Posted by Graham W. on September 18, 2002 at 20:55:59:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: BUZZING(AT)!!!!!!!!! posted by Mark F. on September 18, 2002 at 20:06:52:
You'll have to forgive Doug. Reading and english aren't his strong points. He goes to Georgia Tech... (sorry Doug, couldn't resist!) :D
The original post stated that going below Bb was a problem for buzzing. Adding resistance to go below Bb is just simply not necessary. My first time practicing away from home on just a mouthpiece was buzzing with similar (if not more) resistance to playing on the horn. This served me no noticeable good and I felt more out of shape when I returned.
He also labels it at "extreme low register" for below Bb. I would open up what most professionals consider extreme low register but I think I have a good idea what most of you think. If the consensus is anything below Bb, then be still my ignorant keyboard.
Now, Mark F., if you had a student just getting into buzzing, I surely hope you would not encourage what I feel is the easy way out. I agree with you that resistance is necessary to buzz (what I consider) really low, THAT IS below G or F. I can buzz lower than that but this post isn't about what I can do. When I first learned about buzzing, I thought it was just a waste of time that took too much air. If I only knew what it could do for me then. The keyword is air. Anyone can play a Bb. If you can play a Bb on the horn, you can buzz it. If you can buzz a pretty solid G, you conversely have a pretty solid G on the horn.
I am not familiar with "ride" but I would assume it is some sort of really low technical (perhaps) rhythm or exercise. Now if you must provide resistance to the mouthpiece, why not just stick it in the horn? The beauty of mouthpiece buzzing is that is different from the horn - more free blowing. The BERP is great. You can listen to and critique your buzz. But when I ever used mine (after thinking of it not as a crutch but a tool) I moved the plastic washer/nut/whatever to the most open position. But even then the BERP makes its own set of noises from plastic vibrating or other factors. With the buzz, you are working from the lungs. All you are doing is moving air from your lungs with your diaphragm to make your lips buzz at a certain speed. I do not feel that BERP buzzing builds air support. If you want to work on tone quality, do some free buzzing and some horn work. I bet you'll see some results.
Perhaps I am just not seeing the point of extreme low register buzzing (with resistance). If you are simply emulating the resistance of the horn, what is the point? What can you do buzzing with your finger over the end that you couldn't do with your tuba? From what I have learned, buzzing is not designed to be just like playing the horn minus the horn. It is more than that. Much more.
I am only a first year college student attending a liberal arts school with probably not the best music program in the southeast. But I study with a symphony pro who normally charges $50 an hour and who won his symphony spot when he was 18 (my age). I don't know how he did it nor do I really care. It is obviously the product of hard work and not searching for shortcuts. So take any of this as you will but know that anything I may seem to preach has already worked for me.
FWIW,
Graham W.