cornet mouthpiece

[scottinvt]

I've started playing cornet as alternative horn and love the way it sounds. However, I lose a few notes of my limited range (D over high C). I play a Bach 2 1/2 c trumpet mouthpiece and got the same size for my cornet, thinking they'd be more or less the same, but they aren't.

So, is there a rule of thumb about which cornet mpc to use in relation to one's trumpet mouthpiece? Or is the embouchure itself different for the cornet?
Pretty beginning-level question, I know, but can anyone advise? (I'm mostly a jazz player if that figures into it at all). Thanks for any suggestions.

[Dale Proctor]

Your two Bach mouthpieces should be pretty much the same. Many cornets are a little more work to play up high, and that trait is compounded when you use a deep, conical cornet mouthpiece (not a Bach C cup).

The approach to playing cornet should be different from trumpet, more singing and smooth, for lack of a better term. It takes a good sound model, a different mindset, and practice to achieve this.

That said, jazz cornet playing is probably closer to trumpet playing than some of the other possible cornet venues.
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Olde Towne Brass
www.otbrass.com

Brass Band of Huntsville

"Brass bands are all very well in their place - outdoors and several miles away ." - Sir Thomas Beecham

[sparxIV]

Hi scottinvt,

I can help you with cornet mps. .. Please feel free to check out my website at www.sparxmusic.com

I have cornet mouthpieses for all types to music and players.

Cheers,
Ted
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sparx

[connicalman]

[scottinvt]

Thanks to everyone for your responses.

"The approach to playing cornet should be different from trumpet, more singing and smooth, for lack of a better term."

Exactly! I love the sound and only play it in certain venues: sitting in with a small group in a club or with a small jazz ensemble, playing the great American songbook, backing up a vocalist, etc. (Favorite players: Bix, Bobby Hackett, Ruby Braff, Warren Vache and a few others).

I have no intention of trying to be a screamer on cornet (I'm certainly not one on trumpet). I just want the notes between E on the staff and high C to come a little easer so I don't have to work so hard for them to come out clean.

Thanks

[ConnArtist]

What cornet are you playing?

I have one horn I practically have to fight into submission to get it to play high notes, while I have others that sing high with ease. So if you are a trumpeter with a cheap student cornet to diddle around on, that could be the problem.

Regarding mpcs... what I think of as the true cornet tone is only delivered with deep cup mpcs, like a Wick (or my Yamaha 9E). Common to all deep mpcs I have seen is a HUGE venturi/aperture. Yet for me, a smaller venturi seems to give more resistance and make playing high notes easier.

SO... while I think you would most benefit from working on high register exercises to extend your range and endurance, if you just want a quick mpc fix, and are not a serious player, I am guessing you might need to go custom with a cup of your choosing, but tighter than stock/standard venturi (or possibly backbore??).
_________________
"Stomvi" PhrankenPhlugel w/ Blessing copper bell
1971 Coprion Director cornet
c. 1955? Besson 10-10
c. 1960s? Steenhuysen Flugel
1986 Bach Strad 37 ML

[giakara]

[GordonH]

This is going to depend on whether you are a soloist or playing in a brass band. If its for solo playing then you can get away with a very smooth sounding very deep and wide mouthpiece, but if you are playing modern brass band music with the stamina and stylistic changes that this requires then some broadness of tone is going to have to be sacrificed. I am currently stuck between a rock and a hard place because I have to do both and its not easy.
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Bb Trumpet - Bach 43
Bb Cornet - Wedgwood, Yamaha Maestro
Eb Trumpet -Schilke E3L-4
C Trumpet - Bach 229H/25R
Piccolo - Jinbao rotary/Blackburn leadpipe