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Originally Posted by Miyot  One more thing. I did find I was also forgetting to use plenty of breath support, and reverting to pressure. If I make a concious effort to use breath support I do much better. |
Hi, One has to make shure that one is working with the most efficient way, especially with the blowing/breathing aparatus and secondly with the embouchure.
I have being playing lead trumpet latin gigs since I was 18 years old, and at the beguining lips got swollen a lot and the next day it was so difficult to feel confortable when playing, especially at soft dynamics, but I tried to keep all my teachers advices and with some time the swell got manageble and the next day of a gig I could play even soft passages in the symphony orchestra with no dificulty.
However, I stoppet playing salsa gigs 2 years ago (I am 33 now), then last december I started to play salsa again and to my surprise I felt like at the beguining, luckly my embouchure recovered rapidly and right now I feel like never before.
In summary, I think, like rowuk said, that lip swelling is a defense mechanism for the body, but if one is not working efficiently it could take a loooong time to develop the endurance needed to play lead/commercial, IMHO.
LMA