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Originally Posted by trptguru  So...after all the comments on what horn people use for Messiah, it reminded me that I am in need of a good picc mouthpiece. I play on a Parke 630-285-24 Merkelo for Bb and C, but for picc I have been using a Parke 630-240-26 Bergeron, but it doesn't work. The whole shallower thing has never seemed to work to help me play higher. Any suggestions? |
A shallower mouthpiece does not help you play higher! A shallower mouthpiece makes your sound brighter. There are many mouthpieces that are shallower with a corresponding throat and backbore, that supposedly were specifically designed with the piccolo trumpet in mind, most have never worked for me!
My first suggestion is to put your standard mouthpiece in the picc and play. What happens? Intonation OK ? High register up to your normal highest note OK? Sound compact with core? Once you have taken notes, then you can make a plan of action.
There are various schools of thought, one is maintain the same rim size regardless, the other is use smaller mouthpieces for smaller horns. I prefer the second as I use my picc mostly in chamber settings and a symphonic approach didn't give me the results that I desired.
So, if you on the standard mouthpiece played flat in the upper register, a smaller cup volume with a tighter backbore and throat will provide relief. The smaller cup volume can be achieved with the standard rim with a shallower cup (brightens the sound) or a smaller diameter mouthpiece with moderate depth (a more "rounded" sound).
When I was playing standard mouthpieces, I used a Bach 1 1/2C for my big horns and a normal 10 1/2C for the picc. Intonation was good, sound very centered and although it was not possible to balance a wind band with that mouthpiece on my Selmer picc, I was able to play as softly as the oboe and had a lot of "color" available that was not possible with a bigger mouthpiece.
In past years, the primary search was for a mouthpiece that let us play the picc in tune. Many players are still searching because they have not taken notes and attempted to solve the problem logically. Check this web site out for an in depth description of how mouthpieces work:
Welcome at the pages of the IWK (Institute of Musical Acoustics)
click on research, then mouthpiece forms. Here is an excellent description of how to tune the mouthpiece system for optimal intonation.
Finally, if you want to play higher, no mouthpiece or horn can solve that. Playing higher is a function of embouchure development and mature breathing practice. Any high notes that you get on one horn will be available for all of the rest! Granted, optimised hardware will be less in the way, but that helps endurance, not range. I can only recommend working on body use, breathing, long tones and lip slurs (even on the picc.!) to extend range. Keep the pressure off of the top lip and try to stay as relaxed as possible.