To continue with the idea of turning the air around immediately that rowuk mentioned, here are some great quotes from Jay Friedman and John Hagstrom from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Manny Laureano (one of our TM resident experts).
Releasing vs. Pushing or Forcing-------
The key to defining “releasing” is to look at the very beginning of the exhale and the very end of the exhale.
At the Beginning of the Exhale:
An air delivery system that focuses on the concept of active air, passive body (a proper weakness of the respiratory muscles) leads to sound without comparison. I love these quotes from Jay Friedman and Manny Laureano, “A column of air produces maximum resonance when the muscles around it are completely at rest.” “Tense abs, no air. Loose abs, lots of air”. "Strength is my enemy, weakness is my friend".
Quote:
Jay Friedman Quote:
If the air starts quickly enough, then the body can stay relaxed and assume its vital function as a resonating chamber. If the air starts too slow, then the body must push air in the middle of the note, AND THE WHOLE THING IS RUINED. I can not stress the importance of this statement enough. |
There is a really great article by
John Hagstrom (from the Chicago Symphony) where he provides some good comments related to your question:
Quote:
He says, "The biggest misconception of Chicago Symphony high brass tone production: It is that we are blowing huge quantities of air through the instrument in the way the trombones and tuba do. This is false, but it is not hard to see how this misconception starts and spreads. Everyone has been told at one time or another in their training to use more air support, which gets distilled down into 'Use more air!'
At first, our sense of what it feels like to use more air is rather crude, but our efforts in that direction pay off handsomely. Tone and consistency improve, but
the improvement is the result of air being put into the position of starting the sound,
with the lips and tongue being much more of a reaction to the air. Even so, the player may improperly conclude that it was the quantity of air that made the difference, when it really was
the immediacy and the compression of the air that were responsible for the improvements.
In fact, the trumpets and horns are blowing much harder than the trombones and tuba, but much less air quantity actually goes into the trumpet and horns, especially in the high register.
The goal of efficient high brass tone production is to have
the action of the air at the beginning of the tone generation process.
Combined with a strong and healthy mental image of what the player is trying to sound like, the lips and tongue will gradually begin to react in balance with the air to create the desired sound."
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Summary: If there is even a slight hesitation (say, less than a sixteenth note) between your inhale and exhale, you will not be “releasing”. You will be pushing and you will have introduced tension into the breathing. You will know when you are doing it right, because everything you play will feel unusually easy. When you lose concentration, this hesitation can creep back into your playing, and you will be pushing again. It’s very subtle and very obvious all at the same time!