XtremeEuph wrote:Hello all, thought Id share another one of the problems life has brought me. One of the greatest set backs in my performance is my high range, not just that i can play high....but...well I guess a better way to say it would be lip flexibility and endurance. Ill let you guys decide.....any time I try to play above the Eb above the Bass Clef staff (Euphonium), I get the (or what i think it is) "double buzz" effect. It sounds like I can hear my lips buzzing.....or "brazing'. I have searched and recovered several topics about this but havent found any conclusions.
Any suggestions?
Air seems to help, but not every time. It feels as if my lips are squished together too much... if i try and open the aperture more, I cant reach those notes at all.
Thanks again and Merry Xmas
Kevin
Now, humor me for just a minute.
1. Warm up on the euph. Not hard, but pretty good--similar to your normal warm-up.
2. Find a piano or tuner (that plays the pitch for you).
3. Get a piece of paper and a marker. Draw a circle (as even as you can) on the paper, taking up as much of it as possible. Draw a smaller circle in the center of the paper. Now draw about 12 straight lines in a "spoke" manner coming out from the circle to the bigger circle. (the final result will look like a wagon wheel)
4. Play the first pitch in your range where this occurs on the piano or tuner.
5. Sing the pitch (maybe even have someone listen to you sing it to verify you are on pitch).
6. Play up to the note with either a scale or pick it off if you can.
7. IF, after hearing the pitch, you STILL encounter the "double buzz". Play the pitch and look directly into the center of the wagon wheel. Do not think about your embouchure (this won't help you), but focus on the shape of the wheel itself.
I've asked you to do several things here. We are making sure you are hearing the pitches correctly, making sure you can comprehend if you are hitting that pitch (with the vocal check), and also making sure that you are not making a pinching embouchure in the mouthpiece using Graveli Entrained Visualization. The wagon wheel is not an embouchure you are trying to emulate, but the open tunnel shape it creates is a mental map towards playing without vertical pinching in the center of your embouchure. If any one of the concepts help, just remember that it won't immediately apply to your entire range, that you will have to work it into other notes and ranges.
All of this is under the assumption that you are preparing yourself physically and mentally with a practice regime fit enough to accomodate the range you are trying to achieve.
If this continues to frustrate you, seek real advice, not the TUBENET loony bin.
haha