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Re: Embouchure Fatigue

Author: Max S-D
Date: 2020-01-20 01:56

The answer is a softer reed, in my opinion. If you can't bring yourself to do that, then a more closed mouthpiece with the same reed.

When I went to college, I was playing on a Borbeck 13 and insisted that I could only get "my sound" from a V12 #4. My teacher recognized that "my sound" was just me biting and compensating for my lack of voicing or fine control by using such a hard reed that harshness was almost impossible. Unfortunately, so was clarity, clean articulation or fine dynamic control!

At that point, I was so insistent that I had to play a #4, that he ended up lending me a Hawkins with a very closed tip (~0.95mm) so I could play my "preferred" reed and we could get on with rebuilding my embouchure properly. In hindsight, I can see that I built a huge psychological barrier around "needing" to play a hard reed.

Lately I've been switching around mouthpieces far too much, mostly out of curiosity, but the common thread has been that I just don't want a resistant setup. A resistant setup can trick me into sounding good for a few minutes, but it ends up feeling like I'm trying to drive a Cadillac around Rome.

What I keep coming back to is a Fobes CF with a #3.5. When I was in college, I probably would have thought that felt like a kazoo, but for me now, it's perfect. I don't need to muscle it around and I can play as loudly or softly as I need. I can also play for hours even though I know my face is nowhere near as strong as it was 10 years ago when I was finishing up my degree.

If you're playing a setup that's physically exhausting, you're probably dedicating a lot more physical effort to basic tone production than you need to be. It should definitely be more about fine control than outright strength. Better endurance will come with that.

Post Edited (2020-01-20 01:57)

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Embouchure Fatigue new

Exiawolf

2020-01-16 04:38