[Trombone-l] Assessing mouthpieces

[Steve Gamble]

The essential ingredient in choosing any equipment is to have a very
clear idea of what you are trying to accomplish musically.  Without a
clear idea, it's just about impossible to make the right choice.
Although most sane people don't bother with equipment searches unless
they are sensing some deficiency in their playing, to me it seems like a
good exercise in focusing on musical goals to try as much stuff as you
can.  The funny thing about that is that the better you get at zeroing
in on the music in your head, the more various pieces of equipment seem
good.  The right mouthpiece (or mouthpieces) is the one that gets in
your way the least. 

Steve Gamble, Librarian
Tucson Symphony Orchestra
2175 N. 6th Ave.
Tucson, AZ  85705
520-792-9155 x118 office
520-792-9314 fax
520-991-7056 cell
sgamble at tucsonsymphony.org
www.tucsonsymphony.org


-----Original Message-----
From: trombone-l-bounces at samford.edu
[mailto:trombone-l-bounces at samford.edu] On Behalf Of Daniel Pliskin
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2008 4:23 PM
To: trombone-l
Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] Assessing mouthpieces



I've modified lots of mouthpieces.  I used to get them used, for $5 or
$10, so I had little to lose.  

Besides the general comfort of the rim shape and size, the depth of the
cup, the size and shape of the back-bore, gap between the end of the
mouthpiece and beginning of the lead-pipe and the shape of the
transition between the cup and back-bore, are all important variables.
Early on, I decided that without a numeric-control lathe, I wasn't going
to take on playing with cup geometries.  And although I don't have an
allergic reaction to brass, I rarely alter the rim.  

There's a lot of talk about drilling out mouthpieces to get then a
little bit darker sounding.   It works, to some extent, but the
cylindrical section, produced by the drilled-out section, also
introduces a slight whispery  tone, which I don't like.  On many
occasions, I've drilled out mouthpieces, to darken the tone and then
reamed out the back-bore with a tapered reamer.  I make single-fluted
tapered reamers (form tools) from broken scissors pieces.  

Tiny amounts of metal make a huge difference, when altering the
transition between the cup and back-bore.  If the transition is too
sharp, the tone is bright.  Make it too rounded and all the life in the
tone vanishes.  

I've said this before and I'll say it again.  Try an experiment.  Try
clocking your mouthpiece.  Set it in the receiver with the logo facing
out, as a reference point.  Play it for a while.  Then turn the
mouthpiece about 45 degrees and try it again.  Most mouthpieces are out
of round, to the point where there is a preferred rotation of the
mouthpiece, where you like the tone the best.  You might want to mark
your mouthpiece, so that you always insert it with that best rotation.  

But also, this points out how the tiniest change in a mouthpiece makes a
world of difference.  So if you take the next size lettered drill and
take out some of the back-bore, you may well have gone past that sweet
spot, you were looking for.  Numbered drills are a better bet, because
there are more sizes.  

It also convinces me that if they can't get a single mouthpiece to be
uniformly symmetrical, then how are they going to get two different
mouthpieces to play similarly?  So, when you find a mouthpiece you like,
play every mouthpiece the store has in that size.

What I used to do is work on my second-favorite mouthpiece, trying to
get it to the point where it became my most favorite mouthpiece.  

DanP



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