One of the things that I wanted to do at the start of the year was commit to one mouthpiece. Since I’ve been playing (5 years total) I’ve been flip flopping between several different sizes and brands. The longest being a Laskey 70C for about 9 months. After my bad experience with a Monette B2 (very comfortable rim, sounded amazing but was probably too big) I’ve been searching frantically for a piece to start off 2005 with. I experimented with a Schilke 15B that sounded fantastic but absolutely destroyed my bottom lip with it’s rounded rim. After some searching, discussions with manufacturers and other players I’ve settled on a GR 66M for trumpet and GR 66FL for flugelhorn. I find them as comfortable as my Laskey and capable of giving me a sound close to the one that I got on the Schilke. The 66 rim is a touch smaller than I’m used to (3C equivalent) but I am confident that I can get used to it. I got the green light from my teacher on my selection so now I can now focus on getting acclimated, finding the sweet spot and making music. Special thanks to Bruce Lee at Northern Brass and Brian Scriver at GR Technologies for getting fitted.

One thing that I have always felt was missing from my tone was the overtones that are common in most trumpet player’s sound. That “ring” that you hear in players like Woody Shaw, Clifford Brown or Blue Mitchell. I think that may be due to me constantly trying new pieces and never really settling on one (in addition to using more air). That is what I meant by finding the sweet spot. From what I understand it is different for each note and for me that spot has been a constant moving target due to all the mouthpiece changes. Sticking with one will hopefully make that target easier hit since it will now be in the same place. Only time will tell.  Let the experiment begin…

In the past I have mentioned another site similar to mine called I Was Doing All Right. If you haven’t been there in while I suggest you go and check out the latest upgrade to the ear training tool. It was very useful before but now I think the host has pretty much nailed it with regards to what a jazz musician needs to improve his or her ear. While I don’t use it daily I try to find time during the week to sit down and spend time playing back random melodies. I find it very helpful and I’m getting better at it.