Callus

sean007r · Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2002 8:39 am Post subject:

Just read another book about another great trumpet player, Clifford Brown!

Anywho...
During the book/life story, Brownie couldn't play for some time because of a near fatal car crash that left him in a full body cast for months!
Once he started playing aging, all he talked about was re-building his "lip knot". He stated that all great trumpet players have "lip knots". He was talking about a lip Callus.

I've talked to Maynard, at a clinic or two, and he blames his callus on his dry lip style of playing.

Is a dry lip set-up a standard for all the "greats"

and/or

do all the "greats" have a callus?

_________________
TTFN
~iii<0 Sean 0>iii~

[ This Message was edited by: sean007r on 2002-06-03 11:43 ]

Nicholas Dyson · Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2002 11:04 am Post subject:

I don't know if everyone has a callous, I know I don't, but I don't use a "dry-lip" style of playing.

My dad used to tell me stories, many moons ago about Louis Armstrong on some TV show, (it could have been Ed Sullivan???) pulling his lower lip down to show everyone a huge knot he had. Dear old Dad used to say "that's what you have to look forward to." (uh, not the most supportive family...)
_________________
Nicholas Dyson
Ottawa, Canada

pedaltonekid · Heavyweight Member Joined: 15 Nov 2001 Posts: 1711

I think most people have them, but I recall seeing an interview with Maurice Andre in the ITG journal and he was proud of the fact that when he pulled the horn off his chops that the white ring immediately went away. He attributed this fast recovery period to one of the keys to his success. He did not have the greatest chops in the world, but man he can play.
_________________
Best Regards, Play Well!!

The Red Trumpets · New Member Joined: 05 Jun 2002 Posts: 5 Location: behind.

Some would say that we are morally Callus.

_________________
I am like Marx, Lenin, Stalin, and Castro all rolled in to one incredibly handsome trumpet player who is fed up with capitalist pigs.- me

tptguy · Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2002 9:18 pm Post subject:

<<<Once he started playing aging, all he talked about was re-building his "lip knot".>>>

I don't think that Clifford is describing a callous. And I surely don't think any brass player should try to callous the lips in any way. I believe that what Clifford is referring to is a bunching of the upper lip that naturally occurs when the embouchure is well formed and stabilized. When I'm playing properly, I always have it and yes, it does feel quite a bit like a knotting of the upper lip. Jerry Callet refers to it as "bunching" and he always has it. In any decent picture of Clifford or Andre, you can see the obvious external bunching on both top and bottom lips. It almost looks like air pockets, but it's not. Inside the mouthpiece, you feel the knotting. But as Maurice points out, it goes away immediately when the mouthpiece is removed. That's because it's muscle, not callous. Best regards, Kyle

_Don Herman · Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2002 6:45 am Post subject:

I agree with Kyler on this one. While there are undoubtedly players (great and not so) with a callous, as I understand it a callous is largely hard, dead tissue (think of them on your hands) which has little tendency to vibrate. So, I can't imagine having a callous in the vibrating area of your lips, or at least without it affecting your ability to play to some extent. (Insert your favorite exception here.) Also note that we're talking callous, not scar tissue.

Where I might deviate (hmmm...

) is that I suspect a more significant number of players have a callous outside the vibrating (generally the "red") area where the mouthpiece rests. I think that most players over time will develop at least a small amount of callous, and those using more pressure will have a larger, thicker callous. If this external callous gets too large, it may affect your ability to properly seal the mouthpiece, causing extraneous buzzing and/or air leaks. However, it also helps protect your lips from the mouthpiece and so is of some benefit.

I believe I have a small region on my upper lip, and even smaller on the lower, but it feels rather like a slighter harder, tighter region of lip rather than a hard shell-like texture which might be found on the hands or feet. That is, it's still flexible, but less so than the surrounding tissue.

FWIW - Don
_________________
Don Herman/Monument, CO
"After silence, that which best expresses the inexpressible, is music." - Aldous Huxley

tptguy · Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2002 5:06 pm Post subject:

<<<Where I might deviate (hmmm... ) is that I suspect a more significant number of players have a callous outside the vibrating (generally the "red") area where the mouthpiece rests. >>>

I'm not sure we disagree here. I sure there are a lot of tpters out there that have calloused. Satchmo is not alone. I'm just saying that it's never a good thing. And, I don't think that Clifford was striving for that. But even if he was - still not a good thing! :>) Best regards, Kyle