FFFFFFFFFFFFF!

[brassguymike]

A Tuba player came in and did some exercises when I was a music major (EONS AGO) for breathing/increasing volume.

There were a couple that stood out:

The first one was an exercise to see how well the diaphragm was being used.  He told us the lower the "pitch" of our breath, the deeper breath we were taking, and that breath was coming from the diaphragm.  If your pitch was high, it meant you were taking your breath in your chest and not the diaphragm.  It was awesome.  It helped my air endurance and my volume ouput so much it was incredible.  Not only that, but it helps you to focus on your diaphragm and not trying to "throat out" the sound.  One I recomend.

The other one was kind of a game.  We got music stands and got a small notecard.  We tried to keep the notecard off the bottome of the stand, keeping it up with our breath.  Very challenging to do.  Don't know if I would recomend this one.

Hope it helps!!

Andy Smith

Railmen 93-94

Madison Scouts 96,98-99

I understand what the tuba player meant about "pitch" of your breath.  Ideally though, you want minimal noise in your inhalation.  Any noise means you're resisting the inhalation.  A high "pitched" inhalation usually comes from a shallow breath using a pinched, closed throat.  If you open your throat, drop your jaw, and get your tongue out of the way, it is very possible to take in a huge, deep breath with minimal noise.

I've done the note card trick before, but I personally don't care for it.  To keep the card up, one will usually use a fast, thin, cool, laser-like air stream.  When one uses that kind of airstream, they usually close off their throat.  That airstream can be used if you're playing in the stratosphere or just want a super-bright sound.  But to get a warm, rich, dark sound, (like taking a bath in chocolate, ha!) you need to use a full, warm, phat column of air.  Think of the difference between the light of a tiny little laser beam and the foglight coming out of a lighthouse.  I'd much rather practice breathing onto the palm of my hand like I'm trying to fog up a mirror, than practice trying to hold up a notecard.

Again if you want to learn more about proper respiratory mechanics, I can't urge you enough to check out Arnold Jacob's: Song and Wind.  This man revolutionized how we breathe.  Before his time, the only research into the respiratory functions of musicians was done onto large male vocalists.  You can find his book at: Windsong Press

[kalijah]

DON'T BELIEVE ALL THAT STUFF!

Let me state some facts:

1. Air goes into the lungs and nowhere else!

2. Air capacity can not be appreciably increased, basically, what you have you are born with.

3. Abdominal muscle strength CAN be increased via development excercices in the gym or workout room. (But you may not need it)

4. Aerobic capacity can be increased (reducing the body's need for oxygen) thus focusing the use of air to playing.

It is amazing to me how people think that volume of sound is totally dependent on air volume and pressure when there is very little you can do over the short term, (or at all) to increase those.

Take a lesson you corps-heads!

To increase volume (or flexibility, or range, or tone quality) you must develop one thing, and that is:

THE CAPACITY OF THE EMBOUCHURE TO VIBRATE EFFICIENTLY.

Note my use of the word "efficiency". It is also likely that with development of embouchure efficiency you will require LESS air quantity, and less pressure from the abdominal muscles for a given level of volume.

Trust me, all this volumous air and brute force, so-called "diaphragm", pressure will only wreck what chops you have.

Try this:

play as soft as you can possibly play and practice low H.L. Clarke studies or out of Vizzutti's book 1. Don't worry about the quality of tone at first, just play comfortably and effortlessly. As you do this for an hour or more, listen for improvements in your sound and articulation (crisp attacks) at the lowest level of effort you have. Do this for hours and hours. Eventually the sound will begin to grow in fullness and effortlessness (the embouchure efficiency is increasing). Gradually increase the volume and range with only small increases in effort (air quantity and pressure, embouchure muscular effort, and mouthpiece pressure).

Do this on all types of exercices. Occationally lightly buzz the mouthpiece alone with the same concepts.

Gradually, work up to a louder level of sound with only a modest increase of air quantity and pressure, then put your horn away with fresh chops. Do this every day.

Try it, it will take time, trust, and a willingness to forget what you have heard, and what you believe you know about playing brass.

Also, NEVER use these words again: "Diaphragm", "Support", these are dogmatic words and teacherspeak. Just breathe! Do not overcomplicate it.

Let me know how it goes.

Darryl Jones

Spirit of Atlanta '82,

Corpsvets 89-02, Lead Sop, Brass Arranger and captionhead.

[kalijah]

correction:

Corpsvets 98-02

typo!

DJ

[brassguymike]

DON'T BELIEVE ALL THAT STUFF!

Don't believe all what stuff?

[kalijah]

To quote first Mike Myer:

I've always heard the open throat and using the diaphram stuff, and I do that the best that I can.

How can you get 8 mellophones to sound like 16?  Or a 35 Horn line sound like 70?  I'd love to hear it!

