Embuture collapse is a generic term used by wind instrument players to describe the various conditions that cause the inability of the functioning embouchure to function. Embouchure is an exact arrangement of facial and lips muscles to produce sound on wind or brass instruments. In playing brass, this involves the vibration of the lip membrane area.
Embouchure collapses in various shapes and extremities generally lead to difficulty in playing for a long time (especially if playing hard and/or in high lists) or inability to play. The first applies especially in less severe cases; the latter in the most severe cases.
This article focuses on the collapse of the embouchure on the brass player.
Video Embouchure collapse
Cause
There are various causes for embouchure collapse, especially focal dystonia or Embouchure Overuse Syndrome; also, the topic of the pressure of the spokesperson (whether excessive pressure or not damaging the embouchure) is debated hotly by the brass player.
Maps Embouchure collapse
Focal dystonia
Dystonia is a neurological disease that affects the brain's ability to fire neurons (which control muscle movement) correctly. Focal dystonia specifically affects one particular area of ​​the body and is usually completely isolated, affecting only one activity. This disease basically makes the sufferer unable to control the muscles in the affected area.
The presence of this condition in the brass facial muscles leads to the inability to form an embouchure due to the loss of individual control over the relevant muscles. Because of its neurological condition, there is, in terms of playing brass at least, there is no effective cure. Treatment using botox has been initiated to treat focal dystonia in other parts of the body; However, they have been found to be ineffective in treating embouchure collapse. This may be because botox causes facial muscles to relax; and although this collapse reduces the twitches of the uncontrolled muscles, the new relaxed status eliminates the splicing lips required to play brass instruments. For most brass players, the diagnosis with focal dystonia marks the end of their careers.
Overuse syndrome
This is a much more common cause of embouchure collapse. As the name implies, embouchure collapse may be caused by "overused" - or in simple terms, playing "too much."
Most of the brass players at one time had swollen lips (or "stiff lips"). When a player is forced to continue to play despite this, the resulting stress can cause a chain of injuries that lead to the collapse of the embouchure.
In general, the best way to deal with swollen lips is to refrain from playing, or to practice for a shorter time and with good heating in the days after each broad playing period. When a player loses the chance to recover after a period of extensive play, simple swollen lips problems are not allowed to heal, and players are forced to work harder to compensate for reduced lips power. Finally, the player's facial muscles may collapse under the pressure of playing.
Spokesperson Press
Subjects of pressure funnel closely related to the problem of embouchure collapse/embouchure too often used.
It has long been argued that excessive funnel pressure is the cause of embouchure problems and can be a factor in causing embouchure collapse. However, the funnel pressure is not static when playing: it improves higher in the player's play list and the louder volume level. Also, the small funnel pressure is essential to provide a seal between the player's embouchure and the instrument; without this, all air will pass before entering the instrument and no sound comes out (brass instruments depend on airflow to produce sound).
Embouchure collapse is much more common among horn and trumpet players. Both of these instruments have spokespersons with small circumference and surface area, and therefore the pressure may be greater, because the funnel style on the face is more concentrated. This corresponds to the principle of physics that the pressure is the number of forces divided by the area in which the force is given.
As a result of the lack of scientific evidence (no scientific study into the pressure of the spokesman as the cause of the collapse of the embouchure ever done), the same argument holds that all brass players may suffer the collapse of the embouchure, and the subjective (non-static) properties of the funnel Pressure, about the funnel pressure as the cause of the limited collapse of embungtures.
Diagnosis
The collapsed embankures caused by focal dystonia may be medically diagnosed; However, the collapse of the embouchure caused by overuse of the embungture, is generally not considered a special medical problem. The difficulty in diagnosis is when a brass player describes symptoms to a doctor or dentist (as is often the case), the medical practitioner does not fully understand what the patient is referring to. This is because brass players learn to embung them with feel, and therefore words have limited ability to describe embouchure problems, especially if the person listening to the description is not a brass player and has limited knowledge about the river mouth.
Also, in less severe cases, players can only feel what is wrong while playing. Many players with embungure problems will, once they realize that it is more than a simple case of tired lips, want to refrain from playing. The fact that about 24 muscles are used in forming a brass embouchure, and each will change slightly when a player struggles to play when experiencing embouchure problems, meaning that what the players describe as mistakes not only aggravate their condition when they play but will differ every time they do it.
In the most severe cases, the pain caused by overuse of the sheath can be felt even when not playing; in some cases, other symptoms will manifest, such as loss of damaged tissue and nerves. This, however, only happens in the rarest and most extreme circumstances and usually marks the end of a player's career.
Recovery
As stated above, focal dystonia sufferers have almost no chance of recovery from embouchure collapse. Overuse sufferers, however, have been known to recover. The easiest way to do this is to hold back from playing for a long time, maybe years, before trying to play again. The exact amount of time and whether the player should really re-examine the use of embouchure is a matter that is highly subjective and depends on the individual.
Philip Smith, former main trumpet of the New York Philharmonic, suffers from focal dystonia, which is part of the reason for his retirement. However, Smith has managed to gradually re-develop control over his embungure and is now playing again, as well as teaching trumpet at the University of Georgia.
Additional information
Several books on the subject are available, including Broken Embouchures by Lucinda Lewis, a professional hornist, who has managed to help other brass players with embungment problems.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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