TromboneChat

I've noticed something odd in my bass trombone sound, where, when playing steady for a while, a bit of fuzz/fluff/crackle will appear in my sound. I've identified it as the result of saliva passing through my embouchure. First it builds up a bit behind the bottom lip/teeth, then passes onto my lip, creating a bit of fuzz in my tone, and then a more noticeable crackle as it moves over my lip and blows into the mouthpiece.

Usually this happens when I am in the mid-low register, (where my bottom lip is lowered and there's a larger aperture and volume of air) and whenever I have sustained playing (long tones, rochuts, almost anytime there aren't many rests) I notice the need to swallow, and/or this buildup and passthrough of saliva. As soon as 10-15 seconds into an etude this may happen.

Anyone else felt this or something similar? Tips?

I've heard this in my sound ever since switched I switched from my Holton 181 to my Shires - where I can hear a more distinct difference between my clear and less-than-clear tone. I assume nothing has changed in my playing to cause this. I've always felt that I salivate quite a bit while playing, and that I feel the need to swallow regularly, which can be bothersome.

I don't really know what I can or should do about it - the main complaint is that needing to swallow regularly disrupts breathing, which disrupts everything else - and the effect on my sound I described above is brief, but still very unwanted. It just seems impossible to tell my mouth to stop salivating as much when I'm playing trombone!

Thanks in advance folks!

I can't say I've ever noticed saliva affecting my sound but I have had a good amount of occurrences where saliva pools in my mouth while playing and I choke when I take a breath. I think I especially may have this problem because I always make sure I'm well hydrated when I'm playing.

You can imagine how that can be really awkward and bad wether in a rehearsal or performance... 

This here is just what helped me... on trumpet, when saliva would build like crazy in my mouth ;

Loads of long tones... working on tone consistency, listening for the SOUND and letting my chops/mouth gravitate towards the overall setup that prevented a saliva-ey SOUND. For me it ended up being actually not tied to my hydration, but the way I was using my air and embouchure that was creating some sort of "steam"/condensation build-up at the chops.

It might well be hydration thought. This is JUST my two cents tho - take it with a half-grain of salt! More experienced people will chime in and probably disprove me, but this worked for me

This here is just what helped me... on trumpet, when saliva would build like crazy in my mouth ;

Loads of long tones... working on tone consistency, listening for the SOUND and letting my chops/mouth gravitate towards the overall setup that prevented a saliva-ey SOUND. For me it ended up being actually not tied to my hydration, but the way I was using my air and embouchure that was creating some sort of "steam"/condensation build-up at the chops.

It might well be hydration thought. This is JUST my two cents tho - take it with a half-grain of salt! More experienced people will chime in and probably disprove me, but this worked for me