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Thread: BREAKTHROUGH!!! (I have finally broken the embouchure code.)

  1. #1

    BREAKTHROUGH!!! (I have finally broken the embouchure code.)

    <!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]-->&lt;!-- /* Font Definitions */@font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 16777216 0;} /* Style Definitions */p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}@page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;}div.Section1 {page:Section1;}--><!--[if gte mso 10]> /* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}<![endif]--> <!--StartFragment-->

    (In light of the seemingly outrageous title of this thread, I would like to introduce myself before I get to work so's y'all know that I am not some sensationalistic faker selling a get rich quick/get high quick/get good quick can of dreams. My name is Sam Burtis and I have been a successful first call New York City lower brass player since the late '60s, specializing in American styles of music. [Jazz and latin music primarily, although when civilians ask me what kind of music I play I most often answer ""Any kind that they will pay me for."] I was originally a tuba player and have continued to play tuba and euphonium as well as all shapes and sizes of trombone in my professional life. I have written two very well received books on my approach to trombone playing and brass in general, The American Trombone and Time, Balance And Connections-A Universal Theory Of Brass Relativity (Trombone Edition). [The second one is soon to appear in valved instrument/treble and bass clef editions.] I studied extensively with Carmine Caruso and under the name of "Sabutin" I have been writing about brass on the web for well over 10 years. In point of fact, I considered titling my first book Double High C in 37 Years but I was afraid not enough people would get the joke. No instant chop schemes here...just a breakthrough that I really want to both share and develop with input from others. Read on.)



    ==============================================



    OK...hot off the press, hot out of the practice room/laboratory on this matter.



    Those of you who have had lessons w/me or attended one of my clinics know that I deal with the idea of hearing, identifying, isolating and controlling "formants"...the overtones that are more (or less) emphasized above a brass player's sound...as a way to practice long tones. I have been studying and practicing vocal techniques for isolating those formants above my voice for many years. Check out David Hykes and the Harmonic Choir for more on this idea. There are other approaches, other techniques that are used to do this vocally but I took a lesson w/David Hykes 20+ years ago and have used his approach to do certain meditational exercises on a regular basis ever since that time.



    However, this is a brass site, so I will limit my comments here to what I have found recently...over the last several weeks, actually...regarding the use of this idea coupled with freebuzzing to essentially "break the embouchure code". I use that term advisedly, by the way. On the evidence of what has happening with my chop over the last few weeks I believe that I have indeed found the Rosetta Stone that unlocks the secret of relatively effortless brass playing through any and all reachable octaves.



    Up or down. Or anywhere in-between.



    Outrageous?



    Keep reading.



    Let me begin by saying this:



    The mainstream use of vowels...as in "A E I O U", as they have been taught by any number of brass teachers...is too unfocused and too artificial to be of much use to a brass player who wants to be able to play in a truly expressive manner.



    When are you going to use a particular vowel sound?



    Where does one vowel sound end and another begin? Long A? Short A? Which long or short A? French, German, English, Japanese, Fiji Island, North Carolina, Manchester England, Maine? Ridiculous on the face of it. On which note of which phrase of which melody or accompanying harmonic pad? If that's the way you that are going to approach this idea...which is simplistic beyond belief, actually...then you are much, much better off with the Arnold Jacobs "Song and Wind" idea. If you are musically gifted, play the horn well and understand the idiom in which you are playing, then the proper vowel sounds will automatically happen as you play a given phrase of music. See the vid of <!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]-->&lt;!-- /* Font Definitions */@font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 16777216 0;} /* Style Definitions */p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}@page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;}div.Section1 {page:Section1;}--><!--[if gte mso 10]> /* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}<![endif]--> this Clark Terry clinic for a fine illustration of how a real artist approaches this idea in a musical sense.



    <!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]-->&lt;!-- /* Font Definitions */@font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 16777216 0;} /* Style Definitions */p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}@page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;}div.Section1 {page:Section1;}--><!--[if gte mso 10]> /* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}<![endif]--> <!--StartFragment-->However on a purely physical level I have found that combining the study of my own vocal breaks...head, chest, mixed range etc. in the bel canto sense of the terms...with an experiential knowledge of:



    1- How to isolate overtones vocally through about 16 partials using the David Hykes approach.

