trumpetlore

I've been thinking a lot lately about what shape my mouth is in when I play. I've been taking voice lessons, and my voice teacher and I have worked on what sounds I can get by focusing my air on different parts of my soft and hard palate. Do other trumpet players think about this? what do you find is the difference?

ecarroll

Jer,

I've avoided close examination of the oral cavity, save back of the tongue. That's not to say that their aren't 100s of micro-adjustments taking place in every register/dynamic but, as you know, my primary interest is conceptual and wind-motion. Yes, a small adjustment inside the mouth will influence the air, but. . .

Many of my best friends in music are singers so I'll be watching this thread with interest.

Best and hi to Jim when you see him,
EC

cornetguy

Mr. Jacobs once did an experiment where he had a player blow smoke into the tuba and then start to play, it took quite a while for the smoke start trickling out of the bell.

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rowuk

Your oral cavity has essentially a fixed volume (that can vary a bit only if you drop your jaw). The tongue can deflect air, but the volume is pretty much constant during play. The roof of your mouth and space beneath the tongue are not made of "flexible" tissue. Resonance of irregular shaped objects is based on VOLUME, so your playing should not change because of shape as the shape does not really change. The tongue does play an important role in sound reproduction due to the change of pressure due to the tongue shape.
I spend essentially no time on this and don't do much with my students unless something is drastically wrong. Compared to speech, we do not intellectualize the articulative process unless we have a thpeech impediment. I find that my students get it automatically just by learning to play things joyfully, sadly, aggressively, smoothly and any other moods that we come up with.

I don't suppose there is anything "wrong" with thinking about it, but if I can get there in a creative fashion, it is OK too.

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Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

tedh1951

I'm not sure I have my teeth around this, but I have recently had a couple of weeks away from my trumpet entirely - I hate the cold practice room and have been mentally and physically avoiding it (yeah, yeah, it's only been down to 3 deg C, and I'm a "big girls blouse" - I'm old, I'm past 21).

Anyhow my first session back found me playing "in the front of my mouth" if that makes any sense - air pocket just behind the teeth, the tone was weak an really thin. When I relaxed I noticed the air "balloon" for want of a better analogy, had moved to the back of my mouth and my tone was back, the free blowing was back, the ears stopped bleeding, and I relaxed into some really nice ballads. What do you think?

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Ted

rowuk

I think it is time for you to learn a foreign language where the tongue is perhaps a bit lower in the mouth. American english perhaps...........

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Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

omelet

The position of tongue changes pressure in the mouth given a constant pressure applied by pushing air from the lungs, but that too is variable. Position of the tongue also effectively changes the oral cavity volume and does change the timbre of the sound produced. This can be demonstrated by varying pressure in the lungs with a dropped tongue versus a raised tongue. The sound is different. Generally, the more volume in your mouth, the more 'dark', the less, the more 'bright'.

tedh1951

Now there's a thought - I'll let that run around in the old bonce for awhile, and see where is settles.

American English - such a distortion of the English of one's Queen - oh I forgot, you blokes and sheilas don't have a monarch do you?

Seriously though, I recently listened to a Boeing video that used an expression (in and American accent) "at this time". What is wrong with a tried and tested word like "now"? Surely it means the same thing, and allows more time for trumpetting? American English, naahhh, you blokes can have it, but thanks all the same for the offer.

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Ted