Bach 8 mouthpiece questions
Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 5:56 pm
I was recently complaining to community bandmates about the warn plating on my Bach 7c. My lips don't care for raw brass but my budget is not currently friendly to new mouthpiece expenses. So at our last rehearsal a gal in my section shows up with a mouthpiece she's had sitting in a drawer unused for years. She had never played it and wondered if I would like to try it out to see if I would be interested in it. It is a Vincent Bach Corp. 8 which I had never encountered in person.
Against my own best judgment, I decided to try it out in rehearsal without warmup. I plugged it into my 60's Conn 6h and gave it a go. I was on the first book and we were site-reading some challenging stuff - Gershwin, Copeland, etc., so what was I thinking? (By the way I should mention that, as a trombonist, I'm a pretty good jazz piano player.) Anyway, the first thing I noticed was how comfortable the 8 was on the lips compared to the 7c which was nice. The next thing I noticed was that the lack of "c" cup was not helping me with articulations on high notes like I was used to with the 7c. So while the conductor was castigating the flutes and clarinets for their inability to decipher accidentals at lighting speed, I took a look inside the mouthpiece and noticed how deep and funnel-shaped it was and how much smaller the throat was than the 7c. Hmm, seemed like something you'd see used for Euphonium maybe. By the end of the rehearsal I had begun to get a feel for the mouthpiece in terms of making it do what I needed. I kind of liked the "rounder" tone I was getting, too. I have not had a chance to practice with it on my own yet or to try it out in a big band setting but I've decided to give it a proper workout as soon as I can.
I'd like to ask if any of you have played one of these before and what you thought of it if you have? Also, are they hen's teeth? I don't think I've ever even heard of them. Is there a good reason for this? I appreciate any info or thoughts on the subject. I am definitely going to see how it plays for me but I just really curious. Thanks.
Against my own best judgment, I decided to try it out in rehearsal without warmup. I plugged it into my 60's Conn 6h and gave it a go. I was on the first book and we were site-reading some challenging stuff - Gershwin, Copeland, etc., so what was I thinking? (By the way I should mention that, as a trombonist, I'm a pretty good jazz piano player.) Anyway, the first thing I noticed was how comfortable the 8 was on the lips compared to the 7c which was nice. The next thing I noticed was that the lack of "c" cup was not helping me with articulations on high notes like I was used to with the 7c. So while the conductor was castigating the flutes and clarinets for their inability to decipher accidentals at lighting speed, I took a look inside the mouthpiece and noticed how deep and funnel-shaped it was and how much smaller the throat was than the 7c. Hmm, seemed like something you'd see used for Euphonium maybe. By the end of the rehearsal I had begun to get a feel for the mouthpiece in terms of making it do what I needed. I kind of liked the "rounder" tone I was getting, too. I have not had a chance to practice with it on my own yet or to try it out in a big band setting but I've decided to give it a proper workout as soon as I can.
I'd like to ask if any of you have played one of these before and what you thought of it if you have? Also, are they hen's teeth? I don't think I've ever even heard of them. Is there a good reason for this? I appreciate any info or thoughts on the subject. I am definitely going to see how it plays for me but I just really curious. Thanks.