Hi again,

Here is Mike’s daily routine which he is happy for me to post in the hope it is of help to others:

Close my eyes- body’s concert hall breath (open up the throat and lungs).
Tissue release passive (no engagement).
Add the visualizer to that (should see and feel the same result). Remove visualizer and add mouthpiece over the same setup (eyes closed). Add lead pipe (doesn’t matter what sound is produced or no note). For me it’s usually somewhere in the upper part of the lead pipe harmonics (eyes closed). My focus is on the release (passive) and the very slight movement inward of the corners inside the mouthpiece. My mind’s eye is focused on the movement and the flow of air moving through straight to the mouthpiece opening. I do about 5 minutes of scale and arpeggio intervals all passive and focused as mentioned above.
Next I do largo whole tones (focus corners open and free). I go to second line g ascending and descending. Then I go from second line g to c (and add a step to d,or e when the feeling is free and open).
Next tongue stops (I go in both directions, not necessarily each direction).
The I start the singing c series from c#, and the d using andante. Then e flat moderato. Then e flat and e allegro.
Plenty of rest in between all of this while eyes closed and trying to store the feeling each time.
I’ll finally finish and do a 2 octave c scale or chromatic and put the horn down for a few hours. The it’s on to presto and or ruby. Usually about an hour and a half to two hours. Then a half hour to and hour of technical stuff arban’s etc.

What an amazing effort! I have given this a go (minus the 2 hours technical, just ran out of time) and it has really helped. Thanks Mike.