Rather than "open" throat, think "relaxed" throat. As before, you can not appreciably increase sound quality or volume by opening your throat and forcing more air across the embouchure. Best to just keep the throat muscles out of the way by keeping them relaxed. Trying to force open the throat, forcing open the jaw (dropping the jaw), holding the tounge down (actively), all contribute to wasted effort and inefficient playing.

If you really want to increase the sound from a section, have the players produce better and more efficient vibration, by doing personal practice as I have described above.

Andy Smith said:

If your pitch was high, it meant you were taking your breath in your chest and not the diaphragm.

Air goes into the lungs, end of story.

And then Mike Ary you said:

Now in order to play at higher volumes, you're going to need a large quantity of air, so yes you need the diaphragm to contract and allow the consequential vacuum to suck in a large quantity of air.

Not exactly correct, Mike. High volume of sound is a product of air velocity and the pressure of that air. An inefficient embochure requires more air AND pressure for a given volume of sound. An efficiently vibrating embouchure will require less air velocity (and pressure) for a given volume than a poorly vibrating, inefficient embouchure.

You WOULD need a large "quantity" of air for a lengthy note or musical phrase.

So in effect a large quantity of air would be required for ANY volume level, given that the note or phrase was lengthy. It's just that with higher volume the quantity of air will be used up faster due to the faster air. I think this is what you were trying to say.

Mike you also said:

When you hear someone say "play with diaphragm support," ask them how can a muscle contract in 2 different directions.

Yes, I agree. These are totally misused and misunderstood terms. It is best just to dispense with thems and say "breath in". If you tell someone to take a big breath, or they are taking a breath to swim underwater for a great distance, they will instinctively fill the lungs to capacity in a very efficient way. They don't stop and think to themself, " Well, I will need to be sure and use my diaphragm". Trying to tell people how to breathe to play brass is kind of silly. We have all been breathing in and out since the day we were born so all the technical jargon and made-up dogma just confuses people into bad habits.

If I am facing a long note or phrase at ff on the trumpet or bugle I don't have to be told to fill up, my musical instincts will come in to play and I will fill the tank.

Taking a full breath has more to do with using more time (if available) to draw in the breath and minimizing restrictions to incoming air. If you do this, less muscular action is required to draw in the breath.

As Mike said:

.  Ideally though, you want minimal noise in your inhalation.  Any noise means you're resisting the inhalation.  

Again I have gone off on the tangent that I was trying to minimize in importance.

The gist of my comments was that breathing properly is really instictive for most musicians but this is the domonant advice given to brass players. Especially young ones ( in bands and especially in corps). But most of the time insufficient air is NOT the problem. The problem with young brass players in general is a lack of understanding of the role of the embouchure as a vibrating point and there is practically no effort by teachers or instructors to remedy this. Mainly because they came up under the same dogmas when they were students. I have witnessed this over and over (practically every time). If a student has a problem with tone quality, attacks, volume (even low volume), etc. the teacher will always exclaim, "More Air!". When it is evident that lack of air is almost never the problem.

But somehow some young players instictively develop good sounds amid this sea of bad teaching. As for me this kind of teaching almost destroyed my playing by creating terrible habits. Thank goodness that is all in the past.

Not trying to be abrasive, just trying to give you guys something to thiink about.

;)^

[mosthumbleone]

Kalijah, but how does all this work if you have a wooden head?   ;)^

[kalijah]

Then you should play the clarinet, Homer. (8-]

[mosthumbleone]

Oh, and Kyle, you don't need all those FFFFFF's.  There is probably some variation from corp to corp (old school anyway...when it wasn't politically incorrect to play loud) but the volume notations went something like this, after FFF comes DL, then FL and finally DFL.

[Jeffsjetta]

the official range of dynamics:

tacet

ppp

pp

p

mpp

mp

mmp

mmf

mf

mff

f

ff

fff

fff

rl(really loud)

rfl(duh)

rmfl(heh)

Holy #### my ears hurt

[cabsbaritone]

The excercise that I find helps in both volume and tuning is pitch Bends.

Have the Entire Corps/Section Count off in 2's.

Everyone starts on a Unison C have the 1's drop down to the B natural (using the valves) then have the 2's lip the Note down to the b natural Matching the pitch of the 1's. this should imporve with the listen skills of the line. Then.. have the 1's play back up to the C and have the 2's Move Faster Air to Bring the B back to the C (instead of Just lipping it) this will improve quite a few different things...

Another thing I have seen horn lines do is get all the players to play over the edge.  Maybe have them learn a A Chord Excersice where they can just NBlow their Chops out  and teach them... buy Showing them Where the line is that they can't cross... then play the same excercise a different volumne so they can hear all the parts..

Being Loud is mostly about listening!!!!