Author: vboboe
Date: 2006-07-25 22:25
... squashing (aka 'drac bite') seems to be very common embouchure problem among early beginners on oboe, yours truly now almost through two years (still a 'beginner') and on excessively firm side, it's a growth & development thing
... if you're squashing one side more than the other, one of your lips is working overtime for the other lip, need to bring weaker lip up to par
... be patient, this takes some time, just keep blowing oboe every day, gets better gradually
... if you're still using taper scrape commercial reeds, your squashing probably closes them up pretty fast, would be good to experiment with hand-made reeds now, these have more structural support
doing these things help me counter-balance my 'drac bite'
... stifle a genuine or faux bored-with-practice! yawn, lips around reed, this drops the jaw, opens the throat, releases tension in back of tongue and throat. Back of tongue pulled up against roof of mouth falsely substitutes as accessory support for under-developed lips, or for tired lips (if tired, stop blowing, go to multiple silent finger reps of difficult note combinations instead)
... when i need a third hand during set up, i often hold reed gently between lips; this is fairly loose position; with only a little more pressure can blow-test the reed hands-free before putting in oboe; use the same feeling of firm but just-right looseness for playing
... there's a tendency to squash more to control air pressure behind the reed, lips need to keep air-tight seal around gums, but weak lips can't hold that very long, so it's important to have a responsive reed with low enough resistance suited to own lip strength
... make as if to whistle (with jaw lowered as normal for whistling), this puts more mid-lip pucker around the reed; play awhile in 'whistle' position and work towards getting a really nice sound in this position
... roll out both lips (really loosen lips) to buzz the reed (this is opposite extreme to tightness, so it's a corrective, but not the way to play)
... do lip roll over / roll out exercises frequently on drinking straw exerciser
(hey, folks! i've found a terrific use for fibercane reeds, they make really Xcellent Embouchure Xercisers, they don't wear out fast like straws, don't break as easily as real reeds, plus they crow and do sustained sound)
... whenever doing breath exchanges, make lips into O, suck in sides of cheeks, can't do that if teeth too close together, especially strengthening position when blowing out, maintain lower jaw position afterwards
... this one's hard, but much practice improves things ... tuck lower jaw backwards a notch into neck, so upper lip is overhanging the lower lip (buck teeth effect) this makes it necessary to plump up more flesh on both lips, to make good reed contact
... however, having said all that, one-year old embouchure might not be ready to move on to better things, so for now, select just one of these 'antidotes' to work with for now. During daily practice, just go for as long as lips can handle it until you reach squashing stage, stop daily practice right there, tomorrow, try and go a minute or so longer, etc ...
|
|
The Oboe BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
