I find that a lot of students and late bloomers are not playing the right strength reed. We need to keep in mind that the more we play that our embouchure gets stronger (to a point) and that it may necessitate a change in reed strength. My simple test to make sure that I'm playing the right strength reed is simply to play the lowest note on the horn and then play the highest note on the horn. Now I will many times play a little altissimo but that's an advanced technique.
There have been times when I've had a leak develop in a horn and the bottom just wouldn't respond. When that has happened and I needed to get through the rest of rehearsal I have gone down 1/2 a strength on the reed. The downside is that the horn may "choke up" a bit on the high notes but the positive is that you can still reasonably control the dynamics down low.
There have been times when I've had a leak develop in a horn and the bottom just wouldn't respond. When that has happened and I needed to get through the rest of rehearsal I have gone down 1/2 a strength on the reed. The downside is that the horn may "choke up" a bit on the high notes but the positive is that you can still reasonably control the dynamics down low.