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Links from Diego Calvo

Posted by Mr. H on Nov 19, 2009 - 02:11 AM  •  Filed under: news  •  2152 reads

YouTube has some very interesting videos and can be very useful in learning how to play your instrument better. Diego Calvo has found a few links on Trombone playing that he would like to share with you. Read the rest of the story to see them. enjoy!

In this video a man demonstrated multi-phonics through singing, but also worked in beat boxing to a trombone piece. This was done by making an almost “gulping” sort of noise with his throat, and articulating with his teeth.

Multiphonics Part VI – How to do… (6:54)

In this video a man taught how to do multi-phonics, which was by singing a note into your mouthpiece, at the same time you are buzzing another note. It is much easier to sing above the note you’re buzzing, rather than a lower note.

Stars & Stripes – Trombone (1:45)

This video showed me that with a well-lubricated slide, a trombone can play just as a fast as a piccolo. It also introduced me to the lip trill.

Alan Raph / trombone tips / double (& triple) tonguing (3:37)

Alan Raph taught how to double tongue, using one of three syllable pairs to say; ta-ka, da-ga, or da-dle. He also showed triple tonguing, which is ta-ta-kya, da-da-ga, or da-dle-da.

Alan Raph / trombone tips / high notes (2:11)

In this video, Alan Raph showed me how a trombone can sound like Danielle.  One important lesson I learned was that when you’re playing with super-high notes that you can only hit once in a while, you should not hold them. This will actually reduce your lip endurance, and lead to long-term embouchure problems.

Alan Raph / trombone tips / very low notes (4:36)

Here, Raph demonstrated the lower range of the trombone, and showed me something I didn’t know before. When you want to play low notes loud, you have to use a “raised embouchure.” This is where you literally lift your mouthpiece (along with the rest of your horn) up so that the bottom rim of the mouthpiece is digging into your lower lip, and let your upper lip flap more.

This video went over the basics of tonguing, the “do” sound, but it also went over the bad habits that you should look for. These include movement of the lips and chin, which indicate you’re articulating with your lips, or movement of the chest, which indicates that you’re articulating with your air. A good way to identify that you’re doing this is to practice in front of a mirror.
 
This video taught the different hypothesis of proper air stream direction made by notable brass players. One trombonist, Donald Reinhardt, claimed that a successful embouchure is either an “upstream” or a “downstream;” one in which either the upper or lower lip is more inside the mouthpiece than the other. An equally notable horn player, Philip Farkas, published a text on the opposite theory: that the lips must be placed as close to “half and half” in the mouthpiece as possible. Later on, Farkas contradicted himself, agreeing with Reinhardt.

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