| Jeremy,
I know that Manny hasn’t responded yet, but I thought you might be interested in the experience that I have had with the James Thompson Buzzing Basics exercises and how this book relates to your question. When you mention that you “tank up with air and blow blow blow”, it sounds to me like you are trying to control the dynamic with more aggressive exhalation. I had this same experience, and it’s a dead end path.
James Thompson mentions that there is a break around a 1st space E, and that the secret to playing below that E is to stretch the feel of the notes above that E down into the lower register without altering your embouchure. He targets this register by starting on a 2nd line G and glissandoing down to a low C. For this to be most effective, though, you don’t “blow” more aggressively as you move into the lower register. You simply “tank up”, begin at a gentle dynamic with a breath attack, and then “let” the air out. Try this on the mouthpiece alone, and then again on the trumpet (G half, G half --> glissando --> Low C (whole)) at about m = 40 – 60).
When you approach the low register in this way you are allowing the horn to do the work, and in time, resonance (vibrancy in your lips) will increase, and the dynamic around the A / Ab will start to increase. As you glissando down through the seven valve combinations, making sure your sound is complete (not loud, but simply vibrating all the way through the glissando before it breaks into the actual lower note), you are not changing your embouchure set up, but you are causing the lips to vibrate more completely. This enhanced vibration is putting a much stronger signal into the trumpet which can be observed as a louder sound, but it is really a more resonant sound.
You don’t get this sound quality by blowing more (which can actually lead to overblowing and dampening of the signal – what you are currently experiencing), you get it by patiently moving into the lower register from above, assuring that you have a full tank of air and are “letting” the air out (not aggressively forcing it out).
This has been my experience, and I thought it was worth sharing. Hope this is helpful!
Now back to Manny!
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Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona |