Seismic Shifts and other facial eruptions

[Tim Jackson]

Seismic shifts and other facial eruptions

Some ideas & views I’ve had in my head for a while and figure I’ll try and verbalize them.

Shifts seem to be a widely accepted activity used to transition through the ranges on brass instruments. It is an interesting subject and probably has someplace in almost everyone’s closet of so-called “tricks of the trade”. I noticed my use of shifts early in my college playing while trying to manage extreme ranges demanded in the solo repertoire I had an interest in. I found an embouchure that allowed very relaxed and flexible playing the upper ranges up to an E or F above the staff (later even finding an embouchure that allowed another octave above that) Problem was this was not my midrange setting used since the beginning of my tuba playing. At the same time, I found the mysterious pedal range, and of course, that added a third embouchure. Now the journey starts… learn to deal with and hide the shifts – sadly, for some of us, years of fussing around/working around this mess.

As I continued my development, the ugly “shift beast” only reared its head as a problem on rare occasions, and it seemed like I was always able to hide my weak little habit.
Sometime later in life, I remember hearing a passage I had recorded in the studio on playback and @#$J%*B&*%$ I heard two tones. The tone on each side of the shift was different. Something no one would hear or notice in an ensemble setting or even in chamber or solo playing, but it was there and to me, it was something that I did not want in my playing. Of course, for all you shifters out there, there is always the problem of moving through that nasty little shift – and sometimes in very important passages.
So, for the last half of my playing life, I’ve tried to correct all the dumb little habits I thought were the “secrets of the trade” I spent the first years of my playing trying to develop.

An interesting correlation. The shifts on a major fault line – the longer the time period between shifts the more pronounced the event is. On a brass player's face/embouchure a shift usually results when moving through a range of notes without gradually adjusting then, at some point, shifting into another setting for the next range of pitches. The player with no mega shifts gradually adjusts with each stepwise motion up or down throughout the entire range. The gradual shifts are so minor they are not noticeable or create any significant problem. No measure on the “Richter Scale”. The shifting player, however, with one or two major shifts in the range, has a huge seismic event in the embouchure at the point of the shift. A real problem and a high number on the “Richter Scale”. Not really a problem unless you really want to totally master the instrument and perfect your game/approach. I would think most players would love to get rid of this technique if possible. I saw a note on a post here years ago saying “if one would spend as much time avoiding shifts as they do perfecting a shift, the shift could be eliminated.

Using the mirror (ala Chester Schmitz) helped me greatly and I spend most of my practice these days working to smooth out my approach over the entire range. A six-octave range can be mastered without shifts. Six octaves? That’s another subject but all is possible if you research and persevere.

So… a note for young players: the best way is the correct way, or maybe more easily understood – a smooth flowing embouchure across the entire range with very little jerks or shifts. There are no shortcuts as most crutches/bad habits are paid for down the road. For those that really want to master brass playing, find a good teacher and work on perfecting your approach. Just like a great golfer works on his swing! Much easier to get on track when you’re young as lifelong habits are HARD TO BREAK!
Just sayin’

TJ

[Mary Ann]

Have you heard of the Balanced Embouchure development system? It was designed by a trumpet guy but does exactly what you're talking about, allowing you to learn how to go through the whole range and learn to have the changes between settings very smooth. The extremes are lips rolled in for high and rolled out for low, and the system consists of a set of exercises teaching you to do both as far towards the ends as you can. Many pros (I'm only familiar with the horn players) have found it to be of great benefit but had to work on it for sometimes a few years. I found I was pretty much doing it anyway on tuba and never have been able to roll in on a horn mouthpiece because I just don't have enough room. I think many tuba players utilize those differences in lip position. One local horn playing amateur friend here, who has quite the range, showed me what he did to play high (which I've always had problems with on horn) and yup, he was rolling in. He said he got it from the Farkas description of which muscles to use. I'm not that smart to have figured that out from what Farkas said.

[TubātōTubŏtō]

Thanks for this. That was really thoughtful, and it’s definitely getting filed in the free wisdom section of my brain.