Chicago's Beginnings

[Elderbone]

Hello All,
I'm new to this forum so this might have been discussed many times in the past.
I am in several bands, one of which plays a lot of contemporary swing (Bib Bad Voodo Daddy) and 70's covers. I love the band and the music but my chops are worn out before the end of the night. The very last chart of the evening is usually Chicago's Beginnings which has been my signature song in other bands. In this band, and the end of the night I can usually hit the Db but not with any authority as I usually do. And the high E is non existent after the 1st set.
It seems to play forte I use a lot more pressure which does me in a lot faster. How does anyone play forte (to compete with 2 trumpets, 2 saxes and rhythm) and still have enough left at the end of the evening to make an impact? Is it simply a matter of playing more to "build up" the chops or might I have been doing something mechanically wrong for the last 45 years? Or is this normal . ? .

[tbdana]

You could be doing something mechanically wrong, in which case you'll hear a chorus of people suggesting you connect with Doug here for an online Zoom evaluation. I'd take them up on that.

Personally, when I have had to play gigs like that, I find that adding more pressure to play loud enough actually decreases my endurance significantly. I make it a point to back off on the pressure, and to play only as loud as I reasonably can with only enough pressure to maintain a seal. That seems to preserve my chops. Your mileage may vary.

Also, do you really need to be blasting away? You can probably get by with a bit less volume. Or use a microphone.

On some gigs, you just have to engage in chop maintenance strategy, like picking your spots to give it all, and backing off the rest of the time. With 2 trumpets and 2 saxes you're just 1/5 of the structure and you can afford to back off for the vast majority of the times when all five of you are playing.

[cb56]

I posted but it never showed up.
Play your own improv instead of Jimmy note for note. Very few audience members will notice. Swoop into a high A instead of Db at the beginning of the solo.
Pankow has chops of steel and plays all that stuff on a schilke 50

[Cmillar]

....and still have enough left at the end of the evening to make an impact? Is it simply a matter of playing more to "build up" the chops or might I have been doing something mechanically wrong for the last 45 years? Or is this normal . ? .

Everyone's wondered about this, right?

But, I'm in the school of thought that if you have the correct mouthpiece for Your face and Your build, then fatigue shouldn't be a worry. In fact, you should probably feel just as strong a couple of hard hours later... and maybe even feel better.

Talk to Doug Elliott, as that's what he knows and does. It's without a doubt the best thing I ever did for my trombone playing.

You're probably on the wrong mouthpiece for starters. Some 'freakily-lucky' people who've stuck with a certain mouthpiece from early in their life, and never changed, are extremely fortunate.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of teachers or other players who simply say "Here...you 'gotta play this mouthpiece if you're doing this type of work." That's not really helpful even if they mean well.

[Elderbone]

I'm trying to contact Doug Elliott via email, but am being told it's undeliverable. Could anyone give me a good contact for Doug? I have questions . . .

[Doug Elliott]

Right here will do. I'll see it.
Not sure why you're having a problem unless you're spelling my email address wrong.
demouthpieces at aol dot com

[officermayo]

AOL is still a thing?

[KWL]

AOL is still a thing?

When Verizon owned AOL they dumped their own email system because AOL’s was so much better.

Ken