Eb Cornet questions

[DLA]

I'm considering the purchase of an Eb soprano cornet for usage in a British-style brass band. I need the opinions of people that have played this very demanding part in this specific venue.

#1. If you only had $1500....what cornet would you buy?
#2 If you had $2100....what cornet would you buy?
#3. If money were no object....what cornet would you buy?
#4. What horns should I steer clear of?

Mouthpiece? Do I want a V cup? (background: I use a Bach 1C for my trumpet and a Bach 7E for my pic)

For my UK friends, please feel free to comment in pounds and I'll do the conversion myself.

Thanks for your help,
Doug
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Bach NY7 (180S77) Bb
Bach Strad C
Schilke E3L Eb/D
Yamaha Custom Pic
Holton Flugel F-100
Xeno 8620 Yamaha Eb Sop. Cornet

[dacman]

The soprano player in the British Brass Band I play in currently uses a Kanstul and he loves it. Before that he was using a Yamaha, which he hated. He was always having to use false fingering to play in tune and it was stuffy in the upper register for him. I have also played this horn and it is not the most friendly instrument I have played. He has also played the Schilke and although it is a fine horn, he liked the Kanstul (a little darker) better. I have heard him quite a bit on all 3 horns and I think the Kanstul sounds the best of the three in a British Brass Band setting. The Yamaha was hard to play in tune, the Schilke was a little "bright" in my opinion, and the Kanstul seemed to be in tune and more cornet sounding than the others.

Another really important part of playing the soprano is mouthpiece selection. Although, most Bb cornet players in a British Brass Band opt for the deep "V" mouthpieces (as they should), soprano players tend toward shallower mouthpieces to facilitate playing in the upper register for sustained periods of time. Our Sop player has been looking for a good mouthpiece for quite a while. He started on a Bach 1.5C, which was fine at first, but it lacked the delicate soprano sound needed in much of the literature. From there he used a CBK5 for a couple years, but he was never really that happy. Recently, he has switched to a Warburton that not only plays beautifully, but is also much easier to play. Mouthpiece selection is of course a personal thing, but the basic thing to remeber is to get something that allows you to play in tune and delicately in the upper register. The Eb Cornet should sound differently than an Eb trumpet. I suspect mouthpiece selection plays a role in this.

A couple other mouthpieces to consider are the Sparx 4C and the new Sparx "E" mouthpiece that Ted Sparx designed specifically for soprano. Our backup soprano player uses the band's Yamaha horn and can get it to sound good using a Sparx 4C.

I would be intereseted to hear what our firends across the pond have to say regarding this question. I think we could all gain some insight from the Brits regarding Brass Band playing.

I hope this helps.
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Authorized Dealer of Eclipse Trumpets

Don Cornelius
Braw Brass
http://www.brawbrass.com
info@brawbrass.com

[StevenPSparks]

Although I did not price it, I recently played a Kanstul at the factory, and it was stellar!! Sound & intonation were superb. I like the Sparx 'pieces mentioned above and, although I've heard unpleasantries about them from some, I also like the Wick "S" (as in Soprano) piece.
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Sparks in Daytona

"I'm older now, so don't be a blowhard"
¦\___oTTT_____
¦/ (__o¦¦¦o__)

[bj]

Hi
I must admit that I find most of the sops on the market can work OK. Match player/instrument/mouthpiece and all is possible. I like the Yam 6610 (earlier one with 1st and 3rd shunts - not the later 3rd valve trigger model) that someone else on this thread doesn't like, so it will be an individual thing.

I have also found that I like the Getzen and Schilke, was OK with a Courtois and have even found the much maligned Sovereign playable with some false fingerings.
I have tried (but not played "under fire" in band situations) the Smith-Watkins which seemed very nice when played in a room on my own.

If you can match the mouthpiece with the instrument, I think most of the main sops on the market are OK. This is where the Warburton users have a big advantage with the ease of changing backbores. For example I found that the best mp to use with the brighter sops like a Schilke was a Yam 7D4d for me. With the others I like my Monette 6 cornet mp.
Just try and find the one you like if you can get access to a few.
just a few rambling thoughts
Brian Jones

[KanstulBrass]

The King of Tonga endorses the Kanstul ZKC 1536 Eb Soprano Cornet!

This sounds like I just made it up, but it's true. A few years ago, the King of Tonga came to visit the United States, and to visit a Tongan community in the San Francisco Bay area. Formerly under British protection, Tonga and her citizens maintain a British brass band tradition.

