[Trombone-l] mouthpiece changes

[Dave Demko]

Thanks, all, for the suggestions about mouthpiece-hunting. I'm going
to clock my mouthpieces to see what I discover.

Chuck wrote that mouthpiece-shoppers "need to know specifically what
problem they are trying to solve in their playing," and a few of you
have repeated the point about changing to fix a problem or achieve a
particular goal, not just "because." Tom Gibson's mouthpiece page
(http://trombonelessons.com/mpanatomy/mpanatomy.html) is helpful on
goal-oriented mouthpiece selection. A few of you have made the good
point about the relative importance of practice and gear. The advice
not to make frequent changes fits with my experience, too.

My specific mouthpiece-related objectives are better-speaking pedal
tones (main goal) and better legato. The main answer is, of course,
more practice. But I can see how a well chosen cup depth and rim shape
could help with those aspects.

I adopted the Bach 5G a year ago as the default for a new .547 horn.
I'm not unhappy with it, and the rim is not unlike my old 51D. But did
I find the best choice for me on my first guess? Maybe, but I can't
tell. So I'm experimenting for the sake of a good fit as much as
trying to solve a specific problem.

The 6 1/2 AL I tried out of curiosity. A friend's son plays one on his
.547. I'm not going with one of those. Dan P, your thoughts on
mouthpiece tweaking got me thinking that the 6 1/2 AL might be a good
candidate for throat-widening and backbore-reaming. If the thing blew
more freely, it could be good for getting a brighter sound. But that's
not what I'm looking for.

The blindfold test is a good idea, probably a necessity to keep
thoughts of how a given model "should" sound from influencing what I
hear. If you see me selling several "like new - barely used"
mouthpieces in the trombone.org classifieds, that will mean I tried
this approach and found a winner. Which might be my current
mouthpiece.

Thanks again for the advice, which I think will keep my experiments
organized and my expectations realistic.


On Jan 8, 2008 3:55 PM, Tom Ervin <ervint at u.arizona.edu> wrote:
> What great advice so far. May I ramble on?
> 2 stories, either of which MAY be relevant to the wonderful
> discussion on changing equipment:
>
> 1) A fine clarinetist friend of mine chose to start (again)
> practicing 4-5 hours a day for an upcoming international appearance.
> He told me, "You know how we reed players always complain about
> reeds? Buying a whole box only to find 2 that will work? Ever since I
> started practicing superlong hours like this, I've found that Darn
> Near Any Reed will do!"
>
> 2) Some fine clinician, I've forgotten who, maybe a trumpet guy,
> said, "Getting a new mouthpiece is kinda like getting a new
> girlfriend." (I don't mean this to be dirty, really!) "The ADVANTAGES
> are immediately apparent; the DARK SIDE shows up a few weeks later."
> The downside of a new mouthpiece may not appear in your playing for
> awhile. What a stinker of a problem!
>
> So, yes, there are a lot of different mouthpieces out there. Several
> (or several dozen) are widely accepted for providing most of us with
> a good balance of power, range, comfort, a standard sound,
> flexibility, a good feel and no endurance problems, etc.   And there
> are surely some mouthpieces being sold that NOBODY should probably
> use, and hardly anyone does use.  Maybe we can get used to anything,
> but I do think there are some models out there that were made by the
> Devil.
>
> Some few players can switch mouthpieces frequently with good success
> ("This one I like for the Bolero"), but many other players switch
> frequently with bad results, and wonder why.
>
> It's worth shopping around, absolutely, if your present equipment is
> not working. But it might also be the guy behind the mouthpiece; be
> sure you're doing your part.
>
> Tom Ervin
> ervint at u.arizona.edu
> Prof of Trombone, Univ Arizona (Emeritus)
> ...now a recovering trombone player.... ; >}
> (520)241-4411 (cell)
> website:     tom-ervin.com
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Trombone-l mailing list
> Trombone-l at samford.edu
> http://maillists.samford.edu/mailman/listinfo/trombone-l
>