thread with the transparent purpose of getting people to talk about my mouthpieces
Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2021 12:13 pm
...ok...maybe...but actually...
I've gone through some changes (and I don't believe it has been "because I'm getting older" - because I evaluate my playing as "about s good as ever, particularly when I spend some face-time with my instruments) with my mouthpiece choice for my F tuba. Maybe, the changes are due - just a bit - to becoming a bit...wiser...(??)
Reviewing those mouthpiece metamorphoses, here is (probably) boring, which means that others should post links to pictures/videos of the Chicken Dance, beer girls, and their pets.
I started out playing my B&S "Symphonie Modell" (basically, a handmade/sheet-metal version of the B&S PT-9, and with a bell kranz) with a mouthpiece which would be the equivalent of a Sellmansberger Solo cup, a Sellmansberger #2 back-bore std.-shank back-bore, and a Sellmansberger #1 profile 33.2mm opening rim. (That c. 1976 1-piece brass mouthpiece sits - to this day - in my sock drawer.)
Later, I moved to a #2 profile 33.2mm rim.
...and then I moved to a Solo #1 back-bore (same sound, less work).
Then, I gave the Solo #0 back-bore a shot (same positive results as with the immediately-previously-typed line)
Lately (not being a "same-rim-on-everything" subscriber, and as I've been using a 32.3mm opening #2 profile rim with my cimbasso mouthpiece), I moved to the new 32.9mm (not a huge change, but .3mm less lip vibration in the cup) and I'm getting a sound that is more centered, and - well - clearer.
Off-and-on I HAVE experimented with using my "Imperial" cup (medium-shallow funnel - deeper than shallow-bowl "Solo") with it's own back-bore and the same 32.9mm #2 profile rim. That mouthpiece offers that "round/big-F-tuba" sound (that seems popular, these days) AND it offers the same really great intonation throughout. The "thing", though, is this: I sounds nice and "round" at home (in my large/very-high-ceiling room) YET - when I use that mouthpiece with orchestras - the sound is "dead", I find myself unconsciously making inappropriate adjustments, and - moreover - not playing as I play... so I believe that experimentation is over-and-done... THAT HAVING BEEN SAID, it could be a good (were I seeking some gig somewhere) "audition mouthpiece", because the sound is even, round, blah-blah (yeah...I guess basically "blah") which seems to allow people to advance - who also stay between the ditches with their time and tuning, and tip their hat to "phrasing" just a bit.
Why did I post this stupid sh!t ?
duh...
- I drank too much coffee.
- I don't want to go out and pull the weed trailer around the property.
I've gone through some changes (and I don't believe it has been "because I'm getting older" - because I evaluate my playing as "about s good as ever, particularly when I spend some face-time with my instruments) with my mouthpiece choice for my F tuba. Maybe, the changes are due - just a bit - to becoming a bit...wiser...(??)
Reviewing those mouthpiece metamorphoses, here is (probably) boring, which means that others should post links to pictures/videos of the Chicken Dance, beer girls, and their pets.
I started out playing my B&S "Symphonie Modell" (basically, a handmade/sheet-metal version of the B&S PT-9, and with a bell kranz) with a mouthpiece which would be the equivalent of a Sellmansberger Solo cup, a Sellmansberger #2 back-bore std.-shank back-bore, and a Sellmansberger #1 profile 33.2mm opening rim. (That c. 1976 1-piece brass mouthpiece sits - to this day - in my sock drawer.)
Later, I moved to a #2 profile 33.2mm rim.
...and then I moved to a Solo #1 back-bore (same sound, less work).
Then, I gave the Solo #0 back-bore a shot (same positive results as with the immediately-previously-typed line)
Lately (not being a "same-rim-on-everything" subscriber, and as I've been using a 32.3mm opening #2 profile rim with my cimbasso mouthpiece), I moved to the new 32.9mm (not a huge change, but .3mm less lip vibration in the cup) and I'm getting a sound that is more centered, and - well - clearer.
Off-and-on I HAVE experimented with using my "Imperial" cup (medium-shallow funnel - deeper than shallow-bowl "Solo") with it's own back-bore and the same 32.9mm #2 profile rim. That mouthpiece offers that "round/big-F-tuba" sound (that seems popular, these days) AND it offers the same really great intonation throughout. The "thing", though, is this: I sounds nice and "round" at home (in my large/very-high-ceiling room) YET - when I use that mouthpiece with orchestras - the sound is "dead", I find myself unconsciously making inappropriate adjustments, and - moreover - not playing as I play... so I believe that experimentation is over-and-done... THAT HAVING BEEN SAID, it could be a good (were I seeking some gig somewhere) "audition mouthpiece", because the sound is even, round, blah-blah (yeah...I guess basically "blah") which seems to allow people to advance - who also stay between the ditches with their time and tuning, and tip their hat to "phrasing" just a bit.
Why did I post this stupid sh!t ?
duh...
- I drank too much coffee.
- I don't want to go out and pull the weed trailer around the property.
