Why use a heavyweight mp?

[Rick Denney]

Fundamental principle: When changing to a mouthpiece of a different interior shape, one cannot draw any conclusions about that mouthpiece's different weight.

Fundamental principle #2: Nobody ever won or lost a tuba gig because their mouthpiece was or was not heavy (or light).

Fundamental principle #3: What is true for a trumpet is not necessarily true for a tuba. Even if it really is true for a trumpet.

Fundamental principle #4: The player cannot be sure of the value of subtle effects from the player's perspective while playing. Too much of what we hear comes through our heads and through the sides of the instrument, while the people out front hear mostly what comes out of the bell.

Both heavy and light mouthpieces have had been the fads of the moment at different times. The inside shape of the mouthpiece is FAR more important than the outside shape, and people still argue (endlessly) about the relative merits of this inside shape versus that inside shape.

The sound an instrument makes is the combination of three frequency response curves: The spiky resonant one imposed by the instrument, the broadly humped curve from the mouthpiece, and the embouchure's even more broadbanded buzz. The buzz is where the tone is produced, and the instrument provides the bulk of the filtering and amplification to whittle the buzz down to the favorable few overtones (assuming they are present in the buzz to begin with). The mouthpiece is a relatively minor contributor.

That ultra-light plastic mouthpieces could provide reasonably good service, in that many prefer them and nobody is willing to say that they do not produce a reasonable tuba tone, demonstrates that the relatively smaller differences between various metal mouthpieces will have little effect.

Rick "answer to the question: when the heavyweight mouthpiece has just the right interior shape" Denney