Posted by Steve Dedman on December 21, 2000 at 00:49:47:
In Reply to: Keeping tone consistent posted by Ian Easton on December 19, 2000 at 23:13:47:
This concept was first presented to me in college, when I studied with a trombone teacher in lieu of a recently departed (due to a labor issue) tuba teacher. While it seemed to work well at the time, I can say now looking back that it was a detriment to my playing. It eventually becomes a crutch to back off on the air, squeeze out the high notes, and generally develop a crummy sound over time.
I'm well into the process of getting over that now, but it's still going to take awhile.
I think that it has a different effect on trumpet and trombone due to the nature of the shape of the instrument. The sounds produced by the cylindrical bores of those instruments don't seem to be as susceptible to very minute changes in the oral cavity. IOW, a little change may not make a huge difference on a trombone, but that same change could completely alter the tone color on a tuba, euph or horn.
BTW Neil, great advice about throwing the ball!
Steve