    2- How to identify the overtones that make a given brass instrument sound &ldquo;good&rdquo; according to my own definitions of that word.

    and

    3- Freebuzzing techniques and the application of those techniques directly to playing the horn without large or unacceptable compromises between the two.



    has provided an unexpected breakthrough in my whole embouchure study.



    Long story short? (Remember...I am only a couple of weeks into this idea.)



    As a way to set up my own inner resonance system...chest, throat, back of tongue, soft palate, the rest of the tongue, jaw position, lips etc...so that when I freebuzz any given note the setting(s) for that note are the most efficient ones that are possible for me to achieve, all I have to do is to sing the note while my lips are in some sort of ready-to-buzz position and isolate the overtones which would be most desirable to me if I was playing the note on the horn. (The 5th and 6th partials, mostly. The 3rd and 5th of the &ldquo;brass&rdquo; chord.)) , then w/out appreciable change of that system transfer said &ldquo;buzz&rdquo; from my vocal cords to lips, then place the m&rsquo;pce on my chops (again w/out serious compromises) and start playing.



    The results have been truly amazing to me. Almost effortless playing and much-improved connections throughout ranges...up down and middle...where previously there had been required much more effort. Physical effort and/or attention effort.



    I have been sneaking up on this idea for several years in terms of freebuzzing, but this seems to have capped it off. In the previous week or so, besides a great deal of practice I played a strenuous two set lead/solo gig w/the Chico O&rsquo;Farrill Band, a three hour rehearsal followed by a two set gig with the Mike Longo Band on the same day (!!!) and two rehearsals with an amplified rhythm section and three horns playing hard parts and long solos for a gig this week. (Mike Longo&rsquo;s &ldquo;Funk Band&rdquo;. Dizzy Gillespie-style funk. Funk with deep harmonic changes. Beautiful stuff.) During all of that time I played my smallest equipment...my gold-plated Shires .500 bore w/a Minick 11C-ish jm&rsquo;pce...and I swear to you it now sounds and feels almost as big as my favorite .525 Shires/Clarke L setup only with about one quarter of the effort that I had to make in the past on the same equipment. Double Bbs, good low range, singing mid-range, good connections (Until fatigue sets in, anyway. ..which has happened much later than has been usual for me.)...the works.



    Now...please...I am not trying to blow my own horn or brag here. After 40 years of trying to learn how to play, it&rsquo;s about damned time that I figured something out.



    And there is much more to learn.



    But there it is.



    Use it if you can.



    Expand upon it if you can...I would love to get some feedback, especially from serious players. You are the ones who can really profit from increased ranges and endurance.



    You know that I&rsquo;ll be on it like white on rice.



    And...have fun.



    I am.



    Later...



    S.



    P.S. For starters, there is an ongoing thread regarding this in a trombonistic sense on my discussion board The Open Horn. Go there for another week's worth of information.

    <!--EndFragment-->

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  2. BREAKTHROUGH!!! (I have finally broken the embouchure code.)

    Hey Sam! Good to see you on the tuba/euphonium forum. I hope you can contribute here as well.
    Ed R.

  3. #3

    BREAKTHROUGH!!! (I have finally broken the embouchure code.)

    This thing just keeps on working.

    At the end of two separate strenuous 3 hour rehearsals with different bands yesterday I had altissimo solo register available on my small bore tenor...strong altissimo solo register, as in blowing acoustically over a 20 piece latin band at full roar and not feeling much (If any!!!) fatigue for a long solo...staying up in the 8th to 16th partial range most of the time. This after playing lead over a strong four trombone section during the entire rehearsal.

    I was happily amazed. I have wanted to be able to do that sort of thing for 30+ years.

    This idea is developing rapidly in a very good way. I will be teaching it as part of my clinic/private lesson approach; the results have been nothing short of astounding for the few players to whom I have communicated it so far, and it is working for me beyond my wildest dreams.

    Get it now, hot off the fire.

    Seriously...those of you who know me know I don't mess around about this stuff.

    Come 'n' get it.

    You be bettah off.

    Bet on it.

