Re: Re: Re: B.E.R.P. for Tuba


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Posted by Joe S. on July 22, 1999 at 00:54:44:

In Reply to: Re: Re: B.E.R.P. for Tuba posted by Santos on July 21, 1999 at 05:07:03:

Sorry I keep forgetting to check the price when at work... I think I did e-mail you privately to say that generally I offer merchandise like this for 25% off "list".

The main point, other than the sale (You can pick up one from me or anyone.) is the fact that I think you could probably make good constructive use of one. I personally think that if the user of a B.E.R.P. is NOT a good sight singer with a good ear, that it is a waste. I really don't buy into claims that it will "help your tone", "improve endurance", blah, blah, blah... I think that, IF you ARE a good sight singer, you can use the B.E.R.P. to do ONE thing: increase the ACCURACY of your embouchure in IMMEDIATELY finding and buzzing the correct frequencies (notes)...With the B.E.R.P., YOU ARE TEACHING YOUR EMBOUCHURE TO DO WHAT YOUR VOICE BOX (hopefully) CAN ALREADY DO - SIGHT SING. The B.E.R.P., of course, takes away the instrument as a note "crutch" and forces the user to generate all of the correct frequencies with the embouchure ONLY and without "leaning" on the instrument. This, I believe, obviously has the potential to improve CLARITY-ACCURACY (and nothing else, really, but that is a lot!) in one's playing(but not "tone", "flexibility","endurance", etc.)

All of the above is the main reason why I believe the user should spend some time tempering the size of the air hole in the B.E.R.P. with a piece of tape - to at least make the RESISTANCE felt similar to that of the instrument which is normally used.

I really believe that claiming that a B.E.R.P. does more than improving note accuracy is somewhat like claiming that exercising one's eyes left to right a lot will help develop "speed reading". Of course, that is absurd. By the same token, how could a B.E.R.P. really help someone "refine" the beauty of their tonal color if no tonal color is produced while using the device? There is no "tonal color" feedback available while using it. I am willing to read, study, and consider the posts of those who disagree, but I believe that refining the tonal color produced by an instrument can only be done while LISTENING to that actual tonal color - an artistic rather than mechanical endeavor. As to flexibility, while using the B.E.R.P., virtually all flexibility problems disappear, because one is not having to overcome the obstacles of jumping smoothly across the instrument's overtone series and air column. Again, I believe that the only effective way to work on flexibility is when it is the most difficult - while blowing through a TUBA, NOT a B.E.R.P.

Any of your thoughts, experiences, disagreements...


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