unexpected turn

[Seymor B Fudd]

Having played on Bach 1 1/4 C (diameter 17,09), cornet and trumpet, lead and brassband for the greater part of my life I came to the conclusion I didn´t develop the way I should so safari started say 15 years ago. Soon I found that a Schilke 14 (diameter 17,02) was rather good, better rim, somewhat richer sound.
Four years ago four things happened: 1)chops melt down because of over use 2)I took my first lessons ever 3)found the BE method 4)found myself playing much more trumpet than ever, lead chair - as well as brassband (front row as "always").
Safari continued! How to combine intense practice&playing cornet and trumpet?
During a spring, using the BE I found that I seemed to be able to play deeper cornet mpc:s - and - crucial - with smaller diameters - 16,25 - so trumpet mpc:s should be adjusted accordingly. Resulted in Wick Ultra 7 C for the cornet. Found the Stork SM VM6, helped by a TH poster. Excellent piece. But then I found that practicing a lot before brassband concerts made my upper register somewhat wobbly, like losing the bearings.
Practicing (a lot)trumpet prior to a concert made my lips unresponsive, made me tired quickly on the cornet. AND: gradually I felt that my lips were "locked up", behind bars. I have posted several times describing this dilemma.
So I began to think that maybe a bigger mpc might free them? Digging in my collection of mpc:s I found a Schilke 14 3D3 (=custom made years ago). Smoother transition to the brassband; but if?.....So I found another gem, seldom used, a Schilke 14B, cornet variant; pulled out an adapter and tried the combination on my trumpet. Wow! So I bought myself a Schilke 14B for trumpet! Much to my amazement my range has gained, no problems switching bands/chairs - practicing on the cornet helps me play the trumpet and vice versa. Before this discovery it was as if practicing/playing the one horn counteracted playing the other.
For the brassband people I must add that I also bought a Wick Ultra 1 1/2 which is very good - however, for the time being our conductor has not discovered that I use a Schilke - I seem to blend just fine.

So the conclusion of this is: after almost 4 years I´m back on larger diameter mouthpieces - gaining range/endurance/tone!
And I thought that smaller diameter would help my aging lips (77 late december). Nope!
This is, as far as I know, my firm opinion, at the least for the time being.

I read a post on this matter, going from smaller to bigger mpc:s some time ago. Anyone else having the same experiences???
_________________
Cornets: mp 143D3/ DW Ultra 1,5 C
Getzen 300 series
Yamaha YCRD2330II
Yamaha YCR6330II
Getzen Eterna Eb
Trumpets:
Yamaha 6335 RC Schilke 14B
King Super 20 Symphony DB (1970)
Selmer Eb/D trumpet (1974)

[3-Valve]

Facial structure and dentition are as individual as fingerprints. That's why it is illogical to postulate that there are absolutes that apply to everyone. Different things work for different people.

Here is the explanation as to why there are plenty of people who can play higher on larger diameter mouthpieces:

In order to have a good sound and a good high register, there has to be a very balanced, supple, freely vibrating area around the aperture. By balanced, I mean a setup where both the bottom lip and top lip are contributing as close to equally as possible to the compression that is required for upper register playing. The reason people's ranges become limited is that lip vibrations cease at some point, they choke off, so the more supple the vibrating area, the higher someone's range will be.

Players have little control over where the mp is placed on the lips because let's say a player tries to place dead center, as soon as he starts tonguing and playing intervals and moving about the various registers of the horn, that mouthpiece is going to settle to where it has the best foundation, especially tonguing, because the percussiveness of tonguing requires a good foundation.

Once the mouthpiece has settled to where it has the best foundation, the question then becomes, is there a good supple vibrating area around the aperture that I mentioned earlier and is it balanced? If not, the vibrations are going to choke off preventing playing in the upper register. This happens in varying degrees from player to player and this is what determines a player's range.

So after all of that background information, here's why larger diameters work better for some players. The wider diameter allows the mouthpiece rim to reach over a larger circumference on the chops, which in some cases might get around a particular surface area or edge of a tooth that then allows the area around the aperture to vibrate more freely. The smaller mouthpieces for these players will restrict this, causing worse results.

In summary, if a player has dentition that allows for that free vibrating area even if given just a little space to do so, he will be able to play a small mouthpiece. If not, a larger mouthpiece will work better.

I think it's common knowledge (but I'll say it anyway) that wide diameters don't necessarily have to equate to a loss of range due to the other factors such as cup depth, contour, throat, and backbore. I can remember back in the early 80s, Lynn Nicholson was playing a Jet-Tone T1A, which as a really wide diameter, yet it is a real screamer. A lot guys were playing those back then.

One thing that has always puzzled me is that I tend to bottom out on small diameter mouthpieces that are shallow, but don't bottom out on an even shallower mouthpiece that has a wider diameter. I'm guessing that it might be the contour of the inner diameter of the rim that affects that, but I'll leave that to the mouthpiece makers or experts to explain.

Personally, I can't play anything smaller than .663".

Joe Marcinkiewicz in his book called "The Buzz-Zone" likens mouthpieces to players chops as shoe sizes to people's feet. I think that's a pretty good analogy.

Then you've got others who claim that anyone can train themselves to play a very small diameter and very shallow cup if they have the time and patience to do so. This leads to another debate about whether or not getting down to a certain degree of smallness begins to confine the sound. But I'm talking reeeeeally small. For instance, Eric Miyashiro he plays what many people would consider a small diameter (.645"), but he gets a big sound with it.