Quote:
Originally Posted by Newguy  Morris --- you are getting to be a mind reader, or else are "in tune" with me!!
I do a lot of "lurking" here on TrumpetMaster, reading everything that catches my eye. I almost had withdrawal the other day when the site was down.
Anyway, I was reading in another thread about "clocking" the mouthpeice and before practice today, and I decided to try it. I alternate and one day use the Barrington trumpet and the next the Holton cornet -- yesterday happened to be the Barrington's day so I started with it.
I was simply playing open and going up and seeing how the tone, slotting, and ease of playing were in different positions and when I got to the 6 o'clock position, I got to and held for about a second -- are you ready for this -- high E above the staff!! 
I noticed that high C's seemed to be coming easier, also. Needless to say, I immediately got out the Holton and tried the same experiment. Now, I am using Parduba 6.5 mp's in both horns. I found the Holton likes about a 4-5 o'clock position, but I could not go as high with it, only to a C and a B comfortably. Maybe I was getting tired.
I have noticed that when I try seeing how high I can get at the beginning of my practice, I only last about 1/2 hour and the the lips are shot. Even if I stop for a couple hours and try to come back for more, it isn't good. If I don't push for the high notes, I can go for about 45minutes, leave it for awhile and the go for another session, no trouble. I think that I will limit my trys for the high stuff to once a week and see how I do then and concentrate on everything else the rest of the week -- God knows I need everything else more than I need range at this point!!!
I am having a lot of fun, but I do wish I had gotten a trumpet those many years ago when I was ten instead of the clarinet, damn those front teeth!!! I think I could have been a fair player, now if I play 5 lines of music in a row, I don't have any air left thanks to this COPD!! By the fifth line, half notes start to pick up vibrato which isn't intentional -- it's just the way the air flow is being forced.
"I COULDA BEEN A CONTENDER!!"
Anyway, that's where I am progress wise -- today is Holton day!! |
I am curious to know what embouchure you were born with.
Instead of typing it all over again, I'll copy / paste from my recent post to
hanminyang in Toronto:
Players are born to be one of many embouchure types (lip formation for playing).
Go to
An Introduction to Donald S. Reinhardt's Pivot System
and scroll down to the middle of that long Web page to the heading
Reinhardt's Embouchure Types
Generally, players fall into 2 categories.
They are born down-stream or up-stream.
A down-stream player will play better if he uses more upper lip than lower lip so that he is playing low on the mouthpiece, and he sounds better if the trumpet is pointed slightly downward.
He is called "down-stream" because his lower lip curls under the upper lip, so that the air-stream is projected downward as he plays.
An up-stream player will play better if he uses more lower lip than upper lip so that he is playing high on the mouthpiece, and he sounds better if the trumpet is pointed slightly upward.
He is called "up-stream" because his upper lip curls under the lower lip, so that the air-stream is projected upward as he plays.
A person is born one way or the other, so look at the photos in that section of that Web page, experiment to find what works best for you, compare what you see in your mirror to those photos.
I am Type 4 upstream.
I spent my 5 years in school band trying to imitate the other players who were almost all down-stream players.
But after I dropped out of band my friend told me to try up-stream (I had never even heard the term before), I did, and I saw immediate and dramatic improvement.
My range tends to be highest after just a 2-minute warmup, as long as I play gently, softly.
As you said, if I play until my lips finally give out, then I rest a few hours, my range and tone return to some degree but not completely.
The range and tone only return completely the next day.
Question which would determine what cornet is best for you:
For playing cornet, is beautiful tone more important to you, or is range more important to you?
There are cornets which have significantly larger bores than your Holton Super Collegiate, and I think you could play them OK as long as you play gently (the same way I do). The tone is beautiful, rich, but the range will be a few steps lower than you are now getting. Which wouldn't matter if you use the trumpet for playing high notes.
On the other hand, there are cornets which have significantly smaller bores than your Holton, and they would probably give you a better range than on your Holton, although the tone would not be as full and rich.
When I first got my Conn 5A, which has the same .484 bore as the Conn Director student cornets, it felt like it was requiring every bit of air I could give it.
But I learned to play more softly into it, and my embouchure adapted after a month or two, and it no longer feels nearly as large a bore as it did before, so that it probably requires no more air than your Holton.
Other Conn cornet models having that same bore size will vary in how big they feel.
The Director will probably require less air than my Conn 5A, while the Constellation 37A/38A will probably require more air than my Conn 5A.
So I am just wondering what cornet bore size you are interested in trying based on your priorities in playing and based on your breathing ability.
- Morris