While I agree on some points Rowuk, I think chop placement should be taken more seriously, and scrutinized more. I noticed that a couple of the older Juilliard teachers changed up some embouchures on some monster players. It makes me think they put more value in it then we do now days (I hope Mr Hooten chimes in here, as I believe he mentioned going through a change). Over the years that I studied with Gerald Webster, which lasted about 8, I saw many people, some who had been playing many years (and some of them very well), change their embouchure in the way I described above, with the ring resting just about the area where the red and white connect on the upper lip. He stressed the importance of this frequently, and the degree of change he allowed was quite a bit less than most of his students expected. Without exception, it made a monumental difference. While even Mr Webster maintained air stream as the fundamental tool of trumpet playing, and provides some help if your embouchure is not quite in order, he described it as driving an expensive nice car, and filling it with bad gas! You can achieve comfort with even the most awkward placement, and that makes the comfort test a potentially dangerous one.
Mr Carroll, did you know anyone during your Juilliard days who went through changes, or perhaps what the teachers said about mouthpiece placement? Did any teacher in particular have a very strict concept?
-Andre
p.s. I meant high placement as too much upper lip in the mouthpiece. I got it backwards maybe
If there is too much upper lip, you get the pinched feel and fuzzy sound. Hope that will clear up any confusion.