Geneva GVL Cardinal review

[anadmai]

When I first got my sovereign back in 88, it came with a 4AL I believe. I couldn't for the life of me get a clear sound. I ordered an adaptor for my Distin and never went back. I've been basically using the mouthpiece since I was 14 (I'm now *sob* 50).

I'm trying all the things. I've noticed the pressure, the lack of tonguing and lack of air support. Posture too is huge. I spoke to my surgeon prior to playing again in February and said with my procedure, some have noticed differences in the way their upper lip vibrates. I'm still looking for that person to talk to who can put the pieces together.

Anadmai, interesting that a flatter mouthpiece is helping.

If you have had operations on your embouchure area it might be worth paying for a consultation with someone who has been through the same things and recovered to professional level.

My issues have been limited to mid range D -A, new mouthpiece is helping loads but has not yet eliminated the issue. My top range is in the best shape getting concert super Fs and all the pedal range, my other mouthpieces also fatigued my lips and made them swell for days after playing, new piece is a few hours of swelling after a hours practice which seems a more normal response.

Long tones and scales, treating myself as if I was a complete beginner and over analysis of posture, tongue positioning and breathing, I am gonna assume you have tried all this as well, in my head I think I want to progress to an even smaller mouthpiece over the next month or so my thoughts being that if I can play cornet then smaller is better? But that is where I am up to at the moment…. If you have any tricks you found worked for you I would be very grateful to hear them!

I would love to hear a comparison of new prestige and geneva in terms of clarity… as the playing issues weren’t promising it wasn’t something I stuck around to consider correctly. Certainly the circa 2006/7 English made Prestige’s played like they had a nose full of a cold unless you played everything FF….

[Jharris]

Is it something that Botox could help with?

The combination of Geneva and flatter mouthpiece has now gotten me away from double note production, that’s the combination of a better seal with easier blowing on the instrument itself, smaller distances between partials allows the reduction in flexibility from the flat mouthpiece to be mostly over come…

Most modern Euphs are easier blowing than the old sovereigns, have you tried any others to see if you get any improvements?

[dsurkin]

[snip]I'm trying all the things. I've noticed the pressure, the lack of tonguing and lack of air support. Posture too is huge. I spoke to my surgeon prior to playing again in February and said with my procedure, some have noticed differences in the way their upper lip vibrates. I'm still looking for that person to talk to who can put the pieces together.

Have you considered a consultation with Doug Elliott? He's known not only for his mouthpieces but also as an embouchure expert.

By the way, 50 is not bad. For me, it was a time to start reaping the rewards of years of long hours at the office. On Friday, I turn 70.

[anadmai]

I do not know the gentleman. The name sounds familiar. I'll look him up and see what I can learn.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread, we'll continue this conversation elsewhere.

Have you considered a consultation with Doug Elliott? He's known not only for his mouthpieces but also as an embouchure expert.

By the way, 50 is not bad. For me, it was a time to start reaping the rewards of years of long hours at the office. On Friday, I turn 70.