f tuba mouthpiece

[jimimus]

Short time follower, first time poster. Anyone have any suggestions for a mouthpiece for a late model Mirafone 181 f? Any f mouthpiece suggestions in general? What are you using?

[fmanola]

f tuba mouthpiece

I don't play an F myself. so I can't address your question directly, but have you posed this question on TubeNet? A lot more tuba players hang out there than seem to here.

--Frank

[jimimus]

f tuba mouthpiece

I have not, but I sure will. Thanks for the tip, Frank. What tuba mp do you use on the big horns?

[fmanola]

f tuba mouthpiece

Originally posted by: jimimus

I have not, but I sure will.  Thanks for the tip, Frank.  What tuba mp do you use on the big horns?

I mostly use a Bach 18 on my BBb (a MW 20). I have a small horn too, just not an F (a rather small Eb Couesnon). I use a Wick 3 on that.

--Frank

[jimimus]

f tuba mouthpiece

I use a Conn-Helleberg in my C (Yamaha YCB-661). I have a buddy with a coupld of Wick mps. I'll have to see if I can borrow them to try in my F.

As per your suggestion, I joined tubenet, so I'll see what advice those folks have to offer. Thanks for the input.

[bearphonium]

f tuba mouthpiece

Depending on what you like, you might look at some of the Shilke mouthpieces. As a euph player turned tuba player, I find that I like them best.

[davewerden]

f tuba mouthpiece

I have tested the KELLYberg tuba mouthpiece extensivelyl and like it a lot. It is available in stainless steel, but for about 30 bucks you can buy the Lexan (plastic) version to try it out:

KELLYBerg Tuba Mouthpiece (Black)

KELLYberg Tuba Mouthpiece (Red)

[paulmaybery]

Premium Mouthpieces.

I've been playing f tuba for 40 some years and love it. Mine right now is a large F - 6/4 - from Big Mouth Brass. I have been seduced by the Giddings and Webster Alan Baer "Beltane." It is not cheap at $235. If you are serious this one is a great piece. http://www.king-cart.com/Giddingsand...ct_match=exact

I used it a few weeks back on the F and did the Shostakovich 5th (concert band version) and was able to produce a sound that lifted the band and in the soft sections was full of beautiful colors that it turned heads. Being an old Arnold Jacobs boy, I cross train on a number of mouthpieces so as not to get too comfortable on any one, but this one I hate to put down. I am also trying the G&W "Tephra" which is considerably less ($175.00) as it is not a signature MP. Both are what G&W refer to as "Solo F" mouthpieces but do not let that scare you away. Yes, they help the high register considerably, but somehow one can get enormous low register sonority from them. I also LOVE the feeling of stainless steel. They also work very well on my BAT 6/4 CC.

I suppose I'm coming off like a testimonial. The piece (Beltane) has an interesting feature which I believe contributes to its unique qualities, that being a reversed taper in the backbore. The throat (for lack of a better term) is almost halfway down the shank and the upper part of the backbore starts large and tapers down to the throat, then a flare to the end of the shank. I have no idea acoustically what is going on, but it has me convinced.

I realize these are rather expensive and are referred to as "premium" mps. If you have a great horn, it can only play better with a quality mp that both fits you and the tuba. I could never go back to the "garden variety" mp.

Certainly there are others on the market, but I have not had occasion to try many of them. I do have a Wedge SJ Solo & SM Solo, and a Monette 94 F. They are all wonderful and I enjoy rotating them around.
If I had to stick with only one, it would be the "Beltane."

FWIW - that's my humble opinion.

[Markmc611]

I've often considered getting a Kelly, but the GW boys are local to me. But as a tuba player, in a pinch, I like the Mantanuska. It's considered a large F/Eb and their smallest Bb mouthpiece. I'm on the look out for another one of these, so if someone is holding one not being used, please message me.

[daniel76309]

... I cross train on a number of mouthpieces so as not to get too comfortable on any one, but this one I hate to put down...

Could you please elaborate on this concept and/or provide a link to more information on it? I have always thought that switching around on mouthpieces would do more harm than good, at least in the short term, but I don't have any proof of that.

[paulmaybery]

I will try to elaborate a bit. Its been since the 1970s that I studied with Mr. Jacobs.
My memory might not be that clear.

