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You might want to look up information on Dijeridoos (sp?). They are generally played using circular breathing, and I have seen texts on how to do it on some sites associated with them. I have a book somewhere that gives exercises to help learn circular breathing. If I can find it I could provide a little more information.

I seem to remember that the basic concept is to use the air in your cheeks to play while breathing in through your nose. The trick is to learn to inhale through the nose while pushing air out with your cheeks. An exercise I have seen to help learn to do this is to breath out through a straw into water while inhaling through your nose. In order to do this you will have to fill up your cheeks with air and close off your windpipe from your mouth. I have never been able to do this no matter what the instrument.

I didn't know, that rotary instruments had their own breathing system.

But by implication there must be a breathing system, or two, more relevant to my low brasses:

Who can tell me about piston breathing?

Or on slide breathing?

I would be most interested!

Klaus

I figured it out while sitting on my butt watching TV late one night (no, really, that's what I was doing when it finally occurred to me!).

You're going to be using two air supplies -- regular, tuba-fuel "lung air", and "mouth air".

Sit there (yes, you can do this in front of your computer), imagine that you've got food in your mouth (very important), and fill it with air -- so much that your cheeks puff out. Now, inhale, and exhale, through your nose a few times.

Congratulations, you just discovered the air supply you'll use to play a note while you breathe through your nose. Just as you can breathe while chewing food, you can breathe while storing a half-fist-sized pocket of air in your mouth.

Learn to squeeze the mouth air through your lips while leaving your normal lung breathing unimpaired.

The trick is switching between the two air supplies. It has to be fast and smooth -- coordination is KEY. You have to inhale quickly enough so that you don't use too much of your mouth air. If you use too much, you can very easily start producing a tightened "eeee" sound.

Didjeridoos (I don't think there's really a correct spelling ) encourage the weird sounds that you can easily get while playing from your mouth air. Woodwind instruments can still mask tonal variations to a much greater degree than brasses, which themselves depend heavily on the vowel-like shape of the oral cavity to get the correct tone color.

During one season of playing euph in concert band in college, I had to carry the phrase by circular breathing (the other euph player was, well, worthless). I also found myself doing a "circular inhale and exhale" while playing in an oboe class because I had to try to get rid of stale air.

Some results from Google-ing the phrase "circular breathing":

http://www.mills.edu/LIFE/CCM/DIDJERIDU ... thing.html

http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Study/ ... thing.html

http://www.didgemusic.com/instruct/circ.html

Listen to the last track on Roland Szentpáli's CD "I Killed My Lips". Two and a half minutes of circular breathing... and, uh, his tone is pretty good.

A Few Names:

Sam Pilafian
Scott Hartman (trombone)
Wynton Marsalis

Sam Pilafian got Scott Hartman into circular breathing when they were in Empire together. Scott used to use circular breathing all the time. It is somewhat distracting, as the ciruclar notes are always a bit softer or less intense than the other notes. Yes it is impressive, but in most cases takes away from the musical line.

Wynton recorded a piece called "Moto Perpetuo" on the album "Carnival." Over four minutes of music in one breath. Very impressive, until I heard that there were over 100 digital edits in this one track

Circular breathing is fairly easy on tuba (in the staff) as the air pressure needed is so low. If your embouchure is efficient, you get more mileage from a short "cheek push" of air.

Lew wrote:An exercise I have seen to help learn to do this is to breath out through a straw into water while inhaling through your nose.

I was using this exercise and thought I was making some progress.
But then I got confused and almost drowned!