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I've found that area to be my worst range as well. I can go real high and what not, and can go down below the pedals without problem, but its that nasty area just above pedal C thats a killer. i found that alot of the Brass Gym stuff really focuses on that area. Also I think that the bordogni two octaves down is probably just giving you some pedal work which I've found doesn't really help the 'hard' low range.

Sounds like you're doing what you can for the most part. The Bordogni and Snedecor stuff is great. You could also take a look at the Wes Jacobs low register studies book as well.

Have you considered that the 7B you're playing on is a little on the small side for what you want to do? Something more middle of the road might work better. Maybe a PT48, or something of the like, would get you closer to what you want?

Just my $.02, Good luck!

if you want something to beat up your low register til it sounds like you want it to, I'd suggest the Phil Teele advanced embouchure studies for bass trombone. It is available from Ferguson's music. Change it up to fit more with the tuba range, but it will do the same thing for you. I have just started working with it and have found it has changed my outlook at that register you are talking about.

his words (not verbatim) are that once you've used this book for a year, you will understand your embouchure. I also was looking for something to add to the snedecor, and found this. It is not a book of etudes, its a book of routine workouts for the embouchure.

Don't get disheartened if you get it and almost pass out the first day. It is.. intense.. to say the least.

Grab a tuner and a Trombone Rochut book. Play it down 2 octaves as loud as possible while focusing primarily on beauty of sound and singing phrases of music. But loud. Like, I am getting dizzy from hyperventilating loud. It won't be all that pretty at first, but keep at it. Keep the volume into the ridiculous.

Do that for 20-30 minutes each day.

Check back in about 2 months.

Yep; everything Sean said, plus do Rochuts in octaves with good bass trombonist. He'll make you work without you even realizing it, and the progress comes twice as fast.

...do Rochuts in octaves with good bass trombonist. He'll make you work without you even realizing it, and the progress comes twice as fast.

Great advice. I did this in the spring with a very good bass trombonist. In the course of a couple months, we went through the first Blazhevich book; him at pitch and me 8vb. Progress like none other. Always keep the musical intent foremost in your mind.

While I seek to challenge myself every day in exactly this register, I also keep in mind that it's the range just above this that really pays the bills; I work on this "extreme" range specifically to solidify the real "cash" register. It sounds like you're doing a lot in this area already; I'd be diligent but not too worried about it. Cheers.

I am having the same problem right now, and working on Ride of the Valkuries and Das Reingold (spelling?) is quite frustrating. I wouldnt focus so much on the equipment to help solve the problem. What it sounds like is to just focus on a clear TOH articulation with a large oral cavity and lots and lots of warm air. A great excersice that I have been neglecting is the Arban interval excersices slow with an eighth note pulse and as loud and crisp as you can make every note. If you dont have the Arban you might want to invest in one or get a photocopy from a freind who has one or here is a brief explination, start on Sol (lets say low F), next note, up a fourth to Do(Bb) back down to Sol(F) Re(C) Sol(F) Mi(D) and so on up and down the major scale. You know your doing it right if you feel you are going to pass out.

range is a trick - a gimmick - it's not hard. Look at the physics. As Alan Baer would say, you need to get INTO the mouthpiece. Push that lower lip into the mouthpiece and pucker the upper lip out so that you are on SOFT tissue on both lips. You will find that low range playing is quite easy this way. Your air stream should be going forward and only move to slightly up as you get below the Pedal C.

I presume that the upper lip is doing the vibrating? If not, then that is your problem and it will produce a nasty sound no matter how much you work at it. You can check this by buzzing air at you hand. If you have to raise your hand above the embouchure when buzzing a mid range note, then the lower lip is vibrating against the upper and needs to be reversed.

Also - get rid of any facial hair that you might have around the embouchure - no mustaches or other funky stuff - it takes up room inside the mouthpiece. It will inhibit the upper lip from being able to vibrate on a wider arc which it will need to do for slow vibration - i.e. low range.

Realize that the lower lip controls the speed of the upper lip's movement. If the lower lip is set soft then the upper lip HAS to vibrate slowly. If the lower lip is firm then the upper lip has to vibrate fast. The upper lip is the worker, but the lower lip is the BOSS. The upper lip can only do what the lower lip ALLOWS it to do.

Okay, I'm done now.

Oh, and get a bigger damn mouthpiece and work to get your sound on it. The 7B while do-able, is not really conducive to ease of play in the low register.

Roger

Play the Bach Cello suites (1 - 5 ::: 6 uses tenor clef) down an octave. That's an excellent low and mid-low exerciser.

Gene Pokorny makes a good point, to add onto the other great ideas.

You need an overlap range. The embouchure for pedal tones and "regular" low range has to be different, but if you have a several note overlap (at least a 3rd, but I think Gene's is about an octave!) where you can play the same pitch with either embouchure you will have that much easier a time shifting between the two.

As if it ain't complicated enough...

Open a hymnal, any page will do. Play the bass line you see down an octave, 2 octaves whenever possible. Do a hymn a day until you burn through the book.

Advantages: the hymns aren't very long so you can get through one without passing out. Even the most challenging of the hymns aren't terribly difficult. There are a bazillion of them, so you don't see the same thing day after day.

Not having to think much about rhythm or tempo and simply focus on the sound is a great way of getting your low register really cooking. Once you get it sounding like you want it, move on to things where rhythm and tempo are important.

Also...agree that 7B is too small for most people to really get that big meaty low end. You asked if your upper range would suffer from a bigger mouthpiece. Don't worry about it. You will do a far higher % of playing in the low register than in the high register. If you need to use your pea-shooter for a high piece, use it. Moses didn't come down from the mountain sayin' "Thou Shalt Use One Mouthpiece Exclusively For All Applications."

What Roger and Sean said above --- along with the Bach Cello Suites, and some other goodies like that. If you can get down there on the Bach, and REALLY be convincing to yourself and perhaps a good critical audience, you're also REALLY cutting into problems and pitfalls in that register. Pick something as delicate as the Bach and really squeeze the music out of it in that low register -- probably an octave below written -- and the development down there might be astounding.