp’?
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falado
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PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2021 3:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi enviroman22, on occasion I had this same problem of playing a chipped or cracked note. I sought help by taking lessons with Jeff Purtle. What I'm doing are flexibility exercises, Irons and Colin, slurred and tongued. If I crack a note or make a mistake I stop and do the exercise again, ie. make no mistakes. I also did the interval exercises in the Arban book. Consistent tongue level I think is the key.

Dave
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zaferis
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PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2021 4:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

First of all, grow a little thick skin. If you're a trumpeter / musician you've got to learn to take a jab, critiques, and being made fun of.

Second, I think if you've read more thread on TH or other sites you'd understand the "blurp" is not a commonly used term. I found your initial question rather confusing, and lacked explanation of the issue. Making it even more difficult to give a suggestion in an already difficult medium to do so.

Chipped notes? Not clearly starting the note you want... chips, cracks, fracks, splee-ahs, etc..
Basically, you're not fully committed, prepared, or setup/positioned to produce the tone you're after, thus at the last moment the chops (the entire mechanism) tries to make adjustments and FFRRRAAACk.

Make breath starts (air starts) part of your daily practice, early in your routine - teach the chops that notes can begin without the tongue releasing the air.
"Air / Air+fingers / Air+tongue / Air+fingers+tongue"

1. A "First Note" drill: metronome ON slowly (60 or less), play a full quarter note on beat 1 of a measure of 6/4, rest on 2-6 taking the mouthpiece off of your chops, reposition play another quarter note on beat 1 of the next measure. Vary the notes using scales, tunes, random - all registers, all dynamics, as you get better vary the articulation quality heavy to light.
(if you miss a note, try singing the pitch, and/or playing it on a piano, in one measure then playing it in the next)
(The metronome and taking the trumpet away from your face between notes are KEY in this drill)
2. Don't move away from a particular pitch until you've executed it well.
3. Repeat daily.
4. Listen (critically) to the top pros, and what their articulation sounds like, imitate.
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Last edited by zaferis on Mon May 24, 2021 4:14 am; edited 1 time in total
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falado
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PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2021 4:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi again, just wanted to add that when I do the lip flexibility exercises that I can feel every slot "click" in as I play them. This is no matter what speed I am play and no matter what fingering I'm using. I had to think about this at first and I think it is important to feel the slot or each pitch lock in. It's like an aiming point and I believe this is what helps lock in the notes and prevents me from chipping. Now I rarely crack notes. One etude I'm now working on is on page 14 of "Advanced Studies" by Aaron Harris. Yikes, talk about intervals. I'm struggling with some it, but it's been getting better with each day. I'm only doing it in small chunks, a little at a time. I find it challenging to see how far I can go without a mistake. I believe the trick here is to hear the note or interval internally before you play it and not try to randomly hit the correct not. Train the brain.
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zaferis
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PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2021 4:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

falado wrote:
Hi again, just wanted to add that when I do the lip flexibility exercises that I can feel every slot "click" in as I play them. This is no matter what speed I am play and no matter what fingering I'm using. I had to think about this at first and I think it is important to feel the slot or each pitch lock in. It's like an aiming point and I believe this is what helps lock in the notes and prevents me from chipping. Now I rarely crack notes. One etude I'm now working on is on page 14 of "Advanced Studies" by Aaron Harris. Yikes, talk about intervals. I'm struggling with some it, but it's been getting better with each day. I'm only doing it in small chunks, a little at a time. I find it challenging to see how far I can go without a mistake. I believe the trick here is to hear the note or interval internally before you play it and not try to randomly hit the correct not. Train the brain.


a couple of other ideas to practicing:
1. of course slowly, with a metronome slur, slur, slur, then articulate
2. change the rhythms - i.e group the notes in 4's, hold the first note out of time then play the next 3 in time, etc.. then move the held note to the 2nd of the pattern, then 3rd, then 4th.
3. in tempo (the fast tempo), play the first 3 notes, repeat until accurate, then add the next, don't add another note until accurate, repeat until the measure / passage / line / etc. is complete.
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Richard III
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PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2021 6:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There is another source. If certain notes tend to crack or blurp, it can be the trumpet is tuned incorrectly. The tuning slides are meant to be tuning slides. All of them. Tune your notes individually and you'll see. For instance, slight pull of the second slide may make the notes using that valve sound more centered. I know trumpet players don't usually do this, but other brass instrument players do this routinely.
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enviroman22
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PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2021 7:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you guys. I will study this and practice what you’ve said. Maybe i’d better go get some lessons again.

