Soprano Advise please?

[sopranopenguin]

Hey guys,

Just recently got registered to the site, and I know theres a few forums floating around about people advising on different elements of the Soprano. Now I was just basically going to throw the same question out in the hope that some of my Questions can get answered.

Ive been playing Sop now for 18months~ and have been borrowing my bands soprano cornet. I was recommended a mouthpiece by a conductor a few months back which ive finally got used to (Vincent Bach 7E). Before that I was playing on my Old Bb mouthpiece. The cornet itself is a Yamaha, couldnt tell you any more information than that unfortunatly but cutting a long story short, I want to.... a) buy my own cornet, and....b) buy a new mouthpiece.

Im constantly having to lip almost all my range further up because the mouthpiece is so long I cant actually push my tuning slide any further in. Now I know this will be primarily because of the long mouthpiece, but I was pushed all the way in on my old mouthpiece aswell.

Im able to reach the range thats needed already so I dont need a mouthpiece to help me squeal out my Top C's and was wondering what sort of cornet/mouthpiece I can get for in and around £1,000 prepared to go a little higher if needed.

Thanks in advance,
Matt

 

[GJG]

The only advice that people can really give is to try out as many different possibilities as you can, and buy the combination that works best for you. Everyone is different, and what works for one person may well not work for another.

Having said that, for the sort of budget you are talking about, you may well find you will get better results by going for a second-hand high-end instrument rather than a new mid-range instrument.

 

[yoda]

Im able to reach the range thats needed already so I dont need a mouthpiece to help me squeal out my Top C's and was wondering what sort of cornet/mouthpiece I can get for in and around £1,000 prepared to go a little higher if needed.

Thanks in advance,
Matt

In terms of the mouthpiece, go for the biggest/deepest one that YOU are comfortable on that still gives you full command of the full range of the instrument. That should help with the intonation/sharp issue as well as give you a rich sound.

I know its probably a cliche, but for a very long time, the best sop on the market has always been a shilke. GJG gives very good advice tho in respect of probably going for a 2nd hand one.

Play on a few combinations tho and see what you like.

Lots of luck with it

 

[blue juice]

I started on a Schilke 14a4a mouthpiece before moving onto a Schilke 11a. Moving onto a Bach 7c at the moment. With regard to instruments as far as I'm concerned you can't beat a schilke but be extremely careful buying 2nd hand. The Xeno sop is also very good. But as always with any mouthpiece or instrument is try to out as many as possible and see what works best for you.

 

[sopranopenguin]

Hi guys, thanks for the responces.

Like I said in my post I have only been playing sop 18months so I dont class my self anywhere near as an expert, but all 3 of those mouthpieces you mentioned seem to be quiet long mouthpieces, same sort of length as the Vincent Bach 7e Im using, would depth make enough difference so that I can actually move my tuning slide out to be able to tune it? If not can anyone recommend a Deep mouthpiece thats quite short?

Thanks again in advance,
Matt

 

[chrisgs]

The Dennis Wick S mouthpiece is short and fairly deep - but I'm not sure that would necessarily solve your tuning problems - I actually struggled with being very flat until I changed to a Schilke 10B4, which is longer.

 

[GJG]

Bear in mind that the "length" of the mouthpiece is not an absolute, ie the effect of the shank will vary according to the design of the receiver. A Schilke mouthpiece may appear "long", but if you put in in a Schilke soprano, the shank will match the receiver properly, and may not extend as far as it would on another make. There are no hard and fast rules, but there are often good reasons for using a mouthpiece and instrument from the same manufacturer.

 

[sopranopenguin]

Bear in mind that the "length" of the mouthpiece is not an absolute, ie the effect of the shank will vary according to the design of the receiver. A Schilke mouthpiece may appear "long", but if you put in in a Schilke soprano, the shank will match the receiver properly, and may not extend as far as it would on another make. There are no hard and fast rules, but there are often good reasons for using a mouthpiece and instrument from the same manufacturer.

That makes alot of sense I wasnt aware that the shanks would be different sizes. Thanks for that ill take a look around for a good deal (unless anyone is selling one at the moment and whats to give a good deal )

Matt

 

[chill]

I used Schilke MPs on a Yamaha Xeno Sop and had no problems. Was left with 1/4 inch or more of tuning slide available.