Friday, December 14, 2012

Choose The Best Trumpet Mouthpiece To Suit Your Musical Needs

By Celia Hall


Selecting the best trumpet mouthpiece can be a challenging adventure. It is true that many professionals will collect several of them over their career. For beginners, their teachers are a good source for advice. Private instructors and school band or orchestra directors are usually a wealth of knowledge when it comes to buying pieces that will fit the needs of their younger players. More experienced players eventually learn to prefer styles and sounds and these eventually guide them to the type of instrumental tools that will help them to achieve what they enjoy hearing.

Beginners can find less expensive ones made from plastic and brass. Other common metals include silver and gold. The different parts of each mouthpiece, known as the rim, cup, throat and back bore each are crafted with varied measurements. The precise sizes can be ordered in combination, and many professionals know exactly what combination they need for each component.

A brief glance into the instrument case of a professional trumpeter will probably show more than one piece. They tend to favor different styles and measurements for different musical genres. Some brands are recognized for their high tones and clarity. Others are known for their exceptional low tones and dark subdued character. Regardless of the historical style of music, professionals use the mouthpieces that all them to produce the appropriate sound quality.

It can take a long time to find exactly what suits the professional. Once they collect several they go about focusing on which ones function serve the sounds that they perform on a regular basis. Because some players are commercial trumpets, others play in orchestras and yet more perform in small chamber ensembles, it is typical for them to use the pieces that fit in well with the musical styles of each group.

It is tempting for beginners to think that the mouthpiece controls the quality of sound. After some study, they discover that their own technical abilities add much to the quality of tones they can make. It is true that smaller pieces create higher and brighter tones, while larger pieces produce lower and darker tones. But, it is the combination of experience and technique combined with these tools that make the quality of musical sound.

Professionals are united in their advice concerning comfort. They do tend to believe that a mouthpiece must be comfortable when playing it. They pay a lot of attention to how the rim feels on their lips, how their breathing is accepted into the cup and throat, and how the back bore can affect they way the stream of air resonates as tones are produced. It is important that the finish of the metals be intact. No one wants to play on parts that might leach harmful metal residue onto their skin.

World class trumpeters can produce tones by blowing through any tubes. They do enjoy collecting mouthpieces previously owned by famous musicians. Much talk flows about how particular musical greats achieved their own distinctive sounds. The players are always questing for their own ultimate horn sound and the mouthpieces are a significant part of the search. They feel great partnership with their instruments and can tend to follow good sound more than beautiful instruments.

Choosing the best trumpet mouthpiece is a long process that may never truly end. Deciding what works and what does not is a unique combination of experiences, proficiency and the sound required of the musician in many different settings. The search for the most perfect sound is part of the joy of playing and wondering about that next special piece can be quite enjoyable.




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