Breathing on Compensating Euphonium

[felipecb]

Well I've played a non-Compensating Euphonium for a while and I never had any kind of troubles when it comes to dealing with breathing. But few weeks ago I took a Compensating Euphonium, a Weingrill & Nirschl model which is made here in Brasil, I have felt kind of uncomfortable with my breathing which I think is not that bad at all at least as I've just said above that was never a big problem for me.. So I would like to ask you guys if it is normal to spend more air when playing a comp model or I don't know...

I'm sorry for some misspellings. It's a Brazilian who writes.
Thank you.

[davewerden]

Most compensating horns are larger, so they require more air. As I recall, the Nirschl responds pretty easily, too, which may make it seem worse.

Did you change the size of the mouthpiece at the same time? I'm not talking about the shank, which you might need to change depending on what size the old horn took - I'm referring to the cup size and throat size of the mouthpiece you use on the Nirschl. Usually when students are changing to a different horn, I suggest they stay with the same size mouthpiece while they get used to the new horn.

[WaltTrombone]

If you are used to playing a non compensating horn, when you start on a heavier compensating horn, you may be blowing harder to try to get the same sound you got on your older instrument. With the extra mass of the compensating setup, that instrument will sound darker and may be less responsive than a non-compensator, so you may be just trying to get it sounding the same.