    I have the start of one of my drive-by clinic/work tours set up...November 5th in Cabrillo College, just south of San Jose, CA. I am also putting together some things around the same time in Texas...Houston, Austin, maybe the Dallas/North Texas State area as well. As long as I am out on a teaching tour, anywhere else in the U.S. or Canada could be arranged as well. It's all about booking travel, as of now. Get in touch.

    Anybody who is interested or has any ideas get in touch with me either here or at &lt;sabutin@mindspring.com>. Gigs in clubs, teaching, music directing/coaching/performing at schools, clinics put together by individuals...often the best experiences, by the way, all you need to make it work is 10 or 15 interested brass players and a room big enough to accommodate them...whatever sounds good.

    I have a month or two to hustle around looking for stuff, then I should book my flights before the prices go up. In the San Francisco area I can stay at my brother's house and use one of his cars plus I have a similar situation in Houston, so lodging and travel expenses in those areas go down accordingly.

    Think about it.

    Later...

    Sam


  4. #4

    BREAKTHROUGH!!! (I have finally broken the embouchure code.)

    Sam,

    Welcome on board.

    I've been following the threads on Open Horn and TubeNet with interest.

    Though I don't claim to be anything more than an enthusiastic intermediate amateur performer, I've benefitted from many of your posts on Open Horn and TromboneForum.org (BTW, thanks), as well as your book Time, Balance & Connections (which I would heartily commend to the attention of Tuba-Euph forumites).

    I've had a little training in Bel Canto singing and throat singing, so I think I can follow what you're getting at, so I'm starting to experiment with it. Still too early to tell if it's making a difference for me, but I'm definitely interested in pursuing it further.

    Felix.


  5. #5

    BREAKTHROUGH!!! (I have finally broken the embouchure code.)

    I encourage readers to check out the Clark Terry clinic linked above.

    First, he's just a pretty cool jazz trumpet/flugel player. He's always been one of my favorite jazz artists because of the way he plays jazz music, not just jazz-sounding licks.

    But more to the point of this thread, he does a LOT with vocal shapes. His playing is very expressive, and one reason is that he has a wide variety of attacks, releases, and note-body shapes to employ. His vocalizations are one way he gets there.

    I think even folks with no interest in jazz can get something from the clinic. Just listen creatively and notice what his technique does to enhance the end result he is after.

    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  6. #6

    BREAKTHROUGH!!! (I have finally broken the embouchure code.)

    A question for all of you tech heads out there.

    Two questions, really.

    1-How much do you think that it would cost for me to make a well produced 20 or 30 minute-long DVD...and by well produced I mean with very high quality sound and with at least line-level visual and packaging values...that demonstrates this technique? Including say several hundred copies for starters. I do not favor a do-it-yourself effort here; I want it to sound great and look at least passable.

    2-Any recommendations on who might be able to do this kind of work at this level at a reasonable price? In NYC preferably, but if I could save an appreciable amount of money I would be happy to travel to do it and I know how expensive stuff like this can get in the Apple.

    Get back to me, please. I have already started writing a short book on the idea, but I think that an included DVD is a necessity if only to show people how to produce the overtones with their voices and then couple them efficiently on the horn.

    Thanks...

    Sam


  7. #7

    BREAKTHROUGH!!! (I have finally broken the embouchure code.)

    No clue on costs, but these guys can do anything:

    http://www.sonalysts.com/

    I did check into recording a brass band a while back and they were quite reasonable, but this was for sound only and not visual.

    I would highly recommend Discmakers for producing the CD's/DVD's. I have not done DVD's through them which doesn't answer your question, but have done plenty of CD's. I am guessing DVD's would be the same quality (excellent):

    http://www.discmakers.com/authoring/

    I am not 100% sure, but I am guessing the quality would depend more on the person uploading rather than discmakers.... If nothing else, once you have a finished product getting more copies is a piece of cake!

    If you do wind up using Sonalysts, please give me a call and I will take you out to lunch! Lobster roll here we come...


  8. #8

    BREAKTHROUGH!!! (I have finally broken the embouchure code.)

    Hello all...

