Mouthpiece for British Style Baritone

[Z-Tuba Dude]

Hey guys,

I have acquired a Schiller British baritone, but I don't think that the mouthpiece supplied is the greatest.

Does anyone have a recommendation of an excellent mouthpiece for British baritones? BTW - The shank is fairly small.

Thanks in advance!

[sticky_valve]

Denis Wick comes to mind.

You can try any of the Steven Mead Series mp's:

http://www.deniswick.com/all-products/mouthpieces

I've got a SM9 I used once for a couple of hours on my King 625, I prefer the standard 6 1/2AL for this type of horn so its of no use to me. It was new when I got it and could part with it, but you'd need to factor in postage from Australia.

Like many posts on here re mouthpiece selection, there is no one size fits all. You'll need to try a number to see what fits best for you.

[MikeW]

It's been a few years now, but when I had a Baritone I used a Denis Wick 4AY mouthpiece.

[Z-Tuba Dude]

Does that mouthpiece have a narrow shank?

[eupher61]

reports are that British players are seeking darker sounds from baritone lately. I have a one-off 3G with a wider than normal rim. it sounds great IMO. also on the Schiller 3v comp. nice horn!

[pgym]

http://www.dwerden.com/forum/showthread ... outhpieces" target="_blank

http://www.dwerden.com/forum/showthread ... outhpieces" target="_blank

[Chadtuba]

I'm using a Doug Elliot with my Schiller baritone, 55 C4 with a 55R rim. I'm sure there is a better mp but I had this on hand and is much better than the supplied.

[MikeW]

Does that mouthpiece have a narrow shank?

Probably - it fitted an Imperial Baritone.
Try the threads listed about two posts above this, on the "Dwerden" site. I'm an amateur ex-baritone with twenty-year old memories, but these guys are current experts.

[Z-Tuba Dude]

Not to worry! I am looking for a brightish (British?) sound. I am looking for a CONTRAST with the euphonium sound.

I guess I should have mentioned that in the original post, because that would definitely be an important consideration, when choosing a mouthpiece!

[Alex C]

You can't beat a Kozy Kup. The size is nearly immaterial, just find one and you'll understand the English Baritone.

[pgym]

Not to worry! I am looking for a brightish (British?) sound. I am looking for a CONTRAST with the euphonium sound.

I guess I should have mentioned that in the original post, because that would definitely be an important consideration, when choosing a mouthpiece!

In that case, Wick 4 size and larger are definitely NOT the way to go.

The Wick 6BS has more-or-less been the standard for a long time, with good reason.

I prefer the Wick SM6B to the 6BS (less fuzz and a bit more centered sound). And, contrary to Dan Fisher's claim over in one of the threads on Dave Werden's site, I found the Wick Heritage, which I tried prior to the SM6B, significantly LESS responsive, LESS flexible, and LESS easy to produce clean articulation on than the SM6B, and found the same nasty tonal surprise that Doug Ruby did.

I'm using a Doug Elliot with my Schiller baritone, 55 C4 with a 55R rim.

Are you sure it's not a Mike Finn?

I know Mike used that nomenclature for his modular euph and 'bone mouthpieces, But don't think Doug does or has. Doug's is 2 letter designating the series, a letter designating the cup, a number designating the rim diameter, and a letter designating the shank, [e.g.], XT-I/103/J.

Don't know whether or not DE and MF use the same threads.

[pgym]

You can't beat a Kosikup.

FTFY.

[Chadtuba]

I'm using a Doug Elliot with my Schiller baritone, 55 C4 with a 55R rim.

Are you sure it's not a Mike Finn?

I know Mike used that nomenclature for his modular euph and 'bone mouthpieces, But don't think Doug does or has. Doug's is 2 letter designating the series, a letter designating the cup, a number designating the rim diameter, and a letter designating the shank, [e.g.], XT-I/103/J.

Don't know whether or not DE and MF use the same threads.

You're probably right. I was sent the mouthpiece from a friend who closed down his music store years ago and had some misc stock left. I described what I was playing on for the other horns and what I wanted for my small bore tenor trombone and that's what he sent. Since that time I've used it on most every small bore trombone, baritone, and euphonium I've played and always liked it.

[bbocaner]

The previous poster who suggested a 6BS is right on. Bach 6.5AL isn't out of the ball park. Adjust slightly bigger/deeper or smaller/shallower to suit your physiology and personal preference. And a dark sound is good. Not all the way to euphonium-land, but not terribly far off either. Lighter, not brighter. Able to be trombone-like and tenorhorn-like when needed, but also able to be a seamless quartet with the euphoniums.

You get the dark sound from backing way off with pressure and using a slightly different embouchure and thinking warm air, not by using huge equipment.

However, some players with a different approach do OK with a little larger mouthpiece. The wick SM baritone mouthpieces are significantly deeper. The alliance B6 that ships with Bessons these days is almost 51D depth.

I spent several hours with Doug Elliot coming up with the perfect Baritone mouthpiece for me under his system and here's what I came up with.

LT N101 - any larger and I don't like the sound, too much lip gets involved and it starts to sound heavy and grainy. My baritone embouchure is much different than what I use on euphonium or trombone. It's more of a trumpet approach, lips curled in... they don't go into the cup as much. It helps get the light yet dark sound. Any smaller wasn't completely comfortable for me. I didn't try any of the half sizes, but a N100.5 might be really nice.

LT G+ cup - this was the sweet spot for me. Deeper than the standard wick 6bs but not anywhere as deep as the SM or alliance baritone mouthpieces. Made just the right sound.

G+ 4 short stem - And I actually had Doug cut off a few mm of the end as well, the new Bessons kind of have a "reverse gap" where it expands significantly after the end of the receiver, and a standard mouthpiece will hang out into the leadpipe a little. Cutting it just a tiny bit shorter made a HUGE difference. The Alliance and SM baritone mouthpieces do the same thing. The older Besson baritones have a receiver that is slightly undersized and the mouthpiece doesn't go in the full 1" standard, I'm assuming for the same reason. Don't know if your schiller is the same (it does seem to be a Besson copy...)

Check out some of the best current players to get an idea of what they sound like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBeGC6JgM40" target="_blank
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZb4ycwLfYU" target="_blank
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ1SVFlhPrQ" target="_blank

[Jess Haney]

It's been a few years now, but when I had a Baritone I used a Denis Wick 4AY mouthpiece.

All three of our baritone players use Wick pieces. Denis Wick is about as British as they get.

[MikeS]

I will second (third, fourth?) the consensus that the Wick SM6B would be an ideal starting point. I will mention that my experience is the opposite of pgym's. I've found that I play more cleanly and clearly on the Heritage 6BS than the SM6B. The difference is pretty subtle, however. If you want to make your life simple, buy an SM6B, play the pudding out of it, and never look back.