Mouthpiece buzzing from 2nd partial Bb and Lower

[JTeagarden]

I’ve been experimenting a bit with mouthpiece buzzing while on vacation, and on my Markey 87, cannot get a buzz going from 2nd partial Bb on down.

Several possible takes:

Who cares, you play the trombone, not your mouthpiece;

It will come with time, and the ability to do so benefits your playing;

This is a sign of something amiss, and I need to change something.


My buzzing experience was always with smaller mouthpieces, where buzzing was much easier for me.

[Wilktone]

I think it's safe to say that the diagnostic value of mouthpiece buzzing is limited. There's a chance that whatever is going on when you mouthpiece buzz is also happening while you play the horn and it's being disguised, but by and large mouthpiece buzzing is different enough that I wouldn't recommend trying to work out how to buzz in that range on the mouthpiece. Transferring that to the instrument could have the opposite effect you want.

Dave

[BGuttman]

Buzzing on a mouthpiece is different from playing it in a trombone. Sometimes I find adding some resistance by partially covering the exit side of the mouthpiece makes the lower notes speak better. This is more important when I haven't been diligent in my practicing. Take that for whatever you want.

[BPBasso]

Without some type of added resistance, I've never buzzed the same range I can play on the horn. I've found success buzzing down to the pedal range on a leadpipe. I find its closer to the feel of the horn than buzzing the mouthpiece alone, but still requires more air than on the horn.

Here are a couple of videos I've ran across about buzzing lower:

[GabrielRice]

I do it. I buzz essentially my entire range, gradually and mindfully, every day before put the mouthpiece in the instrument. Sometimes I do a little more buzzing during my warmup to smooth out the transitions in and out of the pedal register. And then I leave it. I don't do buzzing as a diagnostic or to help when I'm practicing music.

I developed the ability to buzz in the low (and high) register over a long period of time, and doing different kinds of buzzing - sometimes (rarely) just the mouthpiece, sometimes (more often) with just a rim, most often with a tube to lengthen the mouthpiece by either about 4 inches or about 9 inches - has helped me unify my pedal register with the registers above.

I hear Dave Wilken's argument, and Doug Elliott has told me the same thing, but I've been doing it this way for so long I'm not going to change now.

Also, my observation is that most of the players whose tones I admire most use mouthpiece practice as an important element in practicing. That's not to say I don't enjoy the playing of some of the players who famously don't, just that the players who really catch my attention with tone tend to. That said, I know some excellent bass trombonists who can't or don't buzz in the low register but sound fabulous down there.

How do I do it? For one thing I avoid contorting my face to buzz in the low register. I consciously keep the corners engaged and allow the angle of the mouthpiece to my face to move, and I allow the mouthpiece to move up and down relative to my teeth in the ways it does when I play the instrument.

If you want to be able to buzz in the low register, start where you can buzz comfortably and gradually slur down. A little extra resistance helps a lot, either with your finger partly covering the end of the mouthpiece or by adding length with a spare leadpipe or plastic tubing from the hardware store (you will find that the high register cuts off at a certain point this way). Go as low as you can without contortion and then come back again the next day. Over time I think you'll find that you can get lower.