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How many prefer mouthpieces/horns that are totally free-blowing and how many prefer a bit of resistance? Personally, I cannot properly play instruments that are too free-blowing. A moderate amount of resistance is essential for me to be able to control my tone and dynamics. Others I've talked to can't stand a horn that's not free-blowing, and the least hint of stuffiness drives them nuts.

Your opinions, please?

I think it depends on the tuba, too. My benchmark for "no resistance" was a Cerveny Kaiser that I tried some years ago. It was like breathing into a trashcan. Sounded nice, but it needed more air than I had.

bort wrote:I think it depends on the tuba, too. My benchmark for "no resistance" was a Cerveny Kaiser that I tried some years ago. It was like breathing into a trashcan. Sounded nice, but it needed more air than I had.

I feel a little better that someone else is confirming this for me. I find my Cerveny Kaiser takes quite a bit of air too. It's actually not too bad down to the Bb or A below the staff, but then it starts to require considerable more air as you go down. I tried an Alan Baer mouthpiece with Euro shank on it and I don't think anyone short of Alan Baer himself could provide enough air for that combination.

mike

I agree that is varies with the tuba. A very open blowing tuba needs a mouthpiece that is a litte tighter (and/or a tighter leadpipe, as has been often done with the MW45SLP F tuba leadpipe on certain 6/4 BAT's)
A "tight" playing tuba needs a more open mouthpiece. 186's tend to work better in a large ensemble with a very large mouthpiece; save the smaller pieces on them for solo recital and the medium pieces for chamber.
My large "BART" project currently plays its best with a Blokepiece solo for all-around use and a modified C4 for smaller and higher usage. The Blokepiece imperial is very boarderline - anything bigger just doesn't work right and requires an inordinate amount of effort on my part. Back when it was all rotors, the rotors added a little more resistance and I could get away with a bigger mouthpiece at times. But, the leadpipe is still huge and requires an adapter with an additional sleeve around it just to take a modern day American or "Euro" shank mouthpiece. With a 45SLP leadpipe and a smaller receiver, it might play tighter enough that I could possibly use larger pieces on it again. Since I found two mouthpieces that currenty work well on it, I am in no hurry to pursue that modification.

Normally, I like little resistance, as it makes me feel like I have more control. However the BBb I'm playing now has the best sound and low range with a PT-48 that has a large cup and bore. In my .812 horn, it doesn't give much resistance, and takes a lot of wind. So I practice more and build up my wind.

You can't always get what you want...

I understand the whole "blowing into a trashcan" comment very well. After a 24-year layoff from tuba, I began playing again in 2001. I bought a used Cerveny 601 CC since I always loved big horns when I played in high school and college. Unfortunately, I was unable to control the beast; it took so much air that I would cover up smaller groups like a cat with a litter box. Trying mouthpieces with more resistance helped slightly, but with a horn that felt like having a vacuum cleaner attached to your lips they could only do so much.

My question was intended for more normal instruments instead of the extremes, and I should have said so.

"Resistance" can be very deceptive. For the most part, "blowing resistance" and "acoustical resistance" are two entirely different things.
Blowing resistance feels like what it is, but acoustical resistance actually feels the opposite of what it is. The maximum acoustical resistance is when you are producing a strong resonance in the instrument, and it takes LESS air to keep the resonance going. That feels OPEN. When the instrument is not resonating well, it takes a lot of air and feels TIGHT, partly because you are creating more resistance in your chops as a result of the instrument giving you no feedback.

So be careful not to mistake "open" with "good." There is definitely such a thing as "too open" and it's not on the "good" end of the spectrum.

I don't gots no idea. What I have noticed is that if I'm in a hall that talks back to me I seem to need a whole lot less air than I need in a hall that swallows my sound.
MA

bloke wrote:Resistance is futile.

... we will be what kinda immolated?

I'd rather be assimilated than immolated, thanks.