Wow,
Thanks for the kind comments... I practice long and hard daily... My feeling is that I am sometimes inconsistent in my approach that yes after many years of experience I've been able to mask for show biz reasons! Never letem see you sweat kinda of thing!
I've been here on the TM since the beginning.. To my recoloection I've never really chimed in on chop discussions because I've always felt that I really didn't know what the hell I was talking about! I'll probably continue that belief forward. What I've written so far regarding this topic is just one of our industries best opinions and belief and how it relates to my personal issues with the trumpet... Nothing more, nothing less!
I for the most part have never had what I cosider to be a useful lesson in my life. Infact, this was my first lesson in over 20 years My prof in college was 84 years old at the time God rest his peaceful soul! Need I say more... I took my natural drum corps developed chops if there is such a classification and went on the road. So for my entire career I've tried to figure things out on my own with some degree of success. I still feel that I don't have it figured out. That's what I told Roger. I think he enjoyed our lesson because I think he saw a person in front of him that has had some nice moments in his life professionaly but was in no way satisfied with personal results.
Yes, I do have a strong range w/oodles of volume! Infact i was louder than him.... So what! I have been used for that purpose my whole life....
Now, I can't play Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy with the tone it deserves. I use a fairly shallow mouthpiece and have my whole life... I guess I just won't let go of believing there is a way to get that lower middle register to bark like the old timers did with small pieces. I practice this constantly to no avail.
Having said that: I rolled out a bit, opened the apeture and I have something started with the tone in that register after 1 day of working on it! It sounds like the older recordings where and in my opinion if you listen to them the trumpet was the best sounding instrument recorded. Fat and sassy I guess!
What Roger means by pink: Try to get as much of your mouthpiece off of the white part which I guess is actually considered your face. By doing so the apeture opens naturally. This creates a larger cushion and surface area for the mouthpiece. The thicker the pad under your carpet the more comfortable it is on your feet! Again, smaller gear will give you back the neccessary backpressure to compensate for the larger apeture.
I can tell you that 3 ocatve chromatics are clearer yet still very awkward....
I'm messing with it! Who knows, Friday when it's gig time I just might toss my horn across the room! Just kidding Felix!
Tony G