I've just bought a ROC Britone for tenor (size 3*).
I thought there was a possibility of some superficial hype surrounding this weird mouthpiece...surely that overly complicated baffle was just a gimmick was it?
Well, it's early days, as I've only spent a few hours with it but I found it very entertaining and interesting...like solving a complicate puzzle!
In general this ROC is a very edgy venomous beast...yet, with careful control it can be tamed (a bit) - certain aspects of the Lakey and the Metalite are there, although the Metalite offers more deep and beefy subtones (the best so far IMHO), and the Lakey upper range is still more acute than the ROC's - still there is another kind of "tubular" sound which I've never come across before...there are in fact at least 3 different personalities within this mouthpiece: the edgy over the top one obtained by just honking and let the reed free to vibrate (if you dare), the creamier one with a bit of pepper (subtoning and other "restraining" techniques), and the "tubular" one (dunno how)....more intriguingly, right now, I can't exactly point out how to get these extra colors from this particular mouthpiece (give me more time).
I sense that with skilled control this can be a very useful and versatile mouthpiece...it shouldn't be played like others - one has to adapt to it...
Any feedback on your experiences with one of these schizoid mouthpieces?
btw: I might be interested in buying another more open ROC...(just let me know)
I thought there was a possibility of some superficial hype surrounding this weird mouthpiece...surely that overly complicated baffle was just a gimmick was it?
Well, it's early days, as I've only spent a few hours with it but I found it very entertaining and interesting...like solving a complicate puzzle!
In general this ROC is a very edgy venomous beast...yet, with careful control it can be tamed (a bit) - certain aspects of the Lakey and the Metalite are there, although the Metalite offers more deep and beefy subtones (the best so far IMHO), and the Lakey upper range is still more acute than the ROC's - still there is another kind of "tubular" sound which I've never come across before...there are in fact at least 3 different personalities within this mouthpiece: the edgy over the top one obtained by just honking and let the reed free to vibrate (if you dare), the creamier one with a bit of pepper (subtoning and other "restraining" techniques), and the "tubular" one (dunno how)....more intriguingly, right now, I can't exactly point out how to get these extra colors from this particular mouthpiece (give me more time).
I sense that with skilled control this can be a very useful and versatile mouthpiece...it shouldn't be played like others - one has to adapt to it...
Any feedback on your experiences with one of these schizoid mouthpieces?
btw: I might be interested in buying another more open ROC...(just let me know)