Scatfish Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Hi all, I've been on about buying a new mouthpiece (trumpet) for awhile now but I haven't a clue about them. I want something that will help with range aswell as keeping quality which to be honest is something that most trumpet players would like. I just don't know where to start when it comes to looking at different makes and different sizes etc. Any recommendations? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow_7 Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Start somewhere with something and adjust IMO. Not quite the road these days, but music stores used to (exist and) have suitcases of a particular brand in most/all sizes. Sit down in one of their rooms and find one you like. Use it for a while, figure out what direction would be better and adjust. Once you find a rim size that's comfortable, you can benefit from sticking with that rim size/type and adjusting the other specs. i.e. 7C is kind of small, 1C is rather huge. Being a low brass guy who doesn't play often a 1C is a closer fit for me. It varies between horns IMO. I generally get 3 mouthpieces, all the popular ones for large, medium and small. Find the one that best matches a given horn. Find what direction to head to improve on it and adjust. For high range you want a relatively small inner rim. Not without a cost though as it will likely make the low range harder to play. Beyond that, practice a lot and rest a lot. Our bodies weren't designed around playing these things, and it can be quite traumatic to the system at first. Range is a factor of many things, the mouthpiece is a very minor part of that. A noticeable part as a good one can help you to play longer periods. And advance at a faster rate. And a poor one may keep you from playing at all. And various compromises one will ultimately make. Choose well and give it a month before making a new choice unless it's an obvious dud for the task at hand. There's always a honeymoon period for any new mouthpiece. First week, awesome, Second suckfest, Third I see where this is going, Fourth, I like the interior, but I need something more fuel efficient. IMO. YMMV. ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 It would help to know a bit more about your situation. For starters: how long have you been playing? What kind of playing do you do typically? What do you feel your strengths/weaknesses are? And most importantly: are you taking lessons? It really helps to get private instruction since pretty much all information you get here will be next to worthless, as we have never heard you play and can't show you what we mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scatfish Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 I've been playing for 10 years, I try and get an hour or more each day. I play for drum corps, not got the time for anything else but maybe in years to come I would be interested in jazz ensembles etc. I can project quite well, and maybe sometimes too well. It gets refered to as Rock Trumpet! I'd say I have a good tone. So basically loud with good quality. I'm not so good at double tounging, its improved alot in the past year but I'd never had to do it since then. Then my range is not too bad, but I'd love to be able to play up the register more comfortably as its quite hit and miss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 My instinct is to tell you to seek out a mouthpiece with a slightly wider bore, giving you a bit more room to blow so your full register will be more comfortable and to let you open up a bit more without feeling constricted. But as I said, definitely seek out advice from a more experienced player who can actually take time to listen to you and give advice based on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piper Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 If you're concerned about the upper register you can always go with a "cheater". The slang term is actually something of a misnomer because in the Drum Corps world they're perfectly legal, but a lot of brass instructors don't want their students using them because they feel that it encourages them to ignore the fundamentals instead of developing their chops properly. They'll help you climb the scale, but like a previous poster had stated, if you have to get down low it might be a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scatfish Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Is this "cheater" the black attachment normally next to the mouthpiece area? Or am I thinking of something completely different. Cheers for the help guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasboot Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Is this "cheater" the black attachment normally next to the mouthpiece area? Or am I thinking of something completely different. Cheers for the help guys. The black attachment is called a B.E.R.P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow_7 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 B.E.R.P. is just a device to let you do mouthpiece exercises while still using the horn as you would normally do. Probably safer than dropping your mouthpiece on the horn if you don't use one as well. But no a cheater is normally a small mouthpiece with a small cup, tight bore and backbore. It basically allows you to pinch off notes with just air pressure instead of having to form the appropriate air stream with your embouchure and stuff. Unfortunately all those things also means that it's harder to play loud (air volume vs. air speed). And generally harder to play accurately. While giving you a rather bright, almost shrill sound. But that double G is just an arm curl away. Or something like that. It's generally not well suited for drumcorps because that tight backbore / bore prevents you from playing loud and accurately. It's a compromise like others. And one of many choices available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scatfish Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Is it like a Kelly Screamer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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