My Mouthpiece

    While I'm not a proponent of playing on certain equipment simply because it works for someone else, I will admit to being curious about what does work for other players. Probably one of the most asked questions by brass players is...

What mouthpiece do you play on?

Farkas MD

  I began out the traditional Farkas Medium-Deep. My private teacher likes this mouthpiece for being consistent in all the registers and is a quality mouthpiece for any level of player. She still uses it to this day because she says that if she ever needs a replacement mouthpiece last minute this is the perfect option. Almost every instrument dealer I've been to carries the Farkas MD cup.

  I've experimented on the Farkas Medium and Deep cups. The Deep created a more rounded sound, but this almost seemed to dull the sound too much and the upper register became more of a challenge. On the other hand, the Medium offered some more support in the upper register, but took away some the singing quality that I gotten on the Farkas MD.

  Now I play on a different set-up, a Moosewood L8 underpart with a gold plated copy of a Giardinelli C10 rim. I find this new combination more favorable for several reasons...

• Two Piece Mouthpiece - I feel that when you're younger and going through a lot of changes, both physically and with equipment, the two piece mouthpiece is great for proper development. For example if you're happy with how the mouthpiece feels on your face but your want to experiment with how a different size bore affects your sound then if you don't to worry about inconsistencies in the rim when you order the next mouthpiece. Just buy the new cup and screw your old rim onto the new cup. (Make sure that you buy the rims and cups with the same size threads.)
• Gold Plated Rim - I play with a wet embouchure and when the gold gets wet it becomes more slippery than silver. I feel like this gives me easier flexibility. 
• Reverse Peak Rim - The high point of the rim is on the outside-most edge of the rim. This gives me a feeling that the rims gathers and holds a certain amount of the lip in the mouthpiece. This evens out some the slickness that the gold plate provides and makes it feel just right to me. Another positive aspect of the reverse peak is that it provides more "bite" in the attack, which I especially like in Romantic music.
• L8 Underpart - The bore on this mouthpiece better matches my 8D which makes the playing more efficient. It's also a medium-deep mouthpiece so the feeling of range is about the same as the Farkas MD, which means that I can use my old mouthpiece incase I would somehow forget my regular mouthpiece.

My pouch in its current condition.

  On a last note there's one more thing that I find meaningful to mention about my mouthpieces. I've owned a Protec mouthpiece pouch for the past two years so I that I can always keep my main mouthpiece safe with me. I then keep a backup mouthpiece, that's similar to my main, in my case with my horn. Some people have had problems with Protec equipment being poorly made and falling apart, but I haven't had any issues with my pouch.