Posted by James W on December 10, 2000 at 11:53:04:
In Reply to: Larger mouthpiece.... posted by Matt C. on December 09, 2000 at 00:49:20:
In my opinion, the rim is easily as important as the size of the cup. After all, it's the only bit your lips actually touch. Grumbly notes was a problem that plagued my playing a few years ago, when I insisted on playing on Bach mouthpieces. I'm not quite sure where I got the idea that they were better than what I was using, but I changed my mind when I turned up to a rehearsal without my tuba, and was given a very similar instrument with a Denis Wick #1 mouthpiece to play on. This is a reasonably large cup (somewhere between a bach 12 and 18) but with a fairly narrow, sharp rim, and within a matter of minutes all the problems I had been having for months just disappeared. I don't know what you are playing on at the moment, but if it has a particularly round/wide rim then I would try a narrower/sharper one, probably sticking with a cup size you feel comfortable with.
James.