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i've heard that philip donatelli had the top part of the rim of his mouthpiece flattened out so that he could shift it upward to play high notes. is this true? also, do you think this is a good idea or something that should be looked into by tuba players?

i guess i should be more clear. the rumor i heard said that he had just the top of the rim flattened. so that it looked like a funny D rather than a circle. this let him shift the mouthpiece further up without it getting stopped when it hit his nose

me wrote:i guess i should be more clear. the rumor i heard said that he had just the top of the rim flattened. so that it looked like a funny D rather than a circle. this let him shift the mouthpiece further up without it getting stopped when it hit his nose

It seems like Jacobs would have mentioned that in his story about getting Donatelli to demonstrate a high G. He described his shift (in the briefest of terms), but no mention of weird mouthpiece designs.

Rick "who recalls nothing from the annals of tuba lore on the subject" Denney

Y'all are starting to make me think my memory has gone bad...well, it has actually but I do remember reading about Donatelli (the non-Ninja Turtle one) having a modified rim. So I went and dug up this reference: "Because he had a short upper lip, Donatelli had a mouthpiece with the top of the rim cut off making a flat section so it could fit under his nose." Arnold Jacobs: Song and Wind, Brian Fredericksen, p. 125.

Ahh. One good reference beating the hell out of a shitload of rumor and speculation. Thanks.