Re: Brass instruments
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Re: Brass instruments
What kind of embouchure problems are you talking about? no doubt it has to do with the lip muscles - but it should be possible for most people to adapt their own embouchure style - there's no single style which should work for everyone - though there are some general guidelines.
Phil Farkas has made some embouchure studies among (mostly) American hornplayers. And it shows a wide variety of different embouchures - though there are some common features.
What kind of embouchure problems are you talking about? no doubt it has to do with the lip muscles - but it should be possible for most people to adapt their own embouchure style - there's no single style which should work for everyone - though there are some general guidelines.
Phil Farkas has made some embouchure studies among (mostly) American hornplayers. And it shows a wide variety of different embouchures - though there are some common features.
theMusicMan
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Re: Brass instruments
Here's an extract of a post I made on a synth forum where the owner was asking for information on playing real world instruments and how he could achieve the desired effects through synth programming techniques. A lot of this is quite relevant to you and your students.
Here's my £0.02 worth of thoughts...
With regard to brass 'sound production' as compared to flute or reed... with the flute it's the effect of the air travelling across the top of the flute that produces the sound, with reed instruments it's the actual reed that vibrates but with brass instruments, it's the players lips that actually vibrate inside the mouthpiece that produces the sound. The bigger the mouthpiece/instrument means that more of the players 'lip' is inside the mouthpiece and hence the vibration inside the mouthpiece is slower and hence the sound produced is (generally) lower in pitch. The area of the lip/mouth used to produce the sound is as you know, called the embouchure.
Now, here's the bit I'm not sure how you would set your WX5 to deal with. Though I am not a flute player, I imagine that only very little pressure is applied from under the lower lip which holds the flute in position leaving the sound to be controlled by parameters such as volume of air flow and speed of air flow across the flute etc. With reed there is pressure exerted by the bottom lip which if excessive would simply halt the sound - so control of sound is achieved by controlling that pressure exerted and passing more or less air though the instrument. With brass, it's the top and bottom lips that vibrate producing the sound. Pressure of the lips on the mouthpiece needs control (a) stop prevent air leakage from around the sides of the mouthpiece and (b) as in the case of the reed to control the quality of the sound produced. Tone quality is controlled in the main by ones embouchure i.e. the shape and control of the muscles in the lip that produce the sound - also, the size of the hole the air passes through has a massive impact on the 'roundness' and 'richness' of the sound - which in turn means even finer control of the lip muscles is required because as the 'hole' gets slightly larger, then less of the lip is within the mouthpiece and so fewer muscles vibrate to produce the sound... phewww... I haven't read through this just yet, I hope this still sounds OK.. icon_razz.gif
Also, what of the analogy that all brass players experience... their lips 'going' ? Can I explain what this is for those here who are not brass. "My lip has gone" is a very common expression amongst brass players. It is when the muscles of the embouchure that vibrate inside the mouthpiece are so tired and can no longer be controlled or tightened and hence no sound can be produced. The closest analogy I can think of is... try holding a brick in your hand at arms length outwards from your body. Eventually your arm will tire and even with all your strength, your arm will slowly drop down to your side - no matter how much you try! After say a few mins respite, you can achieve this again, but you will not be able to hold your arm out for as long as you did 1st time and once again your arm will slowly drop to your side. Again, after a few moments you can hold your arm out once again, but within an even shorter time your arm will be right back by your side. It's the same for the brass players lips! Stamina is achieved by specific practice exercises and perseverance. How Sharp, could the WX5 measure the slow loss of strength a players lip as he/she progresses through a performance? In a lot of cases (especially amateur brass players such as myself where we don't HAVE to ensure stamina is maintained - it's just a hobby ;D) this effects the quality of the sound produced.
I hope this little essay helps in some small way ;D though something tells me you're aware of all this anyhows.... ;D
Let me know if you or anyone else here wants more and I'll gladly oblige.
Here's an extract of a post I made on a synth forum where the owner was asking for information on playing real world instruments and how he could achieve the desired effects through synth programming techniques. A lot of this is quite relevant to you and your students.
Here's my £0.02 worth of thoughts...
With regard to brass 'sound production' as compared to flute or reed... with the flute it's the effect of the air travelling across the top of the flute that produces the sound, with reed instruments it's the actual reed that vibrates but with brass instruments, it's the players lips that actually vibrate inside the mouthpiece that produces the sound. The bigger the mouthpiece/instrument means that more of the players 'lip' is inside the mouthpiece and hence the vibration inside the mouthpiece is slower and hence the sound produced is (generally) lower in pitch. The area of the lip/mouth used to produce the sound is as you know, called the embouchure.
Now, here's the bit I'm not sure how you would set your WX5 to deal with. Though I am not a flute player, I imagine that only very little pressure is applied from under the lower lip which holds the flute in position leaving the sound to be controlled by parameters such as volume of air flow and speed of air flow across the flute etc. With reed there is pressure exerted by the bottom lip which if excessive would simply halt the sound - so control of sound is achieved by controlling that pressure exerted and passing more or less air though the instrument. With brass, it's the top and bottom lips that vibrate producing the sound. Pressure of the lips on the mouthpiece needs control (a) stop prevent air leakage from around the sides of the mouthpiece and (b) as in the case of the reed to control the quality of the sound produced. Tone quality is controlled in the main by ones embouchure i.e. the shape and control of the muscles in the lip that produce the sound - also, the size of the hole the air passes through has a massive impact on the 'roundness' and 'richness' of the sound - which in turn means even finer control of the lip muscles is required because as the 'hole' gets slightly larger, then less of the lip is within the mouthpiece and so fewer muscles vibrate to produce the sound... phewww... I haven't read through this just yet, I hope this still sounds OK.. icon_razz.gif
Also, what of the analogy that all brass players experience... their lips 'going' ? Can I explain what this is for those here who are not brass. "My lip has gone" is a very common expression amongst brass players. It is when the muscles of the embouchure that vibrate inside the mouthpiece are so tired and can no longer be controlled or tightened and hence no sound can be produced. The closest analogy I can think of is... try holding a brick in your hand at arms length outwards from your body. Eventually your arm will tire and even with all your strength, your arm will slowly drop down to your side - no matter how much you try! After say a few mins respite, you can achieve this again, but you will not be able to hold your arm out for as long as you did 1st time and once again your arm will slowly drop to your side. Again, after a few moments you can hold your arm out once again, but within an even shorter time your arm will be right back by your side. It's the same for the brass players lips! Stamina is achieved by specific practice exercises and perseverance. How Sharp, could the WX5 measure the slow loss of strength a players lip as he/she progresses through a performance? In a lot of cases (especially amateur brass players such as myself where we don't HAVE to ensure stamina is maintained - it's just a hobby ;D) this effects the quality of the sound produced.
I hope this little essay helps in some small way ;D though something tells me you're aware of all this anyhows.... ;D
Let me know if you or anyone else here wants more and I'll gladly oblige.