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Thread: Using Multiple Mouthpieces

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Oklahoma City
    Posts
    263

    Using Multiple Mouthpieces

    I'm in high school so a majority of my playing during the fall is on a marching horn for about 4 hours daily. As you can tell by my signature, I use a marching baritone instead of a marching euph. My Curry 3D is wayyy to big for the marching horn and I dug around quite a bit on quite a few mouthpieces until I finally settled on the sound of a G&W E-1 for it. I have been switching back and forth from my concert euph with a 3D to my marching baritone with the G&W. I don't feel very weakened by it right now but am starting to get worried for my future playing abilities since All-Region try-outs are right at the end of marching season. If I had to switch mouthpieces it'd be to a Denis Wick SM3/SM4 or a Schilke 52E2 (if those'd help me) but I'm not as fond as the sound of those pieces on the horn.

    Any opinions?

    G&W E-1: 26.085mm (rim diameter)
    Curry 3D: 26.4mm
    Schilke 52E2: 25.91mm
    Denis Wick SM3: 26.4mm
    Denis Wick SM4: 26mm
    Last edited by Msan1313; 08-24-2014 at 09:12 PM.
    Marco Santos - Marcher and Performer
    Guardians Drum & Bugle Corps 2015
    Blue Knights Drum & Bugle Corps 2016, 20i7, 2018

    Adams E1
    Modified Schilke 52E2 by Justin Gorodetzky

  2. #2
    If you find yourself constantly falling back on a specific mouthpiece, or have one mouthpiece you consider your main workhorse, your lips will start to physically adjust to the piece. The rim will wear a groove in the tissues in your lip, and playing on a different mouthpiece (however similar in ID) for more than 45 minutes or so will mess up that groove. Slotting and control will fly out the window on either your standby or the new piece. Essentially, you're limited to two extremes; either picking one piece for forever, or constantly changing pieces.
    Now, this means that ID in indicative of almost nothing but how well the size of the piece fits your lips (without considering all the complex shapes in the rim itself). The internal dimensions of a piece are more integral to the performance than anything else, especially the tapers around the throat.
    When it comes to what should actually be done, you've got a complex choice; how many mouthpieces do you want to use on each horn, and will you want to bounce any of these pieces between the two of them? Do you eventually want to parse it down to one piece for everything, or do you want to have that switching going on forever?

    Here's my suggestion; if you have the cash, go for a Doug Elliot XT series. Your groove seems to be around the 26mm area, so get yourself one of the rims (in standard or narrow) and then test out as many shank/cup combinations as you can. I have a sneaking suspicion you might be able to find a middle-ground cup you really like and just swap shanks for either horn.
    Otherwise, take a serious look at your pieces.Get a trusted friend to sit down and listen with you for a while. Try out as many combinations as you can, and see if there's a pattern to what you like best where. THEN, go buy something.

    Thanks,
    Connor Jones
    Last edited by DaTweeka; 09-14-2014 at 10:18 PM.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Oklahoma City
    Posts
    263
    Thanks, that's exactly what I need to hear. I've been on a mouthpiece journey for a while, and I think the mouthpiece lot I'm bidding on right now (eBay) will be my final attempt before going to Doug Elliot. The only problem is the paying for all the parts...
    Marco Santos - Marcher and Performer
    Guardians Drum & Bugle Corps 2015
    Blue Knights Drum & Bugle Corps 2016, 20i7, 2018

    Adams E1
    Modified Schilke 52E2 by Justin Gorodetzky

  4. #4
    The main reason I use GW mouthpieces is that they are local to me and I can get them modified. I've also had problems with facial irratation on silver plated mouthpieces. Don't spend any time on eBay, when its pretty clear that you need a custom solution. The best bet is to contact DE and get fitted. That may mean sending a video of you playing, or possibly a Skype conference. His prices are very reasonable, just add up what you already have invested in mouthpieces.

    What you need is a baseline fitting from him, get that shank/cup/rim combo, and practice it for quite awhile. After that, then you can swap out the rim, cup, etc., or stockpile parts for different horns and playing situations. And there's always ads on the tromboneforum.org, for used components. So, it's really a no brainer, based upon the availability of components.

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