As to my temperment there are times to make jokes at others’ expense. This is not one of them when somebody has a problem and is asking for help imo..
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JoseLindE4
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PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2021 8:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

1. Sing everything. If you can’t prehear what you’re going to play you’re much more likely to miss it.
2. Sing in your head while you play. Turn on your inner ideal trumpet sound and make it loud while you play. The louder and more vivid, the better.
3. Play with good time. Bad time makes the coordination needed to play well very difficult.
4. If there certain spots you consistently miss, pay attention to the note before the missed note. Oftentimes, that note is less centered and focused and signals coming problems.
5. Always be as musical as possible. Good music plays better.
6. Practice consistency. Demand it if yourself.
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enviroman22
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PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2021 8:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

JoseLindE4 wrote:
1. Sing everything. If you can’t prehear what you’re going to play you’re much more likely to miss it.
2. Sing in your head while you play. Turn on your inner ideal trumpet sound and make it loud while you play. The louder and more vivid, the better.
3. Play with good time. Bad time makes the coordination needed to play well very difficult.
4. If there certain spots you consistently miss, pay attention to the note before the missed note. Oftentimes, that note is less centered and focused and signals coming problems.
5. Always be as musical as possible. Good music plays better.
6. Practice consistency. Demand it if yourself.


Thank you. Good stuff and I appreciate it gratefully. Your comment is right on and I will put in the work to fine-tune my playing process to master these techniques. You nailed it.

With you-all’s experience I surmise with extra work my “chips” will be greatly removed. Good stuff and I’m thrilled to have a direction to go to aleviate this frustrating thing that keeps happening randomly. Thanks for YOUR patience.
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Last edited by enviroman22 on Mon May 24, 2021 8:11 am; edited 1 time in total
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HERMOKIWI
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PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2021 8:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

In 61 years of playing trumpet I never heard of the word "blurp" to describe a cracked note. There's nothing wrong with you using an unfamiliar term but if the unfamiliarity of the term is brought to your attention it doesn't pay to be offended. We are not mind readers here and questioning what you mean by "blurp" is a fair, honest and reasonable inquiry.

I think the best exercise to reduce chipping notes is to practice breath attacks. I think the best approach is to train your ear to recognize the center of each note and to train yourself to automatically adjust your chop setting to correspond.

Here's an interesting case study on this point. A player I know is rock solid when reading down a big band chart. The player never misses. There are no cracked notes. It's the opposite when the player improvises. He cracks almost every note. What accounts for this? I think the difference is in the amount of time the player has to adjust his chop setting. When he's playing the chart he's very aware of what's coming and he has enough time to adjust his chops so that he's coming in on the note center. In improvisation, however, the spontaneity of it cuts the time down enough that he is not able to get set in time.

Cracking notes is primarily a chop setting issue. It involves muscle memory and quick application of muscle memory. So, to improve in this area you have to train your chops to set up accurately and quickly. Breath attacks force you to focus purely on the chop setting without the tongue helping to get things started and acting as a crutch.
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PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2021 8:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

enviroman22 wrote:
Thank you guys. I will study this and practice what you’ve said. Maybe i’d better go get some lessons again.

As to my temperment there are times to make jokes at others’ expense. This is not one of them when somebody has a problem and is asking for help imo..

Lessons are never a bad idea and they should produce a suitable daily routine. I find that nothing helps consistency of attack than a good daily routine carefully executed.

As to the initial quip, I too had never heard cracked note referred to that way. I don't think the resulting levity was intended to be at your expense.
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enviroman22
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PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2021 8:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

HERMOKIWI wrote:


Cracking notes is primarily a chop setting issue. It involves muscle memory and quick application of muscle memory. So, to improve in this area you have to train your chops to set up accurately and quickly. Breath attacks force you to focus purely on the chop setting without the tongue helping to get things started and acting as a crutch.

I do suspect this (breath attacks) could be much of the culprit. I had so many possibilities in my head. Thanks all for helping me get more specific in my training. Your comments are all I could have wished for.
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