[Trombone-l] Embouchure Dictations Of The Bass Trombone Valve Register (not an immaculate conception)

[Galen Zinn]

I have a an inline Shires Bass Trombone with independent Bb/Gb/F/D valves
and a dual bore slide. I have discovered that I must use what I would call a
much more extreme embouchure set (extending my lips more forcefully inside
the mouthpiece, thus producing the vibrations more on the interior surface
of the lip tissues which requires the use of faster moving high volume air)
particularly for any notes achieved through the use of the various valve
combinations.

Of late, I have worked daily at relearning alternate positions for all notes
that can be performed with less slide movement through the use of the
valves. In most cases the use of the valves throws the horn into an
immediate longer length of tubing and for most of the notes played in
alternate positions a higher partial must be used. This, to my ear changes
the tone quality to make it sound more like a French Horn being performed on
the higher partials where the notes are closer together.

This more extreme embouchure set works just as well on the ³open² or Bb horn
but I don¹t find the reverse to be true. If I slip back into older
embouchure habits that I used to use for tenor trombones with F attachments,
and attempt to blow on through one of these alternate position notes using
valves, I will ³burble² the attack of the note almost every time. So, I
guess what I¹m trying to say is that good tone quality in the valve range of
my bass trombone seems to govern the embouchure set that I must use for the
full compass of the instrument.

The reverse is not true; at least it doesn¹t seem to work for me. Can any of
you out there refute/explain/agree with my conclusions? Or, might there be
another variable in this experiment... my Doug Yeo Signature Bass Trombone
Mouthpiece. Perhaps the mouthpiece is not matched to me and/or the horn?

This all leads me to another related question for those of you who claim to
double on alto, tenor, bass trombone, euphonium, and tuba. How do you
accomplish all this without ³burbling² attacks on notes? Apparently you have
found a single embouchure setting that works for all of the circumstances on
all of these instruments?

Not an immaculate conception,

Galen Zinn