developing a focused aperture

johns · New Member Joined: 01 Dec 2004 Posts: 6

This is a relatively new attempt on my part. I am looking into ways to try and focus the size and buzz of my aperture in my everyday playing. The main results that I would like to see come from this is the focus of tone and responsiveness of beginning a note. I don't commonly hear much about excercises focusing on the aperture, and was just wondering if anyone had spent any time thinking or working on this.

_Don Herman · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:31 am Post subject:

See the many posts on resonance/pitch centers and such, paying particular attention to Derek's posts. Lengthy but very worthwhile reading!

A quick, common, suggestion is to try soft playing with good sound/air support (can't have one without the other anyway).

Leadpipe and/or mpc buzzing, in small amounts, can also help. Free buzzing is also advocated by some. I personally do not believe any of these latter exercises should be done for more than a few minutes, and 1 - 2 is probably plenty for starters.

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

Don Key · Regular Member Joined: 17 Oct 2004 Posts: 60

tpter1 · Heavyweight Member Joined: 17 Jun 2004 Posts: 1194

I'm trying to work on that, too. One of my weak areas on the horn is getting notes below lowest A to respond consistently and cleanly at lower dynamic levels.

I've been using whisper tones as part of my warm-up to focus the aperture, and find it is helping a bit. These are tones that emit at extremely soft dynamics, just before the real buzz kicks in.

Simply set your embouchre, and begin to blow very lightly. I begin to respond at 2nd line G (concert F). I then begin to slur down chromatically to where my lips stop responding (around A-Ab below the staff or so if I've not been doing this consistently). Then I try to whisper that note until it responds. Then I go back up chromatically up to tuning C.

This excercise forces the aperture into correct size and embouchre into correct formation because they (whisper tones) won't work if any component is off.

Hope that helps. Keep us posted!

mattdalton · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2004 10:01 am Post subject:

You've already received some good advice, but I'll add another option.

I find the exercises in James Thompson's "The Buzzing Book" to help in this regard. I have been using them this year and find that they have helped me with cleanliness of attacks when playing soft as well as helping to keep playing in the center of the pitch. I also think the book's alternation of buzzing and playing helps one get more benefit than from buzzing alone. If you play exercises 1-4 for a few weeks, focusing on the sound and attacks rather than the buzz, I'll bet you'll see some benefits. If you search the forum you can find additional posts about the book.

Hope this helps.
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Matt Dalton

Billy B · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2004 10:22 am Post subject:

The end result you are looking for is a more focused sound and the ability to start a note on command. So would practice with a more focused sound and practice starting notes. Do this few hundred times and your physical system will be in place.
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Bill Bergren

trumpetDS · Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2004 1:54 pm Post subject:

The "Buzzing Basics" directly addresses this issue. Try the book and CD for a few months and I think you will find you have a more focused and efficient aperature/ embouchure.

dbacon · Heavyweight Member Joined: 11 Nov 2001 Posts: 8592

I've got to agree with Billy on this one. The more focused your sound is, the more focused your aperture is.

You can't see what your aperture is doing when you are playing a high C.

But you can hear what it's doing.

And it can only do it with a solid fuel supply. The machine won't work without fuel. Energize that air stream!

Not force! Energy. Flow, always in motion.

The aperture will have a chance to work with sound in the imagination and fuel flowing through the machine.

JohnOBriant · Regular Member Joined: 05 Dec 2004 Posts: 17

Good responses thus far--

Moreover, I have a lot of fun with my younger students with exercises along these lines. For instance, mouthpiece work at the beginning of a lesson, matching pitches, slurring so they can get the feeling of what sorts of things they have to do with their embouchure to produce different sounds/pitches/tones is always entertaining. I've already seen some pretty good improvement with a couple of my students in reducing the amount of fuzz/air present in their tone as a result.

fuzzyjon79 · Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 3:43 pm Post subject:

Visit the Carmine Caruso forum. That will help you out.
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J. Fowler
"It takes a big ole' sack of flour, to make a big ole' pan of biscuits!"