jdostie

So I got a silent brass system so I could practice without disturbing my wife, and so I could try to get some practice in at lunch time at (or near) work . . .

Anyway, I tried it last night, and there is quite a bit of resistance. Now, some of the things I noticed during my practice I am attributing to the silent brass (as a combination of my stamina, technique, and a factor of the resistance) because I did not have such problems last time I practiced without the mute (or at least not as bad).

What I noticed is that in double and triple tonguing exercises, as I went say above D - and I think this was worse I got more fatigued, I got something of a raspy tone - though if I played a long tone I didn't seem to have that problem. I may have been "muddier" on the tonguing, but that may or may not have been by trying to go faster than I am ready for.

I also noticed that I wanted to use more pressure, and lower in the register. I had to be very conscious of the pressure and concentrate on trying not to press too hard - and to back off on the volume as I reached for B or high C toward the end of the practice session. I know a number of you will say that's a good thing, and I am working on that as well, it's just funny that if I am having trouble with range, my natural inclination is to try harder/louder, or whatever, but if I back off, it comes out nicely - if quietly.

So my question is: Is the resistance a bad thing, or just something additional to overcome? Will it help build my stamina, and thereby range etc? Or will it build bad habits in terms of too much pressure?

I know that I want to play without this as much as possible in order to hear and adjust tone, etc. I am just wondering what the thoughts are in that regard.

I've probably said a number of things that you'll want to jump on, and I'm interested in them all, but for the purpose of this post - primarily about the back resistance of the silent brass.

Thanks