BBb tuba player need help w/ select mpc

[andrew the tuba player]

ok. This is a toughy. I played on a shlike Helleburg once during marching season (accedently left the LM7 in my concert case ). And It was a very nice mouthpiece. It compaired vell to the LM7, but I did notice a loss in intonation and clearity. Not that it was bad, I beat a bach 24aw by a long shot. But the LM7 is alot better in the high register and produces nice clear low notes. So, It's really up to what you're used to. The LM7 has a nice deep cup while the Helleburg had a more rounded shallow cup. The LM7 works on any horn I put it on. weather it be an old beater 3/4 yammaha or my next to new Kalsion. And, it works good with CC tubas so it'd be good for colladge. I would recomend the LM7. But thats just me. Where are you located? If you're anywhere near NW Arkansas then i'll let you give my LM7 a blow and see what you think.

[andrew the tuba player]

I'm our only tubist also. we have some where around 40 people so, It'll provide the solid back ground or the gentle solo. just see if you can try them both out. The helleberg I played wasn't Stainless, so that may improve it quite a bit.

[Art Hovey]

Get a Kelly 18 and play it for a year at least before you think about trying anything else. Focus on playing, not on the mouthpiece.

[greatk82]

What do ya'll think of a Bobo Symphonic Replica for him? I know of one with a price that can't be beat!

[SplatterTone]

What do ya'll think of a Bobo Symphonic Replica for him?

Got it. Don't like it. Jim Self replica is OK. But it's on the biggish side (but not BIG), so difficult to recommend to a relatively new player and to somebody who has trouble getting past D in staff with a Bach 18.

Kelly 25. Cheap. A little deeper sound than Bach 25.
Conn 7B. If you must have a "Helleberg".

Yamaha 66D4 kept me going for my first couple of years. Fat cushy rim gives new embouchure a lot of support and, along with big throat, is easy to play in lower half of range, but rim does get in the way somewhat on higher range.

By the way, I don't care what the literature says, I'm convinced a Bach 22 is just a fat rimmed Bach 18. I done did the measurements. Looks the same on the inside but goes out wider. Sounds the same too. I never got along a Bach 18. Still don't.

Oh yeah ...
What ever happened to the TU23 guy?

[BavarianFanfare]

I started out as a baritone saxophone player, and always wanted to play tuba and string bass exclusively. I was very fortunate to be able to study with a fantastic Houston based professional tubist. With him, I was using a Conn Helleberg and a Miraphone Rose Orchestra mouthpiece. I had asked him prior to our first lesson, would these mouthpieces be alright to use and he approved. I was using these with a VMI 2103 BB-Flat. The point is, if you can get a private teacher who plays tuba,  get one as soon as you can. Bad habits can set in quickly, and this can set you back in your playing.  If you have a Miraphone 186, this horn will not stop you by any means. I hope this helps. You have a lot of work ahead of you, but no player really "arrives", it takes constant work and practice, even for the greatest players. Best wishes to you in your tuba playing and studies.

[tubeast]

my only problem having consistency of getting notes past D(in staff). I also think the cup in diameter is kind of big cause I have to pinch sometimes to get the higher notes and it doesn't sound pleasant.

Don´t worry too much about this. After a half year on tuba, your embouchure and face muscles (these two are not necessarily the same) are far from fully developed, which will be the main reason for inconsistencies or flaws in sound.

I have one mouthpiece it took me 1.5 years to get close to a nice mid range (and after 17 years of tuba playing, I´d consider myself to be an accomplished hobbyist).
By now I consider a PT50+ my SMALL MP for chamber music use.

At your stage of playing (judging from the time you´ve had on the horn) I´d guess the differences between MP-sizes are not that important to your sound.
I´d say stick with the advice given by many already: get your own not-too-big MP at low price and keep up the good work.
There is no real need for different MPs for different playing situations, neither. Not at this point.
By the time you´ll WANT to change to a different MP you´ll most probably have your own funds to pay for it.

[cjk]

If I were you I'd buy a Faxx Helleberg and a Faxx 18. They are truly fine copies of a Conn Helleberg and a Bach 18 and they're only $35 each.

http://www.wwbw.com/Faxx-Tuba-and-Sousa ... 3701.music

[jonesbrass]

Get a Kelly 18 and play it for a year at least before you think about trying anything else. Focus on playing, not on the mouthpiece.

That's some prime advice right there. Focus on your playing, give your chops some time to develop. If you must own your own mouthpiece, an 18 is a solid all-around mouthpiece. The kelly's are also made of plastic, right? GREAT for outdoor playing in cold weather . . .

[The Big Ben]

I don't think you'll have to worry about a mouthpiece lasting through your college days. Any one from a generally established place (Not an eBay one with "new silver color") will last if you take proper care of it.

I think a good tuba player, or even a low brass player, could help you out with your embouchure. This sounds to me more issues with your embouchure. At my school this year, two sax players switched to tuba for marching ("WE NEED TEN TUBAS"), and they account to me how different tuba is from saxophone. A new mouthpiece looks like the magic thing that will solve your probems, but it's really not save for a very small amount of cases. Be patient with your tuba playing. You'll get there.

Da Jackson been payin' attention! I think that is great advice.There are a lot of muscles that have to get used to doing a job they have never been asked to to before.

Mouthpieces? Right now, you don't have to get too fancy. If you have to march around outside where it is cold, a Kelly would be great- plastic doesn't get cold easily. If an 18 has been working for you, get an 18. You can be more particular when you get a little better on the horn.

[The Jackson]

I'd like to solve the puzzle:

"Elkhart"?

[SplatterTone]

"hart". It could be the Bob Newhart model. In which case the naked lady would, of course, be Suzanne Pleshette. (RIP)

[BriceT]

I would prefer the LM-7 more than the SSH.

