Dorry

I have thick lips and I din't find a satisfying mouthpiece yet.
I currently play on schilcke 15 (inner rim 17.2 and cup betweens bach 1 1/2C and 3C)

My feeling - good sound when I play strong but it's hard to play very soft for jazz. I can't play the upper register for a long time. I play alot but it stays a hard job. My lips are swollen after playing.

Now my trumpet teacher advices me to go even to a bigger rim to be comfortable as my lips don't always stay inside the mouthpiece.

So I'm considiring to test a mouthpiece like the schilcke 17B4 or 18B4 but I'm affraid this will even be harder to play as I will use more lips.
I would chose the B4 to have more resistance to blow more silent in Jazz.

Since it's not possible to find a dealer where I can use some mouthpieces for a couple of days in Belgium I have to buy and try. So can anyone give an advise on this advise?

I play classic band and jazz. Some years ago I playes Big Band where I needed power. Now I want to play comfortable

Regards,

Dorry

Yamaha Xeno YTR-8335RGS
Schilke 15
Bach 1 1/2
Benge Leonore
Getzen Capri

sj3209

One of the many gems by Rowuk:



Range NEVER ends at a particular high note because of the size of a mouthpiece. It ends because our lips stop compressing enough to get that next note. In young players, that is usually because of pressure and inadequate breath support. The lips get squeezed off until they can't do their job anymore. That does NOT change with a new mouthpiece.

The reason that smaller or shallower mouthpieces make sense for lead players is the SOUND. That only works if we have a different sound concept.

The reason most players switch to a 1.5C is to get a more "massive" sound. Without the "sound concept", we try and get that "massive" sound with the smaller mouthpiece and end up with LESS than before.

In your case, I would not mess with ANYTHING without 1 on 1 attention from a player that can REALLY play lead. Give us the general area that you live in (no exact address please). Maybe there is a qualified TMer in your area!
__________________
Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

Do a search for these and your answer will be found, though it may not be the one you thought you were looking for. I just picked this at random. Don't get bogged down in thinking it doesn't exactly answer your question. Do the search.

Richard III

trumpetnick

The secret of soft playing is...soft playing. Bingo! You can always test a new mouthpiece, but this is not likely to solve your problem. Go back to basics - long tones, slurs and scales in pp with no attack. What you probably need is better control which is achived by DILIGENT PRACTICE with the help of expert and dedicated teacher. The thickness of your lips is irrelevant.

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Spada Bach B flat 72, leadpipe 2L/DWMM1.5C
Spada Bach C 256, leadpipe 2LQ/DWMM1.5C
1956 Olds Ambassador Cornet
Spada Custom Piccolo

If you don't know where you are going, you 'll end up someplace else

cmel

i had a similar problem to yours when i had only been playing for a few years - i also have large lips and played on a schilke 15 and was getting swollen and my range and endurance were not what i wanted. this was mainly due to my execesive use of pressure. if you press too hard, this will really cut your enduance as it cuts off blood flow to your lips and will make them swell after. try using less pressure but the range and endurance come with practice - lots of lip slurs, high scales, etc. i wound up switching to a 15C4 and have been very happy with it for several years now. its a schlke 15 but with a wider, flatter rim but maintains the other specs of the 15 (depth, shape, width of cup). but i did not do this in lieu of solving my pressure problem.
anyhow, i would say give the 15C4 a try im very happy with it. i use it for classical and i can also get a bright sound if i push. best of luck :)