horncups.com

After a lifetime of neglect I think maybe my lower lip should be doing its fair share of the work - atm it doesn't do anything, not even supporting... Am I right in thinking it shouldn't be this way?
Lower lip doesn't seem to be mentioned much in embouchure discussions..

suggest you ask either Drac or Crippen about this.

bit too cryptic for me, sorry.

I would like to meet a brass player who uses only one lip.

Eric I guess you haven't met any hornplayers using an inset embouchure then.

Not if an "inset embouchure" means not using your lower lip for support. Who can possibly get a buzz at all without using both lips???

I am aware of a technique trumpeters use for extreme high notes where the lower lip is pulled way inside the mouth so far that the pink part of the lip is not visible. The sheer amount of flesh stuffed inside the cup combined with immense breath pressure results in very high harmonics. I actually purchased a small book on the system a few years back when I played trumpet. Having given myself an inguinal hernia as a teenager by blowing too hard on a trumpet during a parade, I chose not to repeat the mistake after reading the booklet. The publication came with a demo CD. Horrible sound, my dogs howled.

Seriously though, while playing I actually think more about my lower lip than the upper. Perhaps it is because I have an overbite, so my upper lip is pretty well pinned (by no means tightly, as I use low pressure) against my teeth, wheras the lower lip is more free to move around. Plus, of course, the jaw is free to move about as well. Sometimes I change the shape of my oral cavity to improve intonation, so the lower lip must move relative to the jaw when such is taking place.

That's the sort of thing I was after!

I can't seem to move my lower lip when the mouthpiece is on, I'm wondering now - I must have been missing out on bags of endurance without it's involvement?

Would focusing on the lower lip when I play be all that is necessary to bring it to life or could someone recommend some exercises or something for it?

Thanks in advance.

Put your finger horizontally against your upper lip and slightly push it up towards your nose. Then try to buzz your lower lip against the finger (which is stopping the upper lip from buzzing).

Sorry about my 'cryptic' mention on Drac and Crippen, both of whom use about 75% lower lip in the mouthpiece. You can see Drac's embouchure in the Farkas 40 embouchures book. You can also see Tuckwell's. His lower lip is visible only when playing low 'pedal' C (not the fundamental of course.)
Shock-Horror: His lower lip is rolled under when playing in the high and middle registers.

That's great, thanks.

http://jayfriedman.net/reflections/20080310Up_yours.php

This helped me...