Posted by Sean Chisham on September 13, 2000 at 00:13:41:
In Reply to: Is a New Mouthpiece Worth It? posted by Matthew S. Smith on September 12, 2000 at 02:14:24:
When I get a new horn, the first great adventure is to find the right mouthpiece. Fortunatelly for me, I believe I have found the daily drivers which work well for me, my horns, and 99% of my performance situations. Notice those three points; Me, my horn, and the situation. These are the big contributing factors. You are the best judge of which mouthpiece lines up with all three of these the best. Tips from the general tuba community can help guide you though.
When I am in search of a mouthpiece in today's market. I use the knowledge of others to help me pick choices which ones a majority of others have settled on after their searches. Sorta like looking at the sales figures of cars to determine that a Camary, Accord, or Passat would most likely make a reliable and valuable family car.
Having said that, poke around the archives here at TubeNet and search for the word mouthpiece and see which ones keeps popping up in conversations. Order a few on trial or borrow some from friends and start your own search.
When evaluating the mouthpieces here are some pointers which I use, but as always first seek the advice of your doctor before attempting these exercises as your mileage may vary :)
Always put the product first. The product needs to be good where it counts. This almost always means out in front around 10-20 meters in a hall. How you sound within 10 feet of the bell is most likely useless. How often will anyone hear you perform at that range? Never, except in lessons maybe. Have a friend or DAT act as ears out front to help you choose the best product in blind taste tests.
Since you will most likely not be changing instruments with this mouthpiece, and you are even more unlikely to suddenly morph into another person, then the other factor which affects the choice is the situation. This encompasses all of the other factors which are dynamic. This includes the type of music, the ensemble, the acoustic environment, the audiences perceptions, just about everything else. This is the part where you can really put the equipment through its paces. Try different ranges, dynamics, styles, tunes. Have the person out front give you their impressions during the taste test. You might even try a couple of people.
I trust my wife's ears a great deal for these things and she never lets me down. Because she knows my playing, she can usually spot the better mouthpiece in only a few short seconds of A/B comparison.
Things to listen for are the some of the same things you listen for at any audition. Good sound. Clear articulations. Wide, well controlled dynamic range. Intonation. Evenness of sound.
Secondary to product, for me, is the ease at which the product can be reached. Of course this is within reason. I could most likely produce a good product on my CC with a bass trombone mouthpiece, but this would most certainly be easy. Common sense should prevail.
Last consideration should be price, IMO. This is of course based on the notion that this is a professional tool which will get many years of service and be used with a high level of repetition. Again, common sense should prevail. There are some mouthpiece which I am less inclined to even try or recommend based on their $200+ price tags. The only reason I was willing to fork out $150 for the mouthpiece I use on my CC is because several people whom's professional opinions I trust had already given it their stamp of approval. This did not mean that I wouldn't turn around and sell it the next day after I received it and tried it out if it was a dud. It just meant that I believed that the mouthpiece had a high probability of being useful to me based on people using it on similiar equipment and in similiar situations. Luckely the me variable lined well also and I found a match.
After the mouthpiece audition, send the runners up back to where they came for a refund. Several shops allow trials with modest restocking fees. Conferences are also a good venue to try out several. Just try to get the mouthpieces for long enough to escape to a more quiet location to try them out with a friend. The vendors rooms are typically too noisy for productive evaluations.
When it all said and done, it will not be all said and done. New products come out and peoples tastes change. I know of few people who play on the same mouthpiece for all of their careers. The Perantucci 99 will come out, or the Laskey 30I, or the Shilke 9mm. Who knows what? We all have roadkill mouthpieces which sit on shelves and act as reminders to past times. Like finding an old pair of shoes and remembering what you were doing when you wore them. How they always caused a blister on your heel, or how you felt you could run 30 seconds faster when they were new.
Go ahead and experiment with other mouthpieces and once you find a new favorite one, set the Bach 18 on a shelf or in a box and rediscover it again in a few years or decades.
sean