Stainless steel vs. Titanium vs. Brass

[cambrook]

Some people believe that the amount of size or mass of the exterior changes the sound as well. I do not embrace those beliefs.

I had Dave Houser make a lightweight version of his LM7 mp, and I can assure you that is is different to his normal (heavyweight) LM7.

Cheers,

Cam

[Kevin Hendrick]

"...the biggest difference is the responsiveness."
And what units do you measure responsiveness in?

Milliseconds would probably be most appropriate for musical instruments.

[gregsundt]

Many trombonists spend time fussing over their selection of materials for leadpipes and bells- brass (yellow, gold, rose), nickel silver, or Sterling silver. Do you really think they're all just imagining things?

I don't see anyone claiming that the materials used in the resonating part of the horn (i.e. the bugle, even the valve section to a point) make no difference. They clearly do. By virtue of its sheer mass, though, even the thinnest, lightest mouthpiece resonates little if at all. The mouthpiece's job is to receive, shape, and funnel the sound energy into the instrument as efficiently as possible. These functions are affected by the size and shape of the cup, rim, throat and backbore. These, not the composition of the blank, change the sound and response.

[cambrook]

Joe,

I suspect the reason there was little (or no) apparent difference between your usual mp and the "super light" version is that there wasn't a huge difference in weight. It would be interesting (only a bit) to compare the "super light" to a heavyweight one if one existed.

FWIW I prefer the "normal" weight mouthpieces like Blokepieces, Laskeys, Klier etc to heavyweight ones.

Cheers,

Cam

[ds_le_moulin]

Hello !

Thanks for all your answers. Even though it got a bit away from the original question

I was wondering what it changes to the sound, not what we feel (because feelings are... well : b...s...)
So I would have been interested to know if someone has been trying the same model of a GW (because they produce the same mouthpieces in different materials) in stainless and Titanium.

Then about the deviation in the subject: I have same mouthpiece in 3 different weights, heavyweight, normalwieght and lightwieght. It changes a bunch of things within the feelings, and the sound

[Untersatz]

I have same mouthpiece in 3 different weights, heavyweight, normalwieght and lightwieght. It changes a bunch of things within the feelings, and the sound

Well, that's all that matters then..........isn't it?
It changes a bunch of things

[ds_le_moulin]

Well, people started to speak about the weight etc.. But it's not the subject of this conversation...

[Donn]

I spent years playing a bach 7 megatone, not because of the extra mass, but because of the larger throat.

Those bach guys and their marketing... They couldn't sell anybody on getting excited about a larger throat, but to sell the larger throat version with a exterior that LOOKS like it might produce a richer sound, and they sold a bunch of them

Yes, naturally the throat and backbore, which could easily be the most important factor in playing differences between two similar sized mouthpieces, would be the hardest place to see any difference.

[Untersatz]

So the material is not changing the sound ? Why do some company them in titanium ??

Because they can. Is it better? All we know is that titanium is lighter weight than brass or stainless steel. Titanium is
somewhat of an exotic material, so I'm sure that in the minds of some people, they must think it's better than stainless steel
or brass & it costs more too, so it must be better........right??? I like stainless steel because of the way it feels
on my face & it doesn't need to be plated (which can wear thin over time). A mirror polished stainless steel mouthpiece
is the best feel for ME on MY face, but I wouldn't waste the extra $$$ on a titanium model.
Why is the body of a Corvette made of fiberglass & most other automobiles are made of sheet metal???
They both hold the paint equally well. It is just a fact of modern day manufacturing.........similar things ARE made from
different materials, why??? Because they can be.

[mceuph]

I've done a double-blind comparison (I didn't know which mouthpiece was which, neither did my colleagues who evaluated the sound. I even had one of my students put the mouthpiece in the horn so I wouldn't be able to judge the weight beforehand) between a stainless steel and titanium version of the same mouthpiece. There was a huge difference in the response on my end and in the perceived sound on their end. The titanium was much more responsive on my end. On their end, they felt that the titanium sound got to the edge too quickly and had "less weight" to the sound (their words). Full disclosure, I didn't end up choosing either mouthpiece.

[ds_le_moulin]

Thanks to mceuph for the reply, this is the kind of answer I was waiting for. Did you record it ?

[mceuph]

I didn't record it, this was several years ago. One important thing to keep in mind with equipment is that personal experiences vary greatly. These results were really only relevant to me and my playing. I have personally loved some equipment that other pros have hated and vice versa. In other words, results may (and probably will) vary by the individual. As with all equipment choices, there are often too many individual variables to make a general statement. Even though I was as "scientific" as possible for this particular test, it would take a substantially greater amount of actual testing data involving many more people before one could make an truly informed hypothesis about the general qualities of these two materials when used in mouthpieces. Of course, the best bet if you're really interested is to personally try both materials.