“Embouchure: noun
Music:
the way in which a player applies the lips to the mouthpiece of a brass or wind
instrument.”
So
the dictionary states! However, lips alone are useless without air to generate
a vibration, but how that air meets and passes through the lips has almost
infinite possibilities. The calibration between the lips and air is almost a
spiritual thing; it’s a matter of thought and result. It’s our human nature to
analyze but for the embouchure, analyses will never be sufficient. Second only
to breathing, there is a sad history of lasting problems caused by embouchure
hyper analyzation. Let’s just say embouchure, in the modern meaning, is
the air meeting the lips, and the way that that air meets the lips. Embouchure
then, is a verb!
The
embouchure is an active thing, it is in constant flux as we change registers
and dynamics, and as we play music, the aperture, air pressure and flow rate
(cubic liters per minute) are all in perpetual adjustment. Similarly, we can
analyze speech in the same way, the movement of air meeting the larynx,
creating the vibration and the subsequent manipulation of our tongue and oral
cavity to create vowels and consonants. Still, our analyses will not
help us to speak better, not to mention successfully reading Shakespeare.
The
lips and the air movement are a collective and active function in brass playing
that cannot be separated. It’s very similar to a hose with a nozzle; adjusting
the nozzle itself is useless without also adjusting the water pressure. If we
want to make a 3 meter arch of water that is smooth and non-turbulent, not a
spray, not a dribble, we must adjust the nozzle, AND the water pressure until
we get the 3-meter non-turbulent spout that we want. If we want to change to a
5-meter spout we have to recalibrate both the nozzle and the water pressure.
It’s quite the same making a tone on a brass instrument except the adjustment
is constant and fluid. The mix between our lip tension and air volume is what determines
the tone quality, dynamic and register. Further, how quickly the water reaches,
how fast the water is turned on and its impact with the nozzle would correlate
to articulation.
That’s
a lot to think about, in fact, it would be impossible to keep all those aspects
of delivering air to the lips in our consciousness as we play. Imagine, for
example, carrying an extremely full bowl of water across a room and not
spilling a drop; how can you do this?
(Please See "WATERSLOSH" on rogerbobo.com) You can say to yourself “I’m going
to keep my wrist and arm rigid so that there won’t be any spilling; I going to
walk slowly and if I see the water is going to spill to the left I will tilt
the cup to the right to compensate and visa versa: This would probably leave many
wet spots on the floor. Or you can just walk carefully using your instincts.
You will probably spill no water at all.
It’s
very much the same while playing: You can take a breath, tighten your lips to
exactly the correct tension, tongue it exactly in the right place, use exactly
the right amount of air, and if you are out of tune you can lip the note up or
down, this will probably leave a lot of missed notes on the way! Or you can use
your ears as a reference and play instinctively. Most likely you will play
well!
And
once again we arrive at the same conclusion; chronic analyzing gets in the way.
Listening is the only way to control these micro adjustments that are necessary
for a fluid embouchure.
In
all aspects of brass playing as we develop our playing tool chest, it’s our ears
that determine the final adjustments and the final results.
February 8, 2007, Tokyo,
Japan
Revised June 23, 2012,
Tokyo, Japan
