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I spent my recent months trying new stuff, mostly on soprano, and I would like to share some thoughts.
The first question, comes from a member here, quoting a teacher that said "any mouthpiece you play, you will always end up playing like yourself".
This is very true, so why bother?
In my opinion, there are mainly three good reasons to change a mouthpiece:
1- a better match with your instrument (on soprano it can be quite an issue)
2- it allows to express yourself better
3- your taste is changing and you are trying to achieve new sounds, that you cannot get with your current piece.
1- Delicate issue. Often tuning on an instrument is simply matter of getting used to the mouthpiece/instrument combo. Even the correct position on the cork may take few hours of playing.
On the other hand, some mouthpieces tend to play particularly in tune, making the player's life easier.
I am thinking of pieces like Selmer, Yamaha, Yanagisawa and Bari. They don't react excessively to the players inconstancies, and usually are good pieces for doublers, for whom soprano is not the main instrument.
I personally find my playing quite restrained by such pieces. I find them mono-dimensional. I may like the sound of it, but I feel I cannot move further.
Hence
2- I prefer more flexible pieces. They can be hard work. I tend to like large chambers/big facings, but there is no rule.
A flexible piece allows to modulate your timbre, volume, articulation on a wider range.
Tuning might suffer....
I recently posted somewhere on this forum two clips of my New sequoia with the two pieces I cannot make my mind about; One is more flexible, but requires some hard work to keep it in tune, the other is the easiest piece I ever played, keeping a good flexibility.
If a student is gifted, I try to recommend the flexible piece, rather than the one that makes the work for him.
3- The worst scenario. I had crashes on many sounds; Marsalis to Garbarek to Brecker (yes, on soprano) to Liebman (yes, he often plays out of tune) to Lacy.
I think every attempt to imitate the idol of the moment adds something to the palette of sounds of a musician.
This does not always require a new mouthpiece, but I guess buying a new piece is part of the curse.
In the past I spent serious money on pieces I ended up selling. I currently have a limit of £200 for a mind-blowing mouthpiece. I usually don't try pieces outside this range; it is easy to fall in love with a piece and see the honeymoon fade in few months.
My soprano pieces, through the ages, include:
Otto Link Tone Edge
Bari (my Marsalis phase)
Dukoff (shame on me)
Guardala Studio (it was still reasonably priced at the time)
Berg Larsen or refaced replica (the longest serving piece: 15 years)
Pillinger L model, NYS and PJ
My professional instruments have been:
YSS62R
Yanagisawa curved silver plated (no model name)
Sequoia Lemon (AKA Limoncello)
Discuss
The first question, comes from a member here, quoting a teacher that said "any mouthpiece you play, you will always end up playing like yourself".
This is very true, so why bother?
In my opinion, there are mainly three good reasons to change a mouthpiece:
1- a better match with your instrument (on soprano it can be quite an issue)
2- it allows to express yourself better
3- your taste is changing and you are trying to achieve new sounds, that you cannot get with your current piece.
1- Delicate issue. Often tuning on an instrument is simply matter of getting used to the mouthpiece/instrument combo. Even the correct position on the cork may take few hours of playing.
On the other hand, some mouthpieces tend to play particularly in tune, making the player's life easier.
I am thinking of pieces like Selmer, Yamaha, Yanagisawa and Bari. They don't react excessively to the players inconstancies, and usually are good pieces for doublers, for whom soprano is not the main instrument.
I personally find my playing quite restrained by such pieces. I find them mono-dimensional. I may like the sound of it, but I feel I cannot move further.
Hence
2- I prefer more flexible pieces. They can be hard work. I tend to like large chambers/big facings, but there is no rule.
A flexible piece allows to modulate your timbre, volume, articulation on a wider range.
Tuning might suffer....
I recently posted somewhere on this forum two clips of my New sequoia with the two pieces I cannot make my mind about; One is more flexible, but requires some hard work to keep it in tune, the other is the easiest piece I ever played, keeping a good flexibility.
If a student is gifted, I try to recommend the flexible piece, rather than the one that makes the work for him.
3- The worst scenario. I had crashes on many sounds; Marsalis to Garbarek to Brecker (yes, on soprano) to Liebman (yes, he often plays out of tune) to Lacy.
I think every attempt to imitate the idol of the moment adds something to the palette of sounds of a musician.
This does not always require a new mouthpiece, but I guess buying a new piece is part of the curse.
In the past I spent serious money on pieces I ended up selling. I currently have a limit of £200 for a mind-blowing mouthpiece. I usually don't try pieces outside this range; it is easy to fall in love with a piece and see the honeymoon fade in few months.
My soprano pieces, through the ages, include:
Otto Link Tone Edge
Bari (my Marsalis phase)
Dukoff (shame on me)
Guardala Studio (it was still reasonably priced at the time)
Berg Larsen or refaced replica (the longest serving piece: 15 years)
Pillinger L model, NYS and PJ
My professional instruments have been:
YSS62R
Yanagisawa curved silver plated (no model name)
Sequoia Lemon (AKA Limoncello)
Discuss
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