The following is a recent email exchange between Jill K. Brown and me.
Hi
Valerie,
Thought
I would check in to let you know how BE is going for me. I've been at
it since January and had a 5-day recording session at the beginning
of July. Normally, on an extended recording session like that, I am
constantly conserving my lip, hoping and praying that my endurance
will hold out. The stress of pacing myself while needing to be able
to really PLAY when needed has always been exhausting (both
physically and mentally). Well after 5 months of BE, I was able to
get to day 5 without sweating it. Don't get me wrong, there were
still some moments of gauging how many more takes vs. how long my
chops will last, but on Day 5, they pulled out some overdubs with
high B's in them. I was a nervous wreck (old habits die hard), but
was shocked that the Bs were there, over and over. At least 6 takes
on a lick that normally would have had me using your Comfy Horn Strap
as a sweat towel : ) I can only say that it had to be the BE that
gave me the endurance (and confidence)! My section mate was using a
descant and even remarked at how well I was holding up with my
double.
My
next question is how to turn what I call 'circus tricks' into
everyday playing. I can squeal up to the F above High C now and can
crawl down to the A below Double Pedal C. Unbelievable to me,
honestly. But if I practice high stuff in etudes, I find that I must
reset to the Rolled-In set up or else revert to my old ways of using
pressure. How do I get to a place where I can roll in smoothly as I
ascend? My lower lip is pretty fleshy, so it's quite a distance I
must roll in for, say, RI #3 (my preferred RI exercise).
Thanks
for any suggestions.
Jill
-------------------
Jill,
this is wonderful news, indeed! Congrats! This is what we all hope
for when we start BE.
About
your questions, all it takes is time to develop. I think I needed about 18 months to get to the point that playing high for a good long
time felt so natural that I no longer obsessed over my chops. Of
course, I was a much less experienced horn player than you at the
time, so you will likely get to that point sooner than I did. Jeff
Smiley says we're not supposed to think about BE when we perform, but
that's kinda like telling people not to think about little brown
monkeys. It's almost impossible for someone new to BE.
About
resetting vs not resetting: as long as you're getting the job done
with nice tone, good phrasing, etc., what does it matter how you did
it? Hah! Getting it done is what counts. But, I think I had studied
BE for three years before I made a serious attempt to learn to
traverse all the ranges with a unified embouchure setting. I wanted my "continue flex", rolling in and out, to be more subtle & "inside the mouthpiece" so to speak. I took my cues from Steve Park who plays all the ranges with a quite rolled-in setting. I wanted to see if that would work for me. I learned it over a
six week period using 3 octave arpeggios that started on fundamental
F with both lips inside the mouthpiece, ascended to staff top F then went back down to the lowest F using a rolled-inish embouchure throughout. (Each "lap"
started one half step higher until high D was the highest pitch.) But
I have never needed to use this skill in actual playing. Doing it,
however, did bring improvements in my overall flexibility and confidence. This rolled-inish embouchure setting doesn't work for everyone. Some people (like Lou Denaro) prefer using a more rolled out setting though out the registers. Everyone is different, but BE will give you the tools you need to discover what will work best for you.
Does
that help?
--------------------
Thanks
for your reply, and yes! that does help. I tend to lean towards being
an overachiever in life, so knowing a generic time frame of "keep
doing what you're doing" is helpful. My goal is to eventually be
able to gradually roll in as I ascend (rolling out while descending
is so much easier!) until I can smoothly get my fat lower lip neatly
tucked in without resetting. Whenever I scrutinize professional
players' embouchures, most look like a smooth line while playing,
which I can achieve with a completely rolled in lower lip. And for
me, that RI setting produces powerful and clear notes above Bb, so I
am definitely motivated.
Jill
K. Brown
The Balanced Embouchure Book with CD is $45.00.
The BE for French Horn booklet and/or PDF of horn adaptations is $3.00 (with book purchase).Shipping & handling is $5.50 to $25.00 depending on location. (The quoted prices are in US dollars.)
Those who purchase The Balanced Embouchure with a
Comfy Horn Strap, receive a $5.00 discount (as well as break on shipping).
To Order:
Step 1. Email me: ValerieW78 “at” Gmail “dot” com. Please tell me what instrument you play and the country you live in.
Step 2. I send you an invoice with payment options (credit card, PayPal, check or money order).
Step 3. You pay the invoice.
Step 4. I ship your BE book.
Happy horn playing!
Valerie Wells
