Posted by Barry Guerrero on November 18, 2002 at 18:56:03:
In Reply to: Expensive Mouthpieces vs. Old Standbys posted by Joe Baker on November 18, 2002 at 17:50:06:
A student once asked horn player Alan Civil what he should look for in a mouthpiece. In a very dry, deliberate manner, Mr. Civil replied to the student that the mouthpiece should have a hole at both ends.
I think that your point is very well taken. I have a Marcinkiewicz "concert hall" m.p. that I think does work somewhat better than most traditional m.p.'s. However, is the percentage of difference really enough to warrant the much higher price tag (I got mine greatly reduced)? Well, I guess that's a very personal question, and has much to do with how much disposable income a person may have. I've always felt that the difference in horns is far greater than the difference in m.p.'s. That doesn't mean that people shouldn't try to find a m.p. that suits them to a tee, but people probably shouldn't assign too much importance or responsibility on to the m.p. either. If things are that bad, then one should either practice more, get a new teacher, and/or consider getting a different horn.
More than thinking of any given m.p. as being, "the perfect" m.p. that'll make a certain horn come to life, I tend to think of different sized m.p.'s as being tools that one can select from to better match the job at hand. In other words, smaller, shallower m.p.'s for really high stuff, and big toilet bowls for the German oompah band. That's especially true for those of us who do most of their playing on just one instrument. Personally speaking, I don't believe in horns being "m.p. sensitive", but I can't claim to be a huge expert on that issue either. To me, a horn that's real sensitive to m.p.'s just isn't that great a horn. Then again, I'm used to Mirafones and Bessons, and they pretty much "blow" with anything shoved in them (some poeple would argue that Bessons don't blow very well anyway, but I like their tone quality).
Good questions.
Barry Guerrero