First Mouthpiece Safari

[LiamTrumpet]

Hey. I've been playing for the past 5-6 years in school and I've been one of the better players. I've used a Yamaha 11B4 that entire time. I want to start exploring and see what kind of mouthpiece works best for me because I hear it can be a good experience to graduate from one's first mouthpiece. Right now I have pretty good tone and can play up to the D above high C. Any tips for me?

Also, I mainly play pop/rock stuff both in school and in my own practice.

[kehaulani]

[Brassnose]

If there is no need, don’t. There is no point unless there is a specific problem/challenge you are trying to address. I played my JK 5C for about 11 years until I joined a big band that had a semi-pro + pro trumpet section and I got buried with my Blessing + JK combo. Only then I started looking (and went the wrong way with a super flat screamer mouthpiece rather than working on technique to reach those high notes).

Well, 30 years after switching to the screamer (and then on to a few other pieces) guess where I am again for playing my Blessing I can directly compare the production quality of two JK 5C with a 41 year age difference. The old one (1980) is as good as the new one (2021), or vice versa. Even ordered one with a plastic rim to play Christmas gigs in the rain and cold.

My true (rather small) mouthpiece safaris really only started once I had made significant progress as a player (that is, about 25 years into playing …) and they had a specific target in every case:

Improve that commercial sound and ease of playing high notes on the Bach
Improve the orchestral broad sound while keeping a presence on the Schmidt
Improve clarity and attacks on the flugel while keeping the flugel sound

So now I do have a specific mouthpiece for every instrument, but I started looking with very specific goals soundwise while attempting to not compromise my capabilities as a player - doesn’t help you if you sound great the first 30 minutes into a gig and then the quacking duck comes out because you’re too tired.

Overall, I owned less than 20 mouthpieces in 41 years of playing (and currently sell some in the marketplace) - maybe I am slow but I like to look for that one solution that works and then keep it.

I do, however, realize that, as I get older, my chops work differently than they used to (and some of this could be alleviated by a mouthpiece change) but this was not an issue until I hit my mid-forties.
_________________
2019 Martin Schmidt eXcellence
1992 Bach 43GH/43
1989 Kühnl & Hoyer Model 15 flugel
1980/2023 Custom Blessing Scholastic C 😎
1977 Conn 6B
1951 Buescher 400 Lightweight
AR Resonance, Frate, Klier

[cheiden]

I agree that changes in general should be to some perceived shortcoming. If you want a slightly fuller sound try the 11C4. I'm not quick to advise going shallower to the 11A4 until you have more experience.
_________________
"I'm an engineer, which means I think I know a whole bunch of stuff I really don't."
Charles J Heiden/So Cal
Bach Strad 180ML43*/43 Bb/Yamaha 731 Flugel/Benge 1X C/Kanstul 920 Picc/Conn 80A Cornet
Bach 3C rim on 1.5C underpart

[urbie watrous]

[deleted_user_687c31b]

Can't help but agree with the other replies. There's no such thing as 'graduating from a mouthpiece' (i.e. Are you done with it? Do you feel you're now qualified to play something else that you weren't allowed to before?). And unless there's something about your playing that you wish to change, what would you graduate into anyway?

That being said, of course it can be fun to try different gear (not just mouthpieces) and experience how it can affect your playing and/or sound.

[Irving]

Liam, it sounds like things are going well, so why bother changing mouthpieces? Spend the money on something else, trumpet related or not.

[JayKosta]

You can CHANGE to other mouthpieces to determine if one is better, but there is NO guarantee that you will actually find one that is better than what you are now using.

I think you would get more helpful advice about improving your playing by thinking about and describing -

1) What is not working now
2) What seems to be preventing it from working
3) Is there something you are doing that is causing it

And YES, a 'good teacher' might to able to identify all those things, and give solutions with very few lessons.
_________________
Most Important Note ? - the next one !
KNOW (see) what the next note is BEFORE you have to play it.
PLAY the next note 'on time' and 'in rhythm'.
Oh ya, watch the conductor - they set what is 'on time'.

[kehaulani]

[royjohn]

Hi Liam,
I posted in your other thread about mpcs and was wrong when I supposed that your current mpc is way different from a Bach 7C...comparing the closest mpc to yours listed on the Kanstul and the Bach 7C, your mpc is pretty close to a 7C, at least in rim shape and ID...

I don't know why there is all this, no, no about trying a different mpc. An interest in seeing, after 5-6 years of playing, whether a different mpc would make any difference seems natural to me. Rather than making very small changes, as some have suggested, I would try out some fairly clearly different mouthpieces from my current one first. Something large, something smaller (in ID), something deeper and something shallower. That's just keeping it fairly simple for starters. If you go to the GR site, you can pull up their mouthpieces school and look at all the possible measurements and what GR says they influence.

You can easily A-B compare a candidate mpc with your current one, but you need some criteria. I would suggest these:
attacks...split or sluggish or good? (Try some ppp attacks, as those are the hardest)
blow resistance...too much or too little or just right?
range...better or worse or the same?
endurance...better or worse or the same?
tone...better or worse or the same (you have to decide whether you want bright or dark and evaluate how this interacts with endurance and range)
intonation...better or worse or the same? (use a tuner and don't look until you have locked on the pitch)

Once you have evaluated a mpc, maybe you can look at what GR or Bach say about the various parameters and make an intelligent guess as to why it is better or worse for you. Or you can do what a lot of other people do and just make a guess as to what's happening and try something else.

Because mouthpiece safaris can get expensive and time-consuming, I would advise that you try out some mouthpiece that belong to your friends or your band director or a store with a used mouthpiece bin. If a local store will let you try out mouthpieces, that might be an option. Cheap used mouthpieces are a possibility, and some stores, like Mouthpiece Express, will let you charge one or more mouthpieces and trial them. They will then let you return for credit any or all that you don't want to keep.

If you find something somewhat like your current piece, but somewhat bigger or smaller, or somewhat deeper or shallower, I would think that would be a good place to start. You should be able to notice some trend or another. If bigger seems better, you might go bigger yet. If smaller seems better, try even smaller. And so on. I would leave bored out throats and different rim styles and different backbores for later experiments. That's when a two piece system might make sense, as you can determine which backbore makes sense and then try different cups on it or vice versa.

At any point in this process you can say stop and stay with your old mouthpiece...or not.

Good luck with your search...you can always post your findings here for comments.
_________________
royjohn
Trumpets: 1928 Holton Llewellyn Model, 1957 Holton 51LB, 2010 Custom C by Bill Jones, 2011 Custom D/Eb by Bill Jones
Flugels: 1975 Olds Superstar, 1970's Elkhardt, 1970's Getzen 4 valve
Cornet: 1970's Yamaha YCR-233S . . . and others . . .

[Irving]

If players enjoy trying new mouthpieces and horns, then by all means go ahead. People like to collect all sorts of objects. Why not mouthpieces as well? Being a consumer is still legal in the USA.

If you are trying mouthpieces to improve as a player, then I will compare it to buying sporting equipment. Tennis rackets, golf clubs, bicycles whatever. If you are buying equipment to be a better tennis player, then I believe that you are wasting your money. The improvement comes only through practice and hard work. A great player once told me, "there are no secrets to playing the trumpet and no shortcuts". If you have a mouthpiece that works, stick with it. Or if you want to collect them, at least buy used. There are lots of them for sale

A message for those starting out. You don't need to go on a mouthpiece safari. Do you have a Bach or Yamaha? Those are fine brands. The boutique brands are no better. Don't let anybody convince you otherwise.