| Re: Pranas? What Da Ya Think?
My two cents ... I learned along time ago that I can get away with playing a very small shallow piece as my lips are very thin and my mouth is very small. What is normal to most folks feels like a toilet bowl to me ... however, I can still play the high notes etc. on the Bach 3C and do use a Claude Gordon 3 every now and then. I play with an open aperture and a "natural" bottom lip roll as Walt Johnson teaches (10 Minutes To Double C) and the Maggio System For Brass teaches or advocates as well. I say all that to say ... find your natural diameter and depth in a mouthpiece and go from there. Since mine was a Schilke 13a4 ... I began looking at pieces that were close to that and tried the Monette BL-2 (Craig Johnsons Lead piece) ... I then went to the (LT) BL-2J because I like more bite in my rim (don't like cushioned rims) ... I now have the Prana version and it is quite different. The shank is thinner on this piece. Monette's have huge throats and backbores so the huge throat and backbore coupled with the relatively shallow bowl is perfect for me. I don't feel that any piece is "superior" etc. It's all up to the player. I know Tony and Craig Johnson both prefer the non-prana pieces ... while John Chudoba likes and uses the prana. Just my thoughts. |