PLAYING ON A SMALLER MOUTHPIECE

[Mauger]

I've read a few posts about going to a smaller moutpiece......and I thought I'd add a new topic about it.

I have been playing on a Monette B4L for about 4 years. I love the sound, but yet boy do I work hard to play alot of hard lead. I finally hve decided to go ahead and go to smaller diamater/ and cup. Alot of trumpet players get caught in the ole thinking of "OH YEAH.... he can play high, etc... BUT he plays on a small piece. (ha,ha) I have to laugh after myself getting caught up in that for awhile when I was younger. But hey guys and gals.... if you are playing Lead/ jazz/ Big Band with some hard charts.... use what works. I did a good bit of readng etc, and some of my favorite trumpet players played small pieces (and I'm not just talking about the Big Band screamers either). Cats like HARRY JAMES, LOUIS ARMSTRONG, had a great sound, and yes they played on the small pieces. WHY????? Because they worked for them. I've seen guys tring to kill themselfs playing lead on Bach 1 1/2's or even 3's. Shoot..... it makes no sense. At first with a small piece the sound will seem very thin..... but once you work with it for awhile you should be able to get a big sound.
Trick is you need to reallly work, and practise on these smaler pieces. The ole boys like James and Armstrong were gigging 4 hrs a night, and somedays playing 8 hrs with rehearsals, and the gigs.

I'd love to hear your opinion on this subject if you have the time & have also been sucessful in playing smaller peice. There are many good smaller size mouthpieces. So I'm not selling one brand. I did however choose and am working with a Callet DT-10. In just a few days man .....can I tell the difference. Playing a high C feels like and the effort is like playing a top line E used to feel on my wider and larger mouthpiece. Anything that can make my trumpet life easier....I'm ALL FOR IT. But let me play this thing for a few months and see how I hold up on a 4 hr gig on a tuff lead book before I say much more. I must say thoiugh I"m excited about the change. I didn't make the change to be able to play higher...... I made it to make my life EASIER!

[Cozy]

I play a DT-10, also. Great mpc. After a couple of lessons with Jerome Callet and consulting in between, I got it and like it. The DT-10 is one of the great lead mpc's. Enjoy!

Cozy
http://www.cozychops.com

[SHS_Trumpet]

I too played the B4L for a period of time, then I realized I was working so hard I had to do something. I bought a B4LVS, which has a little less than half the cup volume of the B4L. I still work pretty hard though. I had a revelation my lead playing when a horn I bought came with a vintage Blessing 5 it's about a 10 1/2 F heck maybe even G but I scream with it. I'm 16 and I play along with some maynard, and Arturo redordings. I think the bottom line is "pick up a mouthpiece and if it works for you who cares what size it is?"
_________________
Andrew Fowler
MYNWA
"90% of trumpet music is below high C"