by Jim Akins
Professor, Ohio State University

We as musicians spend countless hours practicing our craft. Countless years of preparation are spent to achieve what we accomplish, seeking the highest caliber of quality in every aspect of our performances and goals. We spent thousands upon thousands of dollars to learn from the finest teachers and universities…we spend exorbitant sums on the finest instruments we can find. We constantly search for the perfect mouthpiece, headjoint, reeds, weighted valve caps, tunable braces, special springs, tuners, metronomes… the list goes on forever!

As a orchestral tubist, and professor at a major university, with a huge studio, I am daily amazed to see my colleagues and students suffer through their preparation and performances due to a lack of air and support.

This tendency not only affects the musical product but, perhaps even more important, it affects the mind! One’s confidence in their ability is first attacked when the air is not there, or not in the right levels or control, causing a rapid downward spiral into a poor performance! As a performer and recitalist, I constantly receive comments of how lyric and musical my performances are. In the orchestra, I can control my performances to extreme levels of pppp and ffff levels…and have the confidence that I control the performance!

If we try to address our breathing needs with simple breathing exercises, we do help ourselves, but at what pace, what improvement? By adding a proven product, the PowerLung, to our breath training we can not only accelerate the process at quite an amazing pace, but the quality of improvement is astounding! When this occurs, and it will, your confidence in your ability to perform, to reach your audience with your musical stories, to play at new levels of nuance and artistry.

The PowerLung is a highly adaptable devise that can be used with not only a preplanned regimen of exercises, but also as a ‘on the job’ tool during practice. If one notices a drop in support or musicality, a simple few breaths through the PowerLung revives your performance quality… immediately!

Again, we spend so much time and effort in what we do… why not add the BEST tool to the toolbox to make our task easier and more productive? Remember… they don’t add 87 octane gas to an Indy car… only 103 or better will do! Why then should we musicians be so willing to give our instruments the puny trickle of air we have become so accustomed to use! Power up!! Get a PowerLung!