It is also really great if you are the only tuba player and need to get your sound across.

You also might want to look at Laskey. They make really great all-around mouthpieces.

Good Luck with the search!

[Rick Denney]

Stick to Art's advice, and the rest of us should stop trying to sway you otherwise. Don't listen to us when we do. The Bach 18 is no longer protected by patents and it has been widely copied. Any of the copies are good enough for you to learn on, including the plastic version from Kelly.

Ditto the Conn Helleberg. The Conn itself is not expensive, and the Faxx copies are even cheaper.

There is NO need to spend over $50 for a mouthpiece. There is nothing a specialized mouthpiece can provide for you. You should be able to establish good control of the instrument using a plain 18 or a Helleberg, as have other great tuba players before you. Once you have reached that point, then and only then might you be interested in chasing subtleties, and then only with the feedback of a teacher.

Arnold Jacobs started his studies with Philip Donatelli and Fritz Reiner using a battered Eb tuba. He didn't know Eb fingerings, so he tied the fourth valve down and pulled the other slides to make it a Bb tuba. He played the Carnival of Venice in his audition for the Curtis Institute, at age 15. I'll bet he was using the mouthpiece that came with the instrument.

He played with mouthpieces later in his career, but never in the hopes of attaining what he should attain through improving his abilities.

Rick "recommending a teacher" Denney

[sloan]

If you are on a tight budget and have to ask here - there is ZERO reason to use anything but an absolutely stock, middle-of-the-road, vanilla mouthpiece.

If you move away from the middle-of-the-road, you are chasing special features and minor variations which are totally swamped by your current playing level. This can be interesting when you have lots of disposable income and just like to experiment and tinker. That's NOT what you should be doing, now.

When you are ready to tinker, DO NOT say "that mouthpiece looks cool/popular/sexy/... I wonder what it will do for me". Instead, say "here's a problem with my playing - is there a mouthpiece that promises better performance in that specifice area." But, first you must bring your playing to a level where there is only one or two identifiable flaws. Right now, you probably have LOTS of things to improve on. Take lessons and solve all the "easy" problems first. That's best done on a vanilla, neutral mouthpiece.

If outdoor, very cold weather is a major part of your playing, by all means get a Kelly 18. Play it for 2 years, indoors and out, until you are SURE you need something different. Then, buy a *metal* 18 and play *that* for 2 years. You *could* play those two mouthpieces for the rest of your life (if you take care of them). As long as you are on a "tight budget", there is NO mouthpiece that will make enough of a difference in your sound to be worth the $$.

Me? I buy one new mouthpiece a year at the DC conference, and use it for 6 months before forming an opinion. I've also been known to stand by and listen to Rick cycle through 5 mouthpieces at a time, trying to decide which rendition of his favorite excerpt sounds least bad. But (and this is important!) neither Rick nor I do this with money that is really needed for any other purpose, and neither of us has any illusions about finding the perfect mouthpiece that will magically erase the many flaws in our playing. My usual reaction to a new acquisition (after 6 months of testing) is "yup...it's a tuba mouthpiece all right". I now have about 4-5 mouthpieces that are more or less interchangable (for me) - I sound like me on all of them. I DO NOT recommend that you purchase the one that I like best, so I won't tell you what it is.

A closing anecdote. My son is a (VERY GOOD) trombone player. At last Spring's Eastern Trombone Workshop, he play tested 4 mouthpieces (it took 2 hours!). In the end, he chose one, and had to special order the configuration he wanted. For various reasons, the mouthpiece was never delivered...and he's still quite happy playing his original mouthpiece (and I'm $200 to the good...) It was an interesting exercise - but it wasn't really crucial (or even relevant) to his development on the trombone.

[The Jackson]

One very small note about the Kelly 18:

Ask your band director about you using it first. There are some "purists" out there who are totally against plastic mouthpieces for anything other than cold weather. Just make sure you don't waste your money on it.

[Roger Lewis]

with everything that has been stated above. You have not had time to even develop a "sound" of your own yet and going whacky on mouthpieces will make it harder to find "your" sound. Lessons, lessons, lessons - then - fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals. Do you know all your scales yet? Fluently? If the answer is "no" then you're really not ready to begin the equipment journey.

Remember - the only way a tuba or a mouthpiece makes a noise is if you throw it against the wall. The sound is in YOU; your buzz, your air, your physical tissue beating the crap out of itself inside a metal hole. There's no magic (sorry to disappoint you) and there's no quick fix. Work on YOU first. Once you have a clean efficient buzz and good sound through the range of the mouthpiece with good resonance - then when you plug the mouthpiece (ANY mouthpiece) into a horn, you will sound great.

After about 6 months, and ONLY THEN - do you begin to ask "what would I like different about my sound". Then you begin asking these questions about what mouthpiece does what.

Right now, you are looking for a mouthpiece, and only a mouthpiece - when you should be building your "sound". Get a cheap Faxx brand Conn Helleberg copy or Bach 18 copy (I have a little, personal thing against the Bach mouthpieces - simply because I walked into my first lesson with a great teacher many years ago and he took my mouthpiece out, a Bach 18, threw it in the waste basket and handed me one of his saying "Here, this will do until you can get a REAL mouthpiece") and start to work ONLY WITH THE MOUTHPIECE. Develop a good strong buzz with plenty of air behind it. GET TO A GOOD TEACHER - even if it is only once a month but make him/her beat the hell out of you on fundamentals. THEN you're ready for the "mouthpiece vision quest".

Sorry for the rant, but this is a really emotional topic for me. I apologize for all the capital letters I used, but I want to try to stress just how important this is.

Peace.
Roger