Tom Goodrick
10-06-2005, 04:12 PM
Here's a quick little summary of what has worked for me to make doubling - or quadrupling - fun and easy. First, don't be afraid it will mess up your chops. It is possible for sax to mess up your horn chops but not the other way around. When I tried a New York Link, the edge of the reed irritated my lower lip on each side making it bleed and puff up. I went back to a hard rubber piece and that stopped. Later I tried another metal piece and found it worked if I sanded the edges of the reed just a bit. It is now my main tenor piece (Rovner Deep Vee). I was a little concerned when I recently picked up the sop because I noticed some swelling when I pushed hard on some sop pieces. But that has settled out with no permanent problem. The sop chops have helped my horn chops.
Try to do things as much the same way on all horns you play. Tongue by using "Too" on the trumpet or trombone. Do the same thing with a sax. It works fine except on the lowest notes. Use the same vibrato - a lip or jaw vibrato, except on the trombone where a slide vibrato is best. Make them all sound somewhat similar, allowing for the primary individuality of each, so you maintain your style and feeling about music. This mainly involves how you blow them. All horns need a strong supply of air pressure.
I read the same music on all my horns - treble clef for B flat instruments. You may want to use a computer code like NotePad to revise the trombone music. It works much better in treble clef because there are fewer strokes under the high notes. 90% of trombone music is above the staff the way it is normally written in base clef. Mixing E flat alto with B flat instruments was hard for me so I stopped playing alto. I mainly interface with piano or organ which is harder with an alto unless you can get a computer to transpose all the music. I was doing that in BC (Before Computers).
Try to even out the practice time and effort on all instruments you play. The exception to this is if you have a long four-hour job coming up on one instrument. But the value in playing different instruments is that they can give your chops a break during a long night. I can do four hours as the only horn with keyboard and rhythm but only with the help from the saxes to unload the brass chops and vica versa. You use many of the same muscles but in different ways. This helps strengthen them and keep them supple.
Try to do things as much the same way on all horns you play. Tongue by using "Too" on the trumpet or trombone. Do the same thing with a sax. It works fine except on the lowest notes. Use the same vibrato - a lip or jaw vibrato, except on the trombone where a slide vibrato is best. Make them all sound somewhat similar, allowing for the primary individuality of each, so you maintain your style and feeling about music. This mainly involves how you blow them. All horns need a strong supply of air pressure.
I read the same music on all my horns - treble clef for B flat instruments. You may want to use a computer code like NotePad to revise the trombone music. It works much better in treble clef because there are fewer strokes under the high notes. 90% of trombone music is above the staff the way it is normally written in base clef. Mixing E flat alto with B flat instruments was hard for me so I stopped playing alto. I mainly interface with piano or organ which is harder with an alto unless you can get a computer to transpose all the music. I was doing that in BC (Before Computers).
Try to even out the practice time and effort on all instruments you play. The exception to this is if you have a long four-hour job coming up on one instrument. But the value in playing different instruments is that they can give your chops a break during a long night. I can do four hours as the only horn with keyboard and rhythm but only with the help from the saxes to unload the brass chops and vica versa. You use many of the same muscles but in different ways. This helps strengthen them and keep them supple.