Should I get a new mouthpiece?

[LSOfanboy]

My personal opinion on the matter is that; no, you should not get a new mouthpiece because you feel peer-pressured into it. If your current mouthpiece works well then stick with it, as a relatively young and (respectfully) low level student there are plenty of other elements to be sorting out in your playing first.

Having said that, I do disagree with many of the comments on this thread. I would suggest that actually it IS a generally accepted fact that a larger diameter will help to add breadth. Of course the quality of the player is the most important factor, and a poorly produced sound will not be vastly improved by a bigger mouthpiece, but when I look around my colleagues I would judge that 90% of the classical/symphonic players do gravitate towards the 1 1/2, 1 1/4 and 1 sizes in order to achieve a broader tone. Yes, there are exceptions, but we are talking one in ten at the very most. Be wary of posters suggesting that 'I play a such and such, and I sound great' because, ultimately, many of them are not professional players and (to be brutally honest) would not be called into a professional Orchestral section, regardless of the ability they like to think they have. Of the countless professional classical players I have either met, worked with or simply admired, I have not once seen someone use a 10 1/2C when looking for a broad orchestral sound. Equally, I have yet to meet a professional commercial player who turns up to the studio for a hard session on lead trumpet and pulls out a 1C.

My point is not to encourage you to change at the moment, but to support the notion that, as your playing becomes more specialised (a little way down the line) there are general trends in equipment and Orchestral players mainly move to larger, deeper mouthpieces whilst commercial players opt for narrower and shallower. As with all things, there are obviously exceptions, and so it is worth experimenting a bit, but as a starting point it is more sensible to follow the 90% and not the 10%.

Hope this is helpful.

All the best

[JVL]

hello LSO,
the ID size is strictly personal. I can't really play at a pro level with a 1.5 ID size, whatever the depth, throat etc.
Yes the majority of orchestral trumpeters play on large ID. But it's also a question of morphology; we could also tell it's a question of convention.
On another field, if we think about a sprinter like Christophe Lemaitre who has several european records and olympics medals, while generally his colleagues are some Hulks compared to him, maybe until now he squatts only with 60 kgs, while in sprinters you generally squatt with more than 200 kgs. And i'll not talk about a young athlete, years ago that had his career stopped because at world level they gave him a conventional program (too heavy weights, so he lost power -we entend power like the product of strength x velocity).

You can't ignore the importance of the other parameters like cup depth, throat, bb, even if you're right about the majority using large ID.
But that is not a reason for individual choices.

best

[Brad361]

[trickg]

I'll just leave this here.


_________________
Patrick Gleason
- Jupiter 1600i, ACB 3C, Warburton 4SVW/Titmus RT2
- Brasspire Unicorn C
- ACB Doubler

"95% of the average 'weekend warrior's' problems will be solved by an additional 30 minutes of insightful practice." - PLP

[O00Joe]

I imagine the large diameter = orchestral sound idea is one of those instances of "correlation is not causation". For me anything larger than say a Bach 3 is uncomfortable but I definitely have an orchestral oriented sound. It has most to do with technique, particularly tongue arch and sustain, in my experience.
_________________
1981 Bb Bach Stradivarius 37/25 ML raw - Laskey 60C
2003 C Bach Stradivarius 239/25A L silver - Stork Vacchiano 4C25C
2006 Bb/A Schilke Piccolo P5-4 silver - Reeves A adaptor - Stork SM SP6
Akai MPC Live II
Roland JD-Xi
Casio MT-68

[Vin DiBona]

Orchestral players - especially at the upper echelon of orchestras - use larger mouthpieces because they have the skill and chops which many on here simply do not have nor understand.
These mouthpieces are generally between 16.66 and 17.5 MM with fairly deep cups and larger back bores. These kinds of mouthpieces can generate soft sounds which blend well with the winds. These mouthpieces can soar over the orchestra playing with the brilliance (NOT brightness) needed when the orchestra is going full tilt.
These orchestral players are in a rarified level of performance. Extreme upper register players are also in a rarified level of performance and use the mouthpieces that give them the extreme upper register the sound and ease they must have to get the job done, hence usually smaller diameters and shallow cup depths.
If one has poor chops and technique, a large mouthpiece only will exasperate the problems. The same will hold for those who think the lead type mouthpiece will give them that double C. No chops and skill, no upper range.
R. Tomasek

[O00Joe]

That's the thing though. There ARE people in the top orchestral echelons using relatively smaller diameters. I've seen as small as a 7, and a few playing at a 5. They're not nearly as common but it isn't necessarily a requirement.
_________________
1981 Bb Bach Stradivarius 37/25 ML raw - Laskey 60C
2003 C Bach Stradivarius 239/25A L silver - Stork Vacchiano 4C25C
2006 Bb/A Schilke Piccolo P5-4 silver - Reeves A adaptor - Stork SM SP6
Akai MPC Live II
Roland JD-Xi
Casio MT-68

[JVL]

Inner diameter has to do with morphology, not strength nor skill.
If i'm shorter than you, Vin Dibona, and we're doing bench, holding the bar at the same angle, i'll put my hands at places nearer from the center of the bar, while you'll put your hands nearer from the ends. And we'll work with the same weight, at the same angle.
best