    I have just posted a short video in two parts on YouTube...Vocal Overtones + Brass Embouchure #1, Pt. 1 at and Vocal Overtones + Brass Embouchure #1, Pt. 2 at ...that contains a quick, minimally produced illustration of this vocal overtones/brass embouchure coupling idea plus a couple of small examples of how to hook that approach up using free buzzing, rim buzzing and m&rsquo;pce buzzing. Please keep in mind that this stuff was done down and dirty on a home video recorder, so the sound of the horn is not very well captured. I am eventually going to produce a professional quality DVD that will be included in a short book about this technique, but until I can get around to that project...and it could be months before I can find sufficient time to do so...this will have to suffice.

    The real sticking point in this approach for most people in my original post had to do with actually producing the overtones and then how to couple them with the horn, and the audio on these vids is certainly good enough to hear the overtones that I am isolating with my voice. Simply use your ears, imitate the singing and vowel changes that you hear me produce and you will soon be able to isolate overtones fairly well. Then...couple the results on your instrument.

    How to find which overtones to isolate that will best couple with the horn sound? Play long tones and listen for the overtones that are being most emphasized above the note that you are playing. Those are the formants. They are easier to hear above relatively lower notes than they are above higher ones simply because they eventually go up past human hearing range. If you cannot find them, simply use your mind and listen for where they should be. The abstract overtone structure above any note is always the same...the 1st overtone (2nd partial...the 1st partial is the note being played) is an octave above the root note, the 2nd overtone is an octave and a perfect fifth higher , the 3rd one is 2 octaves higher, the 4th is 2 octaves and a major third higher, the 6th is 2 octaves and a perfect 5th higher, the 6th is 2 octaves and a minor 7th higher (roughly speaking...remember the physical overtones series is not tempered) , the 7th is 3 octaves higher and then the overtones go up (again...roughly speaking) in a major scale that includes a #5th/b6th in it right on up to the quadruple octave...the 16th partial/15th overtone. If you know where they should be, it's easier to locate them aurally. Use a keyboard to help you lock onto them. They're up there somewhere. Bet on it. When you find them and then successfully couple the singing of them with a note on the horn, there is almost a physical "pop" that I can only describe as being like the tumbler on a lock suddenly falling into place and you will immediately feel a difference in the way you and your horn are interacting.

    A positive difference.

    A new balance.

    Bet on that as well.

    Have fun...

    And...especially french horn players, trumpet players and female players on all horns...please get back to me with what you find, win, lose or draw. I am particularly interested in the possibility that higher notes on the horn...notes than generally cannot be sung by male players...can be coupled with this approach by singing the same pitches in lower octaves and/or singing notes of which the desired note is itself a harmonic. This is a work in progress, and I value your input.

    Thanks...

    Sam

    [Moderator updated to fix URL's]


  9. #9

    BREAKTHROUGH!!! (I have finally broken the embouchure code.)

    Brian Frederickson and I have been discussing this and Sam's posts here and elsewhere the past few months have kind of brought this question around again.

    What is the cost effectiveness of producing CDs and/or DVDs now with the newer and more accessible technologies available (downloading, etc.)?

    In Sam's case, wouldn't the market be a pedagogical one, rather than general public? As such, wouldn't the newer technologies might be more apropos for distribution?

    Just tossing this out for discussion.

    Ken F.

  10. #10

    BREAKTHROUGH!!! (I have finally broken the embouchure code.)

    Originally posted by: knuxie Brian Frederickson and I have been discussing this and Sam's posts here and elsewhere the past few months have kind of brought this question around again. What is the cost effectiveness of producing CDs and/or DVDs now with the newer and more accessible technologies available (downloading, etc.)? In Sam's case, wouldn't the market be a pedagogical one, rather than general public? As such, wouldn't the newer technologies might be more apropos for distribution? Just tossing this out for discussion. Ken F.


    Actually, any DVD that I make on this subject will be included in a sleeve on the inside cover of a relatively short book that I am going to write, one that will cover the actual application of this vocal overtone thing to playing a brass instument in greater detail than is afforded by website posts. Download technologies open up stuff for piracy. So does making a DVD, I suppose...I mean, anyone who wishes to scan a book can "pirate" even hard-bound publications, and the age of intellectual property is rapidly coming to a close as a result.

    But I do keep at least trying to make a living from what I have learned.

    So it goes.

    Sam


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