Doing my usual warm-ups on clarinet and saxes a thought occurred to me which I thought I would share.

A good warmup is like preparing a canvas on which a picture will be painted. While the canvas itself becomes hidden by the picture, the quality of the canvas effects the painter and his/her painting hugely. A well prepared canvas does not try to influence the picture in any way or indeed be noticed. Its strength is how it will enhance what will cover it – the music.