Mouthpiece experiment

[Joe Baker]

First, to tofu: yeah, I think it would fill nicks just fine; even if some artifact of the nick remained, at least you wouldn't cut yourself or get brass poisoning from it.
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Now, more about my results. I went to band practice last night. Some of the stuff we play is pretty range-y, with lots of leaps, and I discovered what it's like to play a grippy mouthpiece on that type of material. I'll say this, if you think you don't change your mouthpiece setup over your range, use a mouthpiece like this and you'll know for sure. It got to hurting pretty bad after a while, and I had to switch back my normal, non-rubberized MP. I'll probably try to continue getting used to it, but now I DO understand the objections of people who don't like grippy mouthpieces.

For those who DO like them, let me say that I went around the inside of the rim and trimmed away all of the PD that was actually extending down into the cup. It had become sort of a loose flap, and I felt it was robbing me of some of the sound energy. Removing that excess made the piece sound just right, almost exactly as if the PD wasn't there at all. From that point on, the ONLY negative was the way it gripped, and I did perceive some positives. Fully aware that a placebo effect could be at play, it seemed to me like I had much more flexibility. Only time will tell if that perception was real or not.

I'll keep posting as I discover more. Thanks, everyone for your comments, questions and encouragement.
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Joe Baker, who was particularly intrigued to learn that Col. Conn started this way !

[Chuck(G)]

[Your results are worth some investigation. You state that it feels like your flexibility has improved, which begs the question "If we moved our lips less on the mouthpiece, even without plasticdip, would our flexibility improve?" I'll take a look at this over the next few days and if I find anything of import then I will come back and let you know. It seems logical, given that the work should be done by your lips and not your whole head moving.

Well, you always test your theory by spraying your favorite mouthpiece with this:



I'd like to see a mouthpiece with a teflon-coated rim. Unfortunately, there aren't any reliable do-it-yourself teflon coatings available. But Brownells markets this bake-on moly-teflon coating for the gun crowd:



Don't know if I'd want to stick my face into that, though.

[Joe Baker]

I went to band practice last night.

Oh lucky you! We're still on probation .

Your results are worth some investigation. You state that it feels like your flexibility has improved, which begs the question "If we moved our lips less on the mouthpiece, even without plasticdip, would our flexibility improve?" I'll take a look at this over the next few days and if I find anything of import then I will come back and let you know. It seems logical, given that the work should be done by your lips and not your whole head moving.

I take it "probation" means summer vacation from school? Not that it matters greatly, but my band is a community band, just so there's no confusion.

It's possible you're right that the lack of movement was what aided my flexibility; but I don't think so. I think it was the seal, which distributed the pressure much more evenly than normal. Because our teeth present a rounded surface, there is typically more pressure just at the spot that is supposed to vibrate; with this mouthpiece, that pressure is distributed, giving me more freedom to make the small adjustments that it takes to change pitches.

More later.
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Joe Baker, who wishes he were practicing today instead of working.