OK, I did it - update


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Posted by js on October 18, 2001 at 23:50:59:

I announced a few weeks ago that I would, to prove a point, spend an exorbitant amount of money and have the very fine mouthpiece maker, J. Marcinkiewicz, make me a "Concert Hall" (heavy/massive/ala "Megatone"/etc.) version of my favorite Helleburg-style mouthpiece that I like to use on large tubas: the Marcinkiewicz size H1. I was ASSURED by them that the interior of the mouthpiece would be exactly like the "stock" Marcinkiewicz H1.

Well, it arrived today and I tested it on an available tuba, a Willson CC...
...Ahem, as predicted, the playing, sound, and response characteristics were...

...just like a Marcinkiewicz H1 (in the well-chosen words of Gomer Pile: "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise")

I observed ABSOLUTELY NO differences between this "Concert Hall" mouthpiece and the regular H1 that I've played for years. (I guess I'm just not a "sensitive" enough player.) Since the Willson CC is a VERY heavy tuba, I cannot accurately report whether the "Concert Hall" actually contributed to my thighs falling asleep.

I think the trap that you students, amateurs, and professionals fall into regarding these "massive" mouthpieces is that you have no proper TEST. When you shell out a couple of hundred bucks for a mouthpiece, darn it, it is GONNA be better !!!...and since it is DIFFERENT from your old mouthpiece on the INSIDE (ahem, the part that MATTERS) by golly it IS better!!! (or at least DIFFERENT, but you mistakenly attribute its differences to the OUTSIDE rather than the INSIDE.)

Now that I've compared apples to apples, I would just like to say HUMBUG!!! HUMBUG!!! BAH, H-U-M-B-U-G !!!!!!!

The picture (if you know the story of Disney's "Dumbo") is my representation of "massive" brass instrument mouthpieces. Just as Dumbo believed that holding a crow's feather was THE significant factor that allowed him to fly, many brass players believe that extra mass around a given mouthpiece shape actually has an acoustical effect...

...HUMBUG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:^)


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