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Re: Mouthpiece Recommendations

Author: GenEric
Date: 2018-01-30 09:53

I just tried the BD5 and M13L side by side. I've been playing the BD5 for a the majority of the winter by now and my band director lent me a M13L to try out because the BD5 left me so fatigued and sore after a rehearsal and practice session.

The M13L is a lot different. Voicing is a lot different and going up to clarion high C, it was so blatty and shrill but after a good hour, I found a way to control it and it sounds more warm and controlled. I really like the M13L. It is such an easy mouthpiece to play on. I can tongue super fast on it which makes the Weber concertino a breeze. Also, I can play more expressively with it and I could play louder and project more. I felt like with the BD5, I was restricted to my playing because it was so resistant and warm. It felt hard to truely express the music I was playing because I was more focused on getting the note to speak and not to mention to stop the throat tones from being so fuzzy. With the M13L, it's so much easier to play slower phrases and play them expressively. Although tone is rather bright right now, I believe my tone will get better as I continue using the mouthpiece.

I think Bob pointed out that the upper register has a tendency to be flat and I realized that as well. As I go up, the instrument gets flatter. This is concerning because once I tune my instrument with the register B, the lower register gets sharp. However, I didn't think about it too much because it wasn't that significant. 5-10 cents depending on the note. I believe I can adjust it as I get more used to the mouthpiece.

However, as of now, I've never felt better. I just finished a 1 hour non stop practice session and I don't feel tired and my lower lip doesn't hurt from all the constant biting.

I still understand that tuning is a concern and I might have to let go of the mouthpiece just because of that reason. However, if somebody knows a good dark mouthpiece that has the same free blowing and response to articulation as the M13L, I'd be very happy to try it out!

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