With "cross training" on various mps, one needs to continually keep focusing on the buzz, centering the pitch, avoiding excess pressure and not worrying about having only "one sweet spot" that you can navigate from. Mr. Jacobs was a staunch advocate of "mouthpiece solfege" and had me in particular work about 20-30 minutes a day just on buzzing melodic material. The emphasis was on pitch accuracy and disciplined tonguing, strong corners, a good anchor all coupled with a good healthy breath. He also measured, with the aid of one of his scientific "gizmos", how much atmospheric pressure we generated inside the mouthpiece cup and encouraged us to keep supporting the sound by maintaining a good continuous stream of wind. Pianissimos needed that support in the mp as well. With regard to his embouchure, he seemed to be able to sound great on anything as it was more about what he was generating with his chops and the musical concept in his mind, rather than depending on the hardware. He had several mps that he used and switched around for whatever reasons. I recall John Fletcher telling me back in the late 70s that he swapped equipment around. (both mps and horns) His reason, so he said at the time, was that no equipment is perfect, and when you start going crazy from the shortcomings of one, then its time to switch to another for a while that has a different set of issues. It might amaze players today, but John used 2 stock mps; a Conn 2 and a Bach 24AW. Jacobs had also given him his "Lucky Helleberg" which he claimed always seemed to get him out of jams when his chops just didn't care to respond optimally.

I realize it is never as simple as all that, and a younger player with less developed chops might be wise not to mess around without having the "wisdom of the sages" guiding them. Over my career I have had to play all 4 tubas, (BBb, CC, EEb and F) as well as bass trombone and euphonium. The embouchure my case has had to be responsive to many various situations that require various pieces of equipment.

I have one "quirky" mp that seems to only work in my CC BAT and that is a "Dr. Young" MP by Reynolds. It looks like a giant french horn mouthpiece and seems to be proportionally accurate in that case. In the tuba, the fundamentals are so strongly emphasized that is really not practical for ensemble playing. But because of that it is wonderful to "warm down" on after a strenuous day.

I hope this has been helpful. Remember, pros and old "geezers" like me have all sorts of tricks up our sleeves that we don't go around suggesting that every one use. As players we are all so very different and our playing situations sometimes demand unusual resources to pull off the gig. "On a good day in a perfect world" we can be idealistic and say "this is how it is done" but I have never had one of those days, ever.

Practice and play "smart." Take the highroad when it comes to developing your skills. These days there are so many fine players that seem to have the "gift" but they all confess to working extremely hard to get where they are. There are no "magic bullets."

Best wishes.

[daniel76309]

Thank you for all the info! I even learned a new word today (solfege--thank you Wikipedia).

I never had lessons beyond high school and gave up playing halfway through college. Now 40 years later (was it REALLY that long ago?) thanks to the internet and this forum I am learning things that I otherwise would never even think about. I think that back then to a large extent I achieved high notes by smashing the mouthpiece harder against my face. Now I know better, but I think perhaps am still tempted to do that when I get tired. I think "taking the high road" as you put it would mean that it would be better to rest at that point and try again later.

For whatever an amateur's perspective is worth, I would like to second your assessment of the Giddings and Webster mouthpieces. I think Wicks are great too--of the few Wicks I have tried the SM4X works best for me. But recently I have acquired a Kadja, an E-1, and just the other day, a Carbonaria. I am still sorting them out, but I love the clarity of sound I get with these and the stainless steel feels great. That is part of why I asked about the cross-training concept, i.e. would it be counter-productive to alternate among these. Some would say to pick a mouthpiece and stick with it, but I can see that perhaps there may be another valid approach.

[Markmc611]

Not to be left out are the Danny Helseth signature models.

http://www.king-cart.com/Giddingsand...ct_match=exact

Plus there are more exotic modular systems out there, like Doug Elliott, Houser, Blokepiece, and there's 3D printing to consider.

But there's also horns in those mouthpiece combinations to consider. I like the GW's, particularly on bass/tenor trombones using their Mark I (1/2G), Karif, and the NY-O (like a Schilke 60CV). And at some point in the discussion, it's going to be argued about doubling, or playing other instruments, and how that impacts a player's mouthpiece choices. For myself, I have a mouthpiece purse (cronkhite) that holds the three mouthpieces I use weekly, a bottle of blue juice, and the yamaha slide lubricant.

Skip down to page 9 on this item, very interesting reading.

http://www.trumpetguild.org/_72820_a...3Vacchiano.pdf

[daniel76309]

Thanks a LOT Mark! I thought I was about done accumulating mouthpieces--I wasn't even aware of the Danny Helseth models.

I know there are other options too, it seems like one could take it to extremes very easily...as in the article with 500 mouthpieces--now I don't feel so bad with half a dozen. That is interesting info and kind of rings true even though some of it would at first seem counter-intuitive.