Thanks Samuel. I usually used it as a warm up for the lower octave of the range. After seeing this, I definitely am gonna try that higher harmonic series stuff you did. Excited to see how it helps my range. Great video!
Yes!! i was introduced to lead pipe buzzing by Chase Sanborn’s video on it. i think leadpipe buzzing has really helped solidify my endurance and playing.
Damn, Sam! I'm always so impressed with what you do but this one blows me away. You are articulate, concise and (above all) you are CORRECT. I also love your humility. You are clearly in love with sharing what you've learned and I say "bravo!". I use the term "lip drop" rather than "lip bend" as I feel that it is a "letting go", but no matter. You're growing by leaps and bounds and I always look forward to your new videos.
Thank you very much for your kind words! I've always been a huge proponent of sharing whatever you've got, however "good" or otherwise you may be at your craft! I learn a huge amount teaching amateur trumpet players as an amateur myself. Interesting concept with the "lip drop." Thanks again!
I like "lip drop" because it indicates a "letting go" vs. a forced maneuver, as in "bend". But I'm a tuba player/teacher and perhaps we approach things differently.
I’m late to this game, being a lifelong failed mouthpiece buzzer. Lotta nice things have evolved with the leadpipe. Nice job with your presentation here.❤
@@RW-ob4en So glad to hear the leadpipe has helped!! I, too, am a terrible mouthpiece buzzer. And if you were to ask Bill Adam or any of his disciples, you’d be told that mouthpiece buzzing absolutely fails on any level to capture the isometric sensation of actually playing the instrument. So in the end it’s all good if you or I can barely buzz out a pathetic, wimpy-sounding low C! That’s not at all what we’re training for anyhow.
@@SamuelPlaysBrass Ideas/methods take on a life of their own, don’t they? I’m 65, retired music teacher. Several months ago I decided to re-work my embouchure. I had the good fortune of having taken a few lesson with Vince Cichowicz at the end of his life. So many things stuck with me from those…trust your instincts, simple doesn’t mean easy, etc. One day we were just hanging out (he was in the hospital) as we’d become good friends. A young nurse walked into the room and Vince treated her - as he did everyone in my experience - like she was the most important person in the world. She had no idea who he was. She was in a great mood explaining that she’d just celebrated her 23rd birthday. “And my boyfriend bought me a trumpet!” 🫨 So much conversation ensued from that little bit of synchronicity…and for some reason he mentioned to me (while speaking with the nurse) “…or you could take the muscular approach like Rusty…” then winked at me. It took a LONG time for that to coalesce in my head. I had to retrace my history from trumpet lesson 1, Day 1. Smile = embouchure Buzz mouthpiece = only way to make progress Whew! I hope that I never said anything so dogmatic and ill-informed to my own students!!!
Sorry I'm just now seeing this - RU-vid doesn't notify me of replies to existing threads. What a story! I wish I could have met Cichowicz, as his flow studies are what I've been using for my warmup for years and years now. Sounds like he was a standup gentleman too, on top of all else. Beautiful story. I'm glad he could influence your trumpet playing journey for the better, even if it was later than you'd hoped. It gives me hope that I might someday find the answer to the tension-related technique issues I've been struggling with over the last couple years.
@@SamuelPlaysBrassno worries, no apology needed. I can tell you the very first thing he asked me when I played my first thing for him (Clarke #2 F major) “Is that what you intended it to sound like?” Initially I thought I’d been zinged, ha! He was making the point how crucial it is to have a very clear idea of sound in one’s head before playing. We all know how easy it is for our attention to abandon what’s coming out of the bell…busy as we can become with the other end. Lots of attention to what we do (and often fail to do) in preparation to playing the first note. With me he was a lot about SUBTRACTING surplus baggage from my thinking, breathing, etc. Almost as if the more advanced we got the more the focus became on the basics of producing a good sound without bringing added/unnecessary effort to the process. Quite a gift he had. How lucky for me! Both musically and personally. He gave me what I believe was his last on-the-record interview. It followed that which was published for an ITG article. Even as I write now I hear Wayne and Garth…”I’m not worthy!” 😅
Great vid; thanks. I'm a come back player x 13 years. I never got into lead pipe buzzing, as I just didn't see the point of it, but I've just started with it, so thanks for this.
So glad this video could help! In making this video I knew it was a less-discussed aspect of trumpet technique but nevertheless it has helped me a lot in my playing. Best of luck coming back to the trumpet!
Great video, man. I do agree that leadpipe buzzing is a hugely underestimated technique. I don't do it everyday (whereas I probably should lol) but, as you said, it's primarily an air tool and I use it whenever I feel like I'm not blowing enough which, at least for me, mainly translates to not hitting the staccato notes cleanly. This brings me to my second point. You said "It's not a double tonguing tool". Well, imo it can well be. Clean and precise double tonguing takes a lot of air especially on the "ku's". The thing is that when you're tonguing the air stream should be no different than when you're slurring the notes which isn't really all that much intuitive and players tend to cut the air stream when they tongue (myself included) and practising some staccato-heavy passages on the leadpipe prevents you doing exactly that and enables your staccato to be clean and connected. Leadpipe buzzing is really the one thing that allowed me to learn the double tongued ending of Bohme's first movement.