The Tongan band in the Bay Area is outfitted with Kanstul brass, including a ZKC 1536 Eb cornet, and they were to give a special performance for the King himself. Their performance featured a solo on the Eb cornet, much to the King's delight. In fact, King of Tonga was so taken with that cornet that he decided to visit the store from which the horn had been purchased, Bronstein Music in San Francisco. His security people cleared the store, and the King met with store personnel.

Although visions of "Coming To America" come to mind, Rich Welker of Bronstein Music said that it was just a visit and that the King was cordial.

But for the monarch of a nation rich in brass band tradition to comment on our cornet - this is high praise!

Regards,
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Charles G Hargett
Brass Industry Consultant

(Kanstul, Shires, BAC, Benge)

[ENP]

I can speak for the sound of the Sparx new E series designed specifically for soprano playing. Over the weekend I was at the Hannaford Street Silver Band concert. Norm Engel is the sop player and he was playing Ted's new line of mouthpieces. It sounded terrific. Norm always sounds terrific but the sound was resonant and sweet when he needed to be and bright and powerful when he took the dynamic up a notch. Pitch was great all night.

I play the Sparx 3 and 3b and they just work great. I am not a soprano player at all, but I can only imagine that this mouthpiece would help anyone play that nasty hard little instrument!

Good luck with your search. Feel free to contact Ted with any questions. He is very approachable and can perhaps guide you to the mouthpiece that would suit you the best.

I hope this helps.
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dM
David Marlatt
Eighth Note Publications
www.enpmusic.com

[Bob Stevenson]

In recent years the best and most popular sop here is the Schilke which was conceived here by Howard Snell and then made up to his ideas by Renold Shilke. It came into existance expressly to defeat the intonation problems which had dogged the sop historically and made it the hardest instrument in the band to master as it required a talent not just for music to tame it! In less expensive and easier to find class the Yammy is a good buy but you need to try out several until you get one that suits your playing technique,...try the Denis Wick sop mpc first.

For the story of the schilke, this from the 'Schilke Loyalist' site;

The Schilke E flat cornet, which has no model number and is simply called the E flat or soprano cornet, has been the largest selling Schilke cornet, much prized by the English brass bands for its fine intonation and tone quality. It is a striking elegant design. It shares the mouthpipe with the Schilke P5-4 piccolo trumpet, has a 0.450 medium bore with slight expansion at the valve bows, and the small bell it shares with the E3L.

Howard Snell, former principal player with the London Symphony, who earlier had pioneered the use of the Schilke four valve E3L-4, was also present at the creation of the E flat cornet. Dave King, a former Snell student, tells the story of its origins:

I was playing for a brass band called Desford Colliery which was conducted by Howard Snell. At this time the national brass band championships were sponsored by Boosey and Hawkes. Howard had always used a Schilke three valve E flat trumpet in place of a soprano cornet as the tuning was much better. Boosey and Hawkes, fearing that this might catch on and harm sales of their own soprano (which was awful! ) banned the use of trumpets for the championship. Howard then phoned Mr Schilke himself and asked him to build a soprano cornet. Schilke said that he had never tried but would have a go. Nothing more was heard until a year or so later, wrapped up in brown paper and packaging, arrived the little gold plated soprano cornet. It was the finest soprano cornet ever built and Schilke soon started selling one to every major band in the country.

As with the smaller trumpets, many believe the Schilke E flat cornet to be the standard against which all others are measured......."

You might like to look at this;

http://www.4barsrest.com/reviews/products/inst003.asp

There might be other reviews on 4br (the foremost Uk band site) which have relevance to your needs,....sop mpc's are reviewed there I think.

Kind regards and good luck in your search,..Bob

[Bryan_sop_trumpet]

I've been playing the sop since I was about 12 years old. I started off on a Getzen long model. I don't really remember much as it was a while ago. What I do remember is, that I liked the larger bell, more the size of a standard Bb cornet. Since then I've played Yamaha (cheaper models ), Besson Sovereign, Schilke, Courtois, and Sterling. Of all of them, it's hard to choose which I prefer out of the Schilke and the Courtois (with the sterling not far behind) I'm currently using a Shilke (beryllium bell) and it plays really well, although it doesn't look as good as it could because of the silver plating coming off (was like that when I joined the band) I've not tried any of the better models of Yamaha or the Blackburn, which I've heard a lot of good things about.

As for mouthpieces, as always, it's an individual thing. I usually use a VB1.5c or bigger. I used to use a DW 'S' mouthpiece but I find the backbore to small, making it hard to get any decent volume out of it.
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Bryan Herman
Trumpet - Disco Inferno
Trumpet - Spanish Harlow Orchestra