Free: Contests & Raffles.
I agree, do not give up so easily it's worth the time & effort to master the mouth diaphragm! Here's some instruction for use!-------- Learning to use a mouth reed takes persistent practice, do not give up too easily, even if it seems a bit difficult at first! Make sure you're using the right tool for the job here. You want to start with a light tensioned single reed latex mouth reed or a very light tensioned 1 1/2 layered latex reed as a beginner, no double reeds here or very tight stretched latex reeds, they're not user friendly & are for more experienced calling. You want to start with cow sounds first, soft ones at that, then you will graduate to louder & longer tones as you master the small ones. Bugles will come or stem from your cow sounds. A bugle is no more than a lengthened out cow mew where you would add more air & a bit more tension on the latex reed itself with your tongue. These bugles are reserved for AFTER you master cow sounds. You want to achieve one goal before you move on to the next one!Do Not Over Blow! This is very common for new ones to do so, do your best to control your air output as if you were just breathing the air out past the diaphragm. Make sure you have a 100% seal where the tag of the call is up against the roof of your mouth, you must dam the air up. If tag is stiff, then chew/nibble on the tag & saliva it up a bit, to soften it with your front teeth, as you hold the main frame in your right hand. This will make the tag pliable & will now mold easily to your palate. The open end part of the latex reed of the call itself should be where back of top teeth on the inside meet gum line, you do no want it too far back, It is not held with your teeth in a biting motion at all, it merely will fit snugly into place against back of top teeth & loose tag part of reed sealed in roof of mouth, the call will be in a 30-35 deg angle. Adjust front or back from there for best position per individual, make sure you have it sealed or you'll get a hissing sound, that shows air is getting over the top of mouth reed tag & escaping just under your pallet! Now take the tip portion of your tongue & drop it down to where it touches in the area of the inside of your bottom teeth & gum line, now use the middle portion of your tongue to contact mouth reed in the middle portion of the latex not the end of the latex. Some find that using the front portion back of tongue & shaping it like a bicep then using that small part of the arch in contact with the latex works best for them for some bugling such as the location bugle. To start getting a sound out of your call, say shhhh as you apply light pressure on latex with flat part or center of tongue. For more elk like sounds, now put a bit more tension on the latex & slowly increase airflow in a controlled manner. For cow sounds only light tongue pressure is needed with controlled air flow such as breathing type air. Don't push the air or force it out, avoid quick bursts of air for these starter sounds! Play with tongue tension for best sound quality, & make sure your tongue is salivated for slickness & you'll notice less tickling! Do your best to keep solid contact with tongue on reed when making sounds, this can change a bit for more nasally cow sounds, then you would slide tongue just off latex or near end of it to flutter latex & create the needed vibration of latex to get the nasal effect that a cow will use at times! For all bugles & screams you do not want your tongue slipping off front of reed, you will lose major volume there if you do! See how this info works for you! But, perfect your cow sounds first before moving on, or being concerned with bugling! ElkNut1
