[Trombone-l] Alto Trombone Mouthpiece Advice

[Josh Kane]

Good thing you changed the subject line. I skimmed over the email and  
went "WHAT????.... Why is he using such small mouthpieces on a tenor???"

I went through some mouthpieces on my alto before I found mine. It's  
a Bach 12C. I use a 5G for Tenor and Euphonium, but I don't do alot  
of switching back and forth. My old man uses a small bore 5G on his  
Conn 36H. I think it's a Jupiter 5G. Same rim as a Bach, but a  
shallower cup. It works for him, he sounds great. Good luck with your  
journey.

Josh

On Dec 28, 2006, at 6:33 PM, Daniel Cloutier wrote:

> Sorry, I forgot to put the proper subject line on my
> Alto Mouthpiece Post.  Here it is again:
>
> Mark, you wrote:
>
>> I'm having trouble finding the "right" MP to use.  My
>> main bone is an old (1967) 48H and my normal MP is a
>> Yamaha 48 MP. In my gig bag I also have the
> following:
>
>> Bach 18D
>> Denis Wick 12CS
>> Jet-Tone UG-S
>> Bach 12C
>> Bach 15C
>> Olds 1
>> Conn 3
>> A really old "FRANK HOLTON & CO - COREY" (whatever
>> that is - I don't even know where I got it)
>
> Mark, you are on the right track with trying several
> different types to find out which has the best
> intonation and sound.  During my original 3 year Alto
> mouthpiece journey, I begain on a Yamaha 42B (tiny)
> and ended up on a Bach 15D.  I tended to shy from the
> Bach "Alto" pieces like the 15E and 12E because I
> found them too shallow and lacking in depth of tone.
>
> The best descripive word of a good Alto sound I have
> found is "melancholy," and I found  Bach 15C did very
> well well for that.  However, I had some intonation
> issues with that cup depth.  So, I tried just a little
> shallower (15D).  The nice melancholy tone was stil
> there, but the intonation issues had gone away.  I had
> finally found the right Alto mouthpiece for me.
>
> However, after about 15 years on the 15D, I found that
> my sound had centered considerably and that the 15D
> was no longer the melancholy sound I wanted.  So, I
> went deeper to the 15C and found back that sound.
> Intonation was no longer an issue on the deeper 15C
> because my face was a lot stronger than it had been 15
> years earlier.
>
> Then, about a two years ago, I did a major mouthpiece
> switch on Tenor--the first in almost 10 years--to a
> larger rim diameter.  I then found that the 15C on
> Alto was too big a jump from my bigger Tenor piece.
> So, I switched to an 11C for Alto.  That was about a
> year and a half ago, and I am quite satisfied.
>
> All that to say, keep trying various models and listen
> for melancholy tone and good intonation.  When you
> find what you are looking for, stick with it until
> either the tone or intonation becomes unsatisfactory.
>
> An aside issue is whether to use the same rim diameter
> for Tenor as for on Alto.  There are those in either
> school.  I am in the "different rim size" school, for
> two reasons.  First, I have found that I'm not real
> crazy about the tones of those in the "same rim"
> school that I have heard: they sometimes strike me as
> sounding like diffuse smallbore Tenors instead of
> Altos.  Second, I believe that using the smaller rim
> on the Alto creates a built-in paradigm shift; a
> physical catalyst for mentally switching concepts
> between Alto and Tenor.
>
> As always: IMHO, HTH, and YMMV.
>
>
>
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