An Embouchure Question


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Posted by Joe Baker on December 17, 2001 at 22:27:39:

Okay, so I actually get my tuba out and PLAY it maybe 4 or 5 times a year. Okay, so this year it was just once. Okay, so I've got this gig this Sunday....

As many here know, I'm really a trombone player who fantasizes about being good enough at tuba to do something with it. It has never seemed to matter how much or little I practice, I don't get much better if I do, and don't get much worse when I don't. Well, when I got my horn out yesterday and wiped the dust and cobwebs off of it, I found that something terrible has happened to my embouchure. I couldn't make a clean attack to save my life!! It was horrible!! I played long tones, scales, etudes -- tired myself out on tuba for the first time in probably 20 years.

And no improvement. I tried my Bach 7, my Conn Helleberg -- nothing worked!!

Then I tried something unorthodox, and (at least as a short term remedy) it worked. I placed the top of my tuba mouthpiece in the same spot as I normally place the top of my trombone player (I blow down on t-bone, BTW). BANG!! Clean attacks, better tone, better intonation. What's more, my aperture is apparently smaller, and I can go for longer on a breath with (according to my recordings) the same volume. My low range (BBb down to FF)is also finally coming out! The only down-side seems to be that it is more work at the corners, but not so much that I can't handle it.

My question: have any of you teachers ever encountered someone who made long-term use of such a setup? Does it seem like a disaster waiting to happen? Any comments from anyone are welcomed (except that I should practice more often if I'm going to take a gig - I know that now!)

Joe Baker, who is relieved to have some hope of maintaining his reputation.


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