I've heard that titanium may have a different feel on the lips than stainless steel.
I personally think the only reason for having a titanium mouthpiece is so you can say you have a titanium mouthpiece.
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Philip Jensen
- bugler
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I have tried back to back, stainless steel versus titanium for two different models of GW mouthpieces. For both models, I definitely preferred the Titanium versions. They had an even more focused sound. The titanium feels great on the lips, very smooth and warm. I think it has helped with my stamina on long gigs. I'm not sure the real reason for this, maybe it is just that it feels more comfortable so I'm more relaxed - like my leather recliner versus a straight back chair with an unpadded seat.
I used my Aln Baer CC mouthpiece in titanium for a parade last fall with the temp. in the mid 40's - very comfortable - very quick to warm up and stays warm longer too.
I used my Aln Baer CC mouthpiece in titanium for a parade last fall with the temp. in the mid 40's - very comfortable - very quick to warm up and stays warm longer too.
Miraphone Norwegian Star Eb
King 4V BBb ~1913
Holton 4V Eb 1920
Holton 3V Eb 1930
King 4V BBb ~1913
Holton 4V Eb 1920
Holton 3V Eb 1930
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iiipopes
- Utility Infielder
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Last night I got to try a Taku. It has a smaller throat than either my Bach 18 or my Wick 1, although the rim and cup of the Taku and the Wick 1 are basically identical. I had a hard time getting as much air through the Taku as I would have liked in order to be as flexible as I wanted to be.
The tone was very focused and contained. I can see why those who have extremely large lung capacities favor them, because it is apparent that with sufficient power behind them, they will hold up to anything. But for me, it contained edginess at the expense of overly damped responsiveness. The guy who sits next to me is an Ex-15 year Navy band veteran, and of course, he makes it sound fantastic with his Conn 56J. I like his tone with the Taku better than his tone with a Schilke HII, to me he is smoother on the lower end and more precise in the upper.
The tone was very focused and contained. I can see why those who have extremely large lung capacities favor them, because it is apparent that with sufficient power behind them, they will hold up to anything. But for me, it contained edginess at the expense of overly damped responsiveness. The guy who sits next to me is an Ex-15 year Navy band veteran, and of course, he makes it sound fantastic with his Conn 56J. I like his tone with the Taku better than his tone with a Schilke HII, to me he is smoother on the lower end and more precise in the upper.
Jupiter JTU1110
"Real" Conn 36K
"Real" Conn 36K
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Bill Troiano
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Chuck(G)
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evan
- bugler
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Two people seem to think that titanium is:
Unfortunately I'm not a mechanical engineer, so I'm not really up on thermodynamics...
When I think about the prior statements, it doesn't seem possible. If something is quick to warm up, it should also be quick to cool off. From a web search, the thermal conductivity of Ti is 21.9 W/(mK) and SS is between 14 and 16.3 W/(mK). Should I be looking at specific heat capacity instead?
My guess is that it seems to stay warm longer just because it warms up faster.
Philip Jensen wrote:very quick to warm up and stays warm longer too.
Maybe I'm just over analyzing things, but I'm a engineering grad student so I can't help it.JCRaymo wrote: much better for cold weather because they warm up so fast and stay warm
Unfortunately I'm not a mechanical engineer, so I'm not really up on thermodynamics...When I think about the prior statements, it doesn't seem possible. If something is quick to warm up, it should also be quick to cool off. From a web search, the thermal conductivity of Ti is 21.9 W/(mK) and SS is between 14 and 16.3 W/(mK). Should I be looking at specific heat capacity instead?
My guess is that it seems to stay warm longer just because it warms up faster.
