Posted by Rick Denney on December 24, 2000 at 14:08:09:
In Reply to: what about mouthpieces anyway..... posted by Neil MacQuarrie on December 23, 2000 at 16:06:25:
I play one mouthpiece per instrument. Changing mouthpieces affects low-register response, but not upper register, at least not the upper register any differently than it affects the whole horn. If it doesn't pop notes well, then that fault will be most apparent at the extremes of range, but it is affecting the whole scale.
I've always matched mouthpiece for the color of their sound. The PT-48 I prefer on the Miraphone gives that horn a commanding sound--emphasizing its Germanic qualities rather than subduing them. It moves the Miraphone in the Alexander direction, if I can say that without blaspheming.
On the York, however, I'd love a mouthpiece that emphasizes it's American-ness (even though it's a German-made horn, of course). The funnel-shaped mouthpieces do that. But a more important issue for me on that horn is finding one with the right intonation characteristics. When I find that, then I'll work on *my* sound rather than hoping to get a good sound from the mouthpiece. The good pros can buss on the open leadpipe and get a better sound that me on a custom mouthpiece, so I'd like to cover some of that ground before I worry too much about mouthpiece subtleties. After all, every good mouthpiece out there was the best thing for someone.
I know that Jacobs mentioned changing mouthpieces for different effects, but I gather that has been somewhat overblown. If I'm understanding things correctly, he almost always used his good, old Conn Helleberg.
Rick "whose mouthpieces go with the horn more than the music" Denney