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Over the summer an interview was posted with hornist Andrew Joy on high-c.com. Joy mentioned The Balanced Embouchure as a factor in his current embouchure approach. In the interview with Robert Douglass “Andrew Joy on Horn, Nerves, and Water Keys” the question begins with an embouchure change and what lead him to his present approach.
RD: You did something that is unthinkable to most established brass players – you completely changed your embouchure. Why did you do that? Was it hard to do? What advantages have you gained? Would you recommend it to others?
AJ: In January of 2006, after a four-week break from playing, I was getting back into shape when a blister developed in the middle of my bottom lip in the area that sits inside the mouthpiece. A tiny hole in the middle caused uncomfortable pain. I played for two and a half months with this handicap before choosing to take a break to allow the injury to heal.
During this time, I asked one of my trumpet colleagues about flexibility exercises that he could recommend that would help me with a performance of Stauss II at the then upcoming IHS Symposium in Cape Town. In addition to recommending the Schlossberg book, he also told me about Jerome Callet and the Tongue Controlled Embouchure (TCE). I bought Jerome’s books and DVDs and had a lesson with him on the phone, as well as one in person when he visited a friend in Düsseldorf in March of 2008. The most immediate and significant change for me was a 70%reduction of embouchure energy expenditure.
One year later, e-mail exchanges with Prof. John Ericson led me further to Jeff Smiley’s BE (The Balanced Embouchure) method. The increases in ease, range, endurance and flexibility that I am still experiencing almost two years later, have more than compensated for the hardships involved. I’m continually recommending both methods to other players. Using the BE exercises on a daily basis leads to a gentle change in and expansion of embouchure function. Most people notice a positive difference already after only two weeks of doing Smiley’s BE exercises on a daily basis.
I find it first very interesting that I was able to point Joy (an Australian player who is principal horn in a German orchestra–website here) to the Balanced Embouchure approach at a time when it was really helpful to him.
The Balanced Embouchure is a book with some very interesting content. I reviewed the book a while back and the note I would add to that is I think one of the things that BE concepts open up is an ability to achieve a greater range of motion in the embouchure. Some of the specific concepts will always be a bit controversial but there is a big picture he gets at, one element being that to play high and to play low you have to get out of your mid-range setting and another being you have to think outside the Farkas box at times.
For more notes on BE check The Balanced Embouchure for Horn and also The Balanced Embouchure website.