Thanks for the comment man! Very interesting stuff. I suppose any air tool can be translated to any form of tonguing now that you mention it, because most issues with tonguing stem from issues with the airstream.
Hi Samuel. Thank you for the good video. Gives a very good insight into leadpipe buzzing. I have adopted it into my pactice routine and the embouchure feels really compact now. But...the low notes don't want to respond as easily now. What can be the reason? Can playing low notes on the leadpipe help with this?
I do recommend playing the low/pedal harmonic on the leadpipe. I'm not sure how leadpipe playing would result in a worse low register, because for me leadpipe buzzing has helped me in all registers, including opening up my sound on low notes...
@SamuelPlaysBrass Do you still offer trumpet lessons? If so, what are your rates? I’ve enjoyed your videos for years and love your sound. I would love to have a lesson with you!
Hi Grace, I really appreciate your kind words. I unfortunately can’t really offer lessons during the school year due to my schedule, but shoot me an email at sammorozov@gmail.com and we can discuss having a lesson over winter break if you think you’d still be interested at that point!
Hi Samuel, I've been having a go at lead pipe buzzing, but I just don't see what it does for you that a good pedal tone routine doesn't already do. Would you recommend lead pipe buzzing as well as my current Stamp pedal warmup? Only so many hours in the day of course!
Hi Colin, sorry I forgot to respond to this comment. There is a level of individuality in this whole thing, so I don't know if everybody gets the exact same out of each exercise. For me personally, both mouthpiece buzzing and to a lesser extent the Stamps below low F# fail to simulate the resistance of a 'real' note on trumpet, and both cause my chops to unfurl and do weird things, whereas buzzing on the leadpipe seems to encourage my best habits for mid and high register playing whilst still opening up my airstream as would, in theory, the aforementioned two other exercises. If I were you, I'd sub some of the Stamp sub-F# work for leadpipe for a few days and take note of the results. If you like them, keep buzzing; if not, keep pedaling.
Thank you @@SamuelPlaysBrass, that's a really helpful perspective. (Love the way pedals get everything loose and buzzing freely, but I do recognise the chops unfurling thing too.) Yes I'll play around for what works best for this particular face configuration. All the best!
I pay - what is it? - about $10 a month to get ad-free vids. That's about 3 trips to Starbucks. Yeah, it's kind of a rip off, but life is too short to sit through ads; worth it to me.
Sam - do you have any documentation on why the first partial is wider than an octave? You mention the shape of the tubing be a large effect, and it obviously is in practice, but I am wondering if there are any studies on the function of the sound wave that show us why this is the case. I've done pipe every day for years and never been able to figure it out!
Hey there Jeffrey, thanks for your comment! I’m not the best with trumpet physics, but at its core this is the issue: on cylindrical tubing, the harmonics tend to get spread out. The high register is naturally sharp, and the “pedal” harmonic sits very, very flat. This is the case on a fully-assembled trumpet, as players have to learn to relax in the high register to avoid playing sharp and the open pedal C tends to be a whole step flat unless you spend time forcing the pitch up. Just to illustrate the opposite effect, imagine the flugelhorn: its pedal C is well in tune, but the upper register is usually chronically flat. So you see: conical tubing brings the harmonics closer together, and cylindrical tubing pushes them apart. It’s pretty confusing but I believe Nick Drozdoff has a video or two on the topic.
Probably not. The leadpipe won't allow you to play any higher as far as I'm concerned. Just focus on starting your practice session on a resonant, relaxed concert D on the leadpipe.
You need to do a vid on hair. I wish I had yours! A piece of pvc or copper tube would work as a "practice mouth tube" don't you think? It could be cut or shimmed to what ever length suits you.
Hair is a fleeting thing! Unfortunately at the ripe old age of nineteen I think my hairline is already steadily going to the dogs. It’s much worse now than when this video was uploaded. While any stock tube would work fine on paper, there’s something about the shape (conicity, mass distribution, etc.) of trumpet leadpipes that allow for that thick, buzzy sort of resonance, but give it a try with any old pipe and don’t be afraid to experiment. Flexible plastic hose works great for making “baroque natural trumpets.”
If letting a little penetrating oil sit on the slide tubes for a few hours doesn't work, take it to a repair tech. That sounds like a very unique and very risky situation to try to reverse yourself.
Hobart Clarque In doing so, you risk breaking off much more than just the tuning slide. I think most repair techs would rather fix one slide than a slide and several solder joints.
My teacher doesn't endorse leadpipe buzzing, but I've seen other people who do. I personally don't like it because there's a bend in my tuning slide which makes it a pain to put back in after taking it all the way out.
I definitely see how that could be a hassle. Have you had a repair tech take a look at it? Most competent techs could probably straighten it out somewhat at little to no cost.
