Kevin Hilman

Dear Manny,

Its great to see you back on the web! I'm excited to learn a lot from a true master. I know that you do your big trumpet playing on Monette instruments but I was wondering...do you also use a Monette picc? If so, I'd really like to hear what you have to say about playing one.

I play a Monette 61X-C with a C1-5M Prana piece and love it! My current piccolo is an old short model Yamaha and I'm itching to replace it.

Thank you,

Kevin Hilman

Manny Laureano

dear Kevin,

Thanks for writing. I use a Selmer piccolo that has an A pipe given to me by Maurice Andre made by Aubertin. The Bb pipe is a Louisville leadpipe by Cliff Blackburn.

I have another Selmer of more recent vintage that was a gift from Doc Severinsen. It has a bigger bell and a sound to boot.

I have played Brandenburgs with a piccolo made by Dave Monette but had to give it back as it belonged to Mark Isham. I have asked Dave for years to try to fashion a piccolo with four valves but he is reluctant to make a double pitch horn (A/Bb) because of the intonation compromises inherent to such an instrument.

The key has been the mouthpieces. I have three Monette leadpieces that I use relative to the register. So, an oratorio piece, a solo piece, and a Brandenburg/Michael Haydn piece. They are from the B5L series.

I have played other brands besides those two but none has had the sound that I have in my head. The Monette is the clearest and the Selmer is more diffuse but not as tinny as some others I've played.

Well, that's probably more info than you needed but that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

ML

Kevin Hilman

Thanks for the reply Manny.

The key has been the mouthpieces. I have three Monette leadpieces that I use relative to the register. So, an oratorio piece, a solo piece, and a Brandenburg/Michael Haydn piece. They are from the B5L series.

I should have guessed that an appropriate Monette mouthpiece would be the key to getting a more desireable sound on the picc. My Bb trumpet is a Bach Strad and I've had pretty good results over the past couple years using a Monette piece with it. However, even that doesn't compare to my Monette C trumpet rig! Going from my Bb to C feels like going from a Daewoo to a BMW!

If only Dave's horns didn't cost so much I could buy the whole collection...