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Pure Sound
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Ivan Giddings
- pro musician
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Materials
Okay,
From a line up of 10 mouthpieces, three mouthpieces were of identical size. Many excerpts were played. This was done without a trombone section only as solo tuba. I hope in the future to have the opportunity to hear a similar test but with more harmonic, and acoustic material around the tuba sound. The mouthpieces in the line up that were the same size are as follows:
1. Alan Baer original in stainless
2. Alan Baer original in hardened stainless
3. Alan Baer original in Titanium
What I hear is the hardened stainless steel has clarity and good articulations at all volumes. The titanium is clear, but darker in sound, and the darkness of sound at high volumes leans towards less clarity when compared to the other two mouthpieces however in the same comparison the clarity at softer volumes on titanium was noted. The stainless steel mouthpiece is overall very good, just not quite as much to the beginnings of the loud notes.
The overall difference to my ears is that each mouthpiece is very close. The differences are subtle and to each person it becomes a subjective thing. However while playing, each mouthpiece felt different. There is a common thread amongst the differences while playing. Titanium is easy and fun on the soft playing, hardened stainless is fun on the LOUD stuff, and regular stainless steel is good and works very well on loud and soft playing, just not as specific on loud and soft music as the previous two.
I believe to make the testing better the titanium piece must be the same weight as the stainless pieces, and the hardened stainless mouthpiece needs to be checked to have exactly the same throat size as the other two. Heat treating a mouthpiece or any metal will change the size. In this case around .0005 not a lot, but different is different and when you are doing a test….
Bottom line is that everything changes the way the instrument sounds. And the way they feel when they are played.
Take care
Ivan
From a line up of 10 mouthpieces, three mouthpieces were of identical size. Many excerpts were played. This was done without a trombone section only as solo tuba. I hope in the future to have the opportunity to hear a similar test but with more harmonic, and acoustic material around the tuba sound. The mouthpieces in the line up that were the same size are as follows:
1. Alan Baer original in stainless
2. Alan Baer original in hardened stainless
3. Alan Baer original in Titanium
What I hear is the hardened stainless steel has clarity and good articulations at all volumes. The titanium is clear, but darker in sound, and the darkness of sound at high volumes leans towards less clarity when compared to the other two mouthpieces however in the same comparison the clarity at softer volumes on titanium was noted. The stainless steel mouthpiece is overall very good, just not quite as much to the beginnings of the loud notes.
The overall difference to my ears is that each mouthpiece is very close. The differences are subtle and to each person it becomes a subjective thing. However while playing, each mouthpiece felt different. There is a common thread amongst the differences while playing. Titanium is easy and fun on the soft playing, hardened stainless is fun on the LOUD stuff, and regular stainless steel is good and works very well on loud and soft playing, just not as specific on loud and soft music as the previous two.
I believe to make the testing better the titanium piece must be the same weight as the stainless pieces, and the hardened stainless mouthpiece needs to be checked to have exactly the same throat size as the other two. Heat treating a mouthpiece or any metal will change the size. In this case around .0005 not a lot, but different is different and when you are doing a test….
Bottom line is that everything changes the way the instrument sounds. And the way they feel when they are played.
Take care
Ivan
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adam0408
- 3 valves
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Well said, mister. Just like those beers in those silly aluminum bottles that claim to stay cold longer and get cold faster.... Seems fishy.evan wrote:
When I think about the prior statements, it doesn't seem possible. If something is quick to warm up, it should also be quick to cool off. From a web search, the thermal conductivity of Ti is 21.9 W/(mK) and SS is between 14 and 16.3 W/(mK). Should I be looking at specific heat capacity instead?
My guess is that it seems to stay warm longer just because it warms up faster.
If you were to do a search on this board, you would no doubt find the rather long dissertations that I have written on this mouthpiece in the past. Its a great piece in SS. I haven't got it in titanium, and really don't care to spend that much for so little difference at this point in my life. The really noticeable differences in mouthpieces have less to do with material and more to do with the geometry of the equipment. If you're a college student and you want the Alan Baer piece, just get it in stainless. Spend that extra money you save on rent, food, books, beer, etc.
This mouthpiece is great, and if you don't like it, you can always send it back. GW has great customer service, as evidenced by the above post and also from my personal experience.