[Trombone-l] An alto neophyte asks for it.

[John Cather]

There have been a lot of good responses on this topic. Heres my take  
that no one has hit on yet. I've been playing alto for much longer  
than this new revival period of the alto. I hope it's not a fad but a  
lasting dimension of the modern trombone.

In my opinion, The Conn and Yamaha are very well constructed, but  
only to please a tenor player. They are large bore with large bells.  
They play and sound like short tenors to me. The smaller bore  
instruments with smaller bells sound more like altos to me and I  
prefer them. Otherwise I'd rather play a small tenor.

Also, I've preached this before. Sorry guys, you can hit delete now  
if you want.
A bach 12 or bach 15 is not an alto mouthpiece it's a tenor. I know  
most players are tenor players and want the alto to feel and play  
like their tenor and that's why the bach 12 and the such. That's fine  
for those that do not want to put in the time to play alto as an  
alto. But you don't get the added high range or the focused sound  
that comes naturally with an alto mouthpiece unless you are (in my  
opinion) working too hard and maybe pinching your sound. An alto mpc  
should be in the range of about 22mm rim width and not the 24mm width  
on a bach 12 or 15. I know not many makers offer anything like this  
and that's because there is little to no demand for it. But most  
makers can custom make anything you'd like. I've made a few myself  
out of the frustration of not having a bach or schilke available to  
buy. But when the mpc is at least ballpark close, it becomes easy to  
play and get the focused sound and range you'd expect from the  
smaller trombone. It doesn't kill you to play the repertoire like it  
does on a tenor (or tenor mpc) and it sounds better naturally.

OK off my soap box. Sorry guys.

John Cather