[TPIN] Off Center Aperture Questions

[Dave Arndt]

Note that most players play a *little* off center.  And... One question is
"centered with what?"  

Your lips?  Your teeth?  Your jaw?  Most people (and their parts) are not
perfectly symetrical!  When I line up perfectly in the center of my lips, I
notice that I'm a wee bit out of line with my two front teeth, etc.

There are and have been great players that play WAY off center.  Nick
Marchione - a monster lead player/1st trumpet, plays way off center.  He
also appears to play to with great ease.  Roger Voisin, infamous principal
with the BSO for years, played way off center, and VERY downstream also.

While I do believe it is theoretically better to play centered, it's clear
that this isn't a show-stopper given the company you're in.  Changing ones
embouchure is dicey business (I did it years ago with some success, but I
admit that the wisdom of doing so is questionable).  It's hard if you're a
young player - and VERY hard if you've already developed some real
expertise.  Work with what you've got, unless you're very young.

Regarding the lip buzzing:  A lot of very fine teachers/players don't
believe you should attempt to play with the same feel that you lip buzz.
i.e., lip buzzing is an exercise that might do some good, but it's not to be
applied literally.  I *tend* to agree with this perspective - I know there
are folks who can lip buzz double high C's and pull the horn on/off while
maintaining the pitch, etc., but I'm not sure that most great players would
rely on this.  Some pressure seems to be essential to getting (and
maintaining) a big sound - especially up high, of course.

 - da

-----Original Message-----
Is it wrong to play to the side of the upper lip dip?

Will lip buzzing through the middle be limited by the upper lip dip?

Should I adjust my lip buzzing to match how I currently play or adjust my
playing to match how I naturally lip buzz?