Red: Warmer and somewhat veiled, Blue: Cooler with more presence and brilliance in the attack.
I thought blue served Czardas well, while the warmth of red was just right for the Holst.
Red: Warmer and somewhat veiled, Blue: Cooler with more presence and brilliance in the attack.
I thought blue served Czardas well, while the warmth of red was just right for the Holst.
Blue all the way. You are so much more dynamic, more musical. You color the tone more with blue than red as needed and it seems more open and vibrant. It suggests a familiarity with blue that isn't there with red, but the lower notes seem to speak better on blue also. I noticed one or two intonation things on blue that weren't there on red but it was minor and the expressiveness shown with blue is way worth whatever minor intonation tradeoff.
Adams E3 0.6 with SS Bell
K&G 3.5D
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Founder and Solo Euphonium
San Francisco Brass Band
Blue
I'm going to wait another day or so to reveal the identities of the mouthpieces, but I can say this for some added perspective. I had planned on staying late after a rehearsal with Sara to do some mouthpiece tests. But when I got there I learned that the piano tuner was coming when we were scheduled to be done. Some juggling was needed. The 2 piano pieces you heard are each at the 70% level of readiness for me - I'm still working on my chops in general and the specific techniques and expression for each piece. But I decided to use them as part of the demo anyway.
Sooooo, that brought about 2 compromises to my normal testing process. First, I'm using music I can't be sure to play consistently from one take to the next. And second, it necessitated repeatedly going back & forth between the two mouthpiece, which I don't like to do. My normal process is to warm up on one, play all the excerpts, then warm up on the other and play all the excerpts. In that case, I have a lot of rearranging to do on the recording so each excerpt is presented as A/B. That process helps me stay "in the groove" with a mouthpiece. Constant swapping means you are a bit off balance at all times.
My goal at some point is to take all this input and listen to the recordings myself once more. I can make allowances for my own unevenness, for example, and I will probably do a few intonation check to see if the mouthpieces contributed to any pitch differences.
Dave Werden (ASCAP)
Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
Adams Artist (Adams E3)
Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
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I was feeling a bit in the minority opinion with red so I went back to listen with some better headphones. For full disclosure my first listen was just on my phone speakers. People have made some good points about blue, and I did agree that what I initially heard as edge is better described as lively.
It is close for me but I still think overall I prefer red, even though they both have their shining moments. For me it comes down to red sounding a bit more pure to my ear and more at ease in a way that I enjoy.
I could see times where getting a little bit more sparkle/zing out of red would have been nice. There were moments where the liveliness of blue was great, so keep them both!
Mike Taylor
Illinois Brass Band
Fox Valley Brass Band
I prefer the "RED" mouthpiece. It sounds warmer and has a more classic euphonium sound. (I suspect this to be the 4AL). The Blue one sounds brighter to my ears but with clearer articulation but is has the same basic sound concept as the RED.
If I would need to guess then the BLUE mouthpiece could be an Alliance David Childs mouthpiece or some SS mouthpiece If I listen to David Childs playing older recordings (on a 4AL) or newer on the DC3 I hear similar differences as in this comparison.
Euphonium: Adams E3 Custom Series (SS Bell)
Trombone: Benge 175F