Tillymarigold,

Nope, they don't.  I play the flute semi-professionally and have played for 42 years.  Circular breathing is not a typical or required breathing pattern for wind instruments.  Dizzy Gillespie did it and it may be more common with sax. players, but it is very rare and not used by the professional musicians I know.

Vicki


_________________
That which does not kill you makes you stronger-Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich must of had apnea.

Vicki wrote:

Tillymarigold,

Nope, they don't.  I play the flute semi-professionally and have played for 42 years.  Circular breathing is not a typical or required breathing pattern for wind instruments.  Dizzy Gillespie did it and it may be more common with sax. players, but it is very rare and not used by the professional musicians I know.

Vicki

*shrugs* My husband plays the trumpet (went to university for it) and he does; I know because he's tried to teach me how. Maybe the technique taught in the UK is different than in the US. My two serious ex-boyfriends played the flute and the sax (seriously, although at an amateur level--community band and the like), and they both claimed they needed to do so, but maybe they were trying to impress me or something. (Unfortunately my parents couldn't afford to buy or rent me an instrument, so I played percussion 'cause the school owned those instruments.)

I don't actually know anything about it, of course, because I don't play a wind instrument, but certainly the three people I've known well who *did*, all claimed they used circular breathing.


_________________
Machine: Puritan-Bennett GoodKnight 420E (Auto)
Mask: OptiLife/Hybrid

I found this quickly on Wikipedia. This is only part of the article, if anyone wants to read the rest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_breathing

Circular breathing is a technique used by players of some wind instruments to produce a continuous tone without break, and is accomplished by breathing in through the nose while blowing through the mouth the air stored in the cheeks. It is used extensively in playing the Australian digeridoo, the Sardinian launeddas and Egyptian arghul, as well as many traditional oboes and flutes of Asia and the Middle East. A few jazz and classical wind players also utilize some form of circular breathing.

Although many professional wind players find circular breathing highly useful, few pieces of music composed before the 20th century actually require its use. A notable exception is "Moto Perpetuo" as transcribed by Rafael Mendez from Paganini. Trumpeters playing this piece must have full control of their circular breathing in order to play the piece as intended.

Kenny G is perhaps the world's most famous circular breather, setting a world record for holding a single note for 48 minutes.(This record was nearly doubled by Costa Rican saxophonist Geovanny Escalante less than a year later.)

Instruments having circular breathing as an integral part of their technique:  Alboka, Arghul, Didgeridoo, Duduk, Hornpipe, Ken Bau, Khlui, Launeddas, Mijwiz, Mizmar, Ney, Practice chanter, Sralai, Suling, Suona, Zurna.

Seems that circular breathing is used by some wind players, but is not required to play the instrument successfully.  I even saw a link here about learning to play the harmonica using circular breathing, although I know it's not required for that instrument.  As far as circular breathing with the digi vs. using circular breathing with other instruments, I have no idea if it makes a difference which instrument is used.  Maybe it's the extensive use of circular breathing with the digi?

Pam


_________________
Machine: Respironics Series M CPAP with C-Flex and heated humidifier
Mask: Hybrid / UMFF
Pressure: 9
Other: Aussie Heated Hose
Pre-CPAP RDI: 19
CPAP AHI Average: 1

Interesting article Pam.  Image holding a note for 48 minutes???

I don't know a thing about musical instruments, can't read music, but I can play a radio!  

This is a neat website with lots of things to hear! Have Fun!


http://www.didgeridoostore.com/didgeridoo_sleepapnea_snoring.htm

[
 Check out the video at "Laoutpost.com" the snoring cure video shows a patient playing a didgeridoo while a Doctor snakes a nose scope down to the restricted muscle in the throat. It opens right up and they say with playing the dig every day the throat muscles get stronger and OSA patients have fewer apneas.
                                                                                               Baxter