Posted by Rick Denney on June 28, 2002 at 15:05:43:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Ultrabreathe posted by Mark on June 28, 2002 at 14:29:13:
Most folks don't realize how closed their airpath is. These devices expose that rapidly, and it seems to me the primary benefit comes from opening up. You can do that with any piece of 3/4" plastic pipe.
But back to MA's question: It's the inhaling muscles I'd most like to develop, because those are the only muscles you routinely use in playing the tuba. You fill up as quickly as possible, and then the air relaxes out of you, moderated in flow by the same muscles that direct inhalation. Only when you are down to the last little bit of air can you squeeze with any effect, and that's not in the music-making zone, it seems to me.
Pat Sheridan once said that people wonder how Bob Stewart breathes. Pat said that he takes breaths often, like all tuba players, but that in takes his breaths really fast.
Athletes in strength or speed sports (e.g. sprinting vs. distance running) develop exposiveness with targeted exercises such as intervals. The idea isn't to move the weight, but to move the weight as quickly as possible while maintaining control. I'd love to be able to inhale explosively. Sometimes I feel like I can see grass grow in the time it takes me to turn the airflow around, inhale, and turn it back around. The longer it takes to get a full breath, the fewer the opportunities to get it.
Rick "with lots of endurance but no speed" Denney