Rotating Mouthpiece affecting sound

[Andrew Pacht]

I'm not saying that this has solved every problem in the world. When I lined my mouthpiece up a certain way, it just seemed better, and was wondering if others have had the same experience.

[Donn]

Did someone just mention a person who claims that "freezing brass instruments improves response"

Or you can freeze the mouthpiece! from the trumpet forum cited above -

I only clock my MP after having it cryogencially frozen and then adding the Curry Sound Sleeve, which I then clock relative to the MP and the lead pipe. By rotating the position of the clocked MP relative to the clocked sleeve, I can go from an airy, Miles Davis kind of sound to a focused core, Chuck Findley lead kind of sound. Before the deep freeze, I was only able to move from a Clark Terry sound to an Allen Vizzuti sound, so it's a major improvement.

[tbn.al]

snicker, snicker snicker, snicker

[OffuttTubaGuy]

I first learned about this in the early 80’s while studying with Ron Bishop of the Cleveland Orchestra. He was playing a Mt. Vernon Bach 18 at the time, and insisted that it had to be positioned just right. Having the “letters up” made a big difference to him. Even some of the current Bach mouthpieces that I owned at that time had variances I could feel while running my finger along the inside rim.

Even today, with the great advances in tooling and technology, there are noticeable inconsistencies in manufacturing. One noted tubist in a major US orchestra that I know buys several copies of the same mouthpiece and plays the one he likes the most. Although it may seem extreme to some, and certainly expensive, I do the same. The proof for me was in blind comparisons with trusted colleagues, and comparing recordings of each piece.

Having the mouthpiece clocked a certain way may not greatly affect the overall response, but I really understand how it could feel different to the player.

[MartyNeilan]

I'm not saying that this has solved every problem in the world. When I lined my mouthpiece up a certain way, it just seemed better, and was wondering if others have had the same experience.

There were certain periods of time where the backbores of Bach mouthpieces were drilled significantly off center. Based on the assumption that your backbore is significantly off center, I could definitely see how rotating the mouthpiece to put the backbore in a position to work with, instead of against, the airstream would be of benefit.
Assuming the backbore is nearly perfectly on center and the shank is not bent, then I would have to concur to the psychological effect.
Marty "whose tuba plays better when using a mouthpiece than without one"

[Art Hovey]

Personally, I find that my mouthpiece works best when the label is on my right.
It's almost unplayable when the label is up or down. Can't figure out why...

[Donn]

I checked on this with a trumpet player at the show tonight, who I knew would be up on it. He didn't recognize the term, but knew what I was talking about, ascribed it to `metal filings and stuff' that accumulate on one side ... if he'd had a minute to think about it he might have come up with more. It reminded him of the trumpets that are made with an integral mouthpiece.

Another trick he mentioned: of the 3 valves, you might tighten one valve cap a half turn tighter, or a half turn looser, for effects that might have on vibration. I understood him to be talking about the bottom caps, but not really sure about that.

We're lucky we don't have to worry about esoteric factors like this with the tuba!

[Bill Troiano]

How about on the left, Art????

[Jay Bertolet]

It's surely easier to focus attention on issues such as these rather than more nebulous issues such as "resonance", "intonation", "facility", and "phrase-shaping".

bloke "That having been said, I have surely encountered some mouthpieces (whether 10, 2, or 4 o' clocked ) that don't do very much to contribute to the enhancement of any of the four issued mentioned just above."

I'm willing to bet that it is far easier to rotate the mouthpiece to some specific angle and call that better rather than actually practicing until the same effect is achieved.

[Untersatz]

Any golfers out there???
Everybody knows that if you line up the "T" on a Titleist golf ball to face the hole before putting,
the ball will pretty much find the bottom of the cup automatically...........every time
Same concept as rotating the mouthpiece to the "correct" position.
Even a blind tuba player could see that! duh!

[TubaRay]

Any golfers out there???
Everybody knows that if you line up the "T" on a Titleist golf ball to face the hole before putting,
the ball will pretty much find the bottom of the cup automatically...........every time
Same concept as rotating the mouthpiece to the "correct" position.
Even a blind tuba player could see that! duh!

Omigosh! And all these years I thought I just couldn't put because I didn't practice enough. I can hardly wait to get back to the golf course.

[Kevin Hendrick]

Any golfers out there???
Everybody knows that if you line up the "T" on a Titleist golf ball to face the hole before putting,
the ball will pretty much find the bottom of the cup automatically...........every time
Same concept as rotating the mouthpiece to the "correct" position.
Even a blind tuba player could see that! duh!

Omigosh! And all these years I thought I just couldn't put because I didn't practice enough. I can hardly wait to get back to the golf course.

That's amazing! I've been having problems with my putts, too ... this sounds very helpful.

[b.williams]

College is a great place for practical jokes. If your playing was improving, you were doing a good job in the lesson, and a little fun was had at your expense.

Sort of like the military. The favorite Navy prank was to send a recruit looking for a bucket of relative bearing grease.

Or some shore line..

[Levaix]

Here's an idea: Why not try it, and if it seems to make a difference, go ahead and act accordingly. If it helps or seems to help, great. Could very well be some mouthpieces have a manufacturing variance that causes an effect. If it DOESN'T do anything, well, it's not like you spent any money or significant time on it. If you want to save your pride, you don't even have to admit you tried it. (Fwiw, my only experience was a former instructor who tried this, noticed a small difference, and very quickly forgot what position he had found "optimal." I guess it wasn't a big deal...)

Someone else posted above regarding different copies of the same model mouthpiece being very different, and I can attest to that. When I bought my classic Denis Wick 3AL, the seller had 2 copies. One of them was really kind of dead and lifeless, but the second (which I bought) had exactly the sound and response I wanted.

[kathott]

This is really working for me. As a further refinement, I have experimented with leaving
the mouthpiece as is, but rotating the entire instrument. Fantastic!

[swillafew]

This is a joke that won't die anytime soon.

[Kevin Hendrick]

This is really working for me. As a further refinement, I have experimented with leaving
the mouthpiece as is, but rotating the entire instrument. Fantastic!

Hmmm:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_speaker

[Kevin Hendrick]

hmm...

http://www.sportsspeakers360.com/speake ... leslie.php

A tall order indeed.

[Kevin Hendrick]

I've been having problems with my putts, too ... this sounds very helpful.

I understand that there are now several medication for such problems.