Posted by John Hardisky on February 17, 2002 at 17:27:56:
In Reply to: Low end on a Rudy Meinl CC posted by Kurt on February 17, 2002 at 00:53:30:
I play a Rudy 5/4 CC and used to have problems with the low end. I switched to a Perantucci 88. I used to play on a helleberg style mouthpiece, but the switch to something with more rim and a deep cup did the trick. Like Jay mentioned, the hellebergs just don't work right with Rudys. I also tried the belt thing that Sam does. I felt that it made some difference in the sound, but after much ridicule from the trombone section of my orchestra, I removed it. Another thing that Jay mentioned was the embichure(sp) thing. It's not easy to keep the same embichure throughout on rudys. I learned an exercise from Sam Pilafian that helped my low register even more. You'll start on the pedal of any valve combination, for example: Pedal Db. 12345. Keeping the valves down, slur up the harmonic series, to the Ab, then the Db, etc. I take this up to 2 octaves and a fifth from the fundamental. (You don't need to go this high). Slur down the harmonic series next. Then repeat this with every valve combination up one half step, until you get to open C. (Not pedal C). Playing Snedecor's low etudes will also open up your register, provided you breath well. Good luck! This may be a struggle, but it's well worth it, as rudys are wonderful horns!
John