Fishgun

Hello All:

I was reading posts about the ring that many get on their lips when they play. I don't have this problem. My problem is that my lip actually deforms into the shape of the cup of the mpc.

When I was young my idiot director leaned on me hard to force the upper register. I'm sure this is the source of the problem. I put the horn down for 25 years. Now that I am back I now play with very little pressure but I am amazed that the deformation shows up almost instantly. It doesn't interfere with my playing at all but I can't believe that it is a good thing.

I sometimes use a v-cup to avoid the problem. I am very pleased with my tone with either type of mpc.

Is there any hope of ever overcoming this problem? Any suggestions?

Thanks,
David

trumpet 101

hey david,

ive been playing for three and a half years, mine do the same thing and i also play with very little pressure and do not have a mouthpiece ring, even when i play for hours on end, i dont think it will go away, mine doesnt, but mine isnt that noticable...

rowuk

Fishgun,
what do you expect from an untrained embouchure? All it is is meat hanging off of the front of your face! Wait until you get my age and get a belly. That just hangs over the belt too unless you do something about it. Tightening that belly or your face up are jobs that just take a while IF you stay motivated.

Of course your face falls into the cup. Play softly a lot, lots of long tones and slurs and after about 6 months of hard work, things start to change. For the belly, you can replace the low impact slurs and long tones with low impact aerobics and swimming (as well as paying attention to what you eat - which compares to our breathing!).

__________________
Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

Fishgun

rowuk

Thanks for your insight. However, I should add a little more info. I played steady for 14 years before putting the horn down. For the last 5 years of that I played around 4 hours a day 6 days a week. I played lead in orchestra, 2 jazz bands and performed with a marching group. I had the same problem then and am a little surprised that it showed up in the first 5 mins of playing when I picked it back up. I guess I was hoping for a fresh start and a chance to retrain properly.

rowuk

Maybe there is nothing wrong with that? Why do you call it a problem if you got through that much stuff?

If your playing works, that is what counts. All of the geek and theoretical trash blown all over the web means nothing if you are getting the job done. just practice softly with lots of longtones and slurs and your face will gravitate to where it belongs.

__________________
Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

rowuk

Maybe there is nothing wrong with that? Why do you call it a problem if you got through that much stuff?

If your playing works, that is what counts. All of the geek and theoretical trash blown all over the web means nothing if you are getting the job done. just practice softly with lots of longtones and slurs and your face will gravitate to where it belongs.

__________________
Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.