A Tale of Two Middle Brass Mouthpieces

During my Doctoral studies at Indiana University I had two minor fields in my degree program, one being music history and the second being a special minor in brass instrument design and construction. One project for the special minor was making a natural horn from an old Couesnon mellophone bell with the help of Richard Seraphinoff (it turned out great! A photo is here, scroll down) and the other project was a research paper where I looked at elements of brass instrument design and cataloged the measurements of quite a number of horns and mouthpieces.

One thing quickly noted at that time was that while some mouthpieces are supposed to be copies of some other model, in reality they almost never are. Right in that time frame I was playing a classic Schilke FARKAS MODEL (“block letter”) mouthpiece. Supposedly Schilke only made 1000 of these before Farkas became associated with Holton. It is a very fine mouthpiece; I won my job in Nashville playing one of these. There are a number of models out there that are supposedly copies of this mouthpiece, but all have easily measurable differences. Some are even better than the original, but most are not as good. The original is a collector’s item.

As these few weeks I have been looking at every mellophone mouthpiece I can get my hands on, I was excited to finally receive my Dennis Wick 5 tenor (alto) horn mouthpiece to put to the test. The tenor horn has a longer history and a more definite place in concert music, i.e., brass banding, so this mouthpiece should be on a design level well worked out, and it is by a reputable maker. I had read that the Blessing 5 mellophone mouthpiece I previously tested is a copy of this model. Is it?

First, I was very pleased that the Wick seems to fit the Jupiter mellophone perfectly with no alteration! Let’s do some comparisons:

Inner diameter. The first reaction to the Wick #5 is I can play this! According to their literature this model has an inner diameter of 17.50 MM, while their #3 is a more traditional (for tenor horn) 18.50 MM and the #2 an even larger 19.00 MM. 17.50 MM is right around the inner diameter of a standard horn mouthpiece, a very good size for my horn player lips.

The Blessing 5 is slightly bigger. The one indispensable testing tool is a US dime. Using this for comparison (put the dime on the cup) I would put the inner diameter of the Blessing 5 as being a bit over 18 MM. In addition, it “feels” bigger than that on the face as the rim is more rounded, whereas the Wick 5 has a bit more “bite” which I think is a plus, it gives a better result in terms of tone and articulation.

(Also note: If you can tell a difference between the rims when you compare any two mouthpieces there are probably many other differences between the mouthpieces.)

Bore. This is the only dimension that actually matches—both are number 5 bore using the type of wire gauge drill measurement common in the horn world (I have a set of drills). A Giardinelli C-5 horn mouthpiece would have exactly the same bore, for a frame of reference.

Cup depth. The Wick is deeper, by about 1/16 of an inch. Either mouthpiece has a cup that is similar to that of the deepest horn mouthpieces you can find. As a result both mouthpieces curiously have something of the feel of the type of mouthpiece that works well on natural horn or early valved horn, topics on which I have written and presented a great deal.

Backbore. The Blessing has a more “open” backbore by about 1/8 inch. This is a critical dimension, one that certainly impacts articulations and playing qualities.

In short it they are similar, from the same family of mouthpiece design, but nearly every dimension is different. Thousandths of an inch matter in mouthpieces!

Playing wise the Dennis Wick 5 is the clear winner to my mind. Better articulations, basic tone better, better high range. It feels great when I play music that resembles jazz solos; it produces a huge mellow alto sound, like a low Flugelhorn. Clarity of articulation is better on the Wick than on the Blessing.

[But note: The top third of my range is more difficult on either one than on my normal horn mouthpiece with a good adapter.]

This is their smallest model of tenor horn mouthpiece and should be considered by the “serious” mellophone player or the horn player that wants a huge, dark sound on mello (or doubles on tenor horn). It is reasonably comfortable for my horn player lips. It is a really different sound than that of the more commonly used (in the USA) Mello 6 or its relatives– it is amazing actually the difference between the two styles of mouthpiece.

While I am positive about this mouthpiece overall I still think that something with a bit tighter bore and less deep cup would be even better on mellophone. For sure out marching a bit more clarity of sound and articulation would be necessary. I will keep looking for that mouthpiece–when/if I find it, and it is commercially available, I will post something about it.

UPDATE 7/10/06. Trying the two mouthpieces on different horns was also interesting; the Blessing 5 was better (!) than the Wick 5 on a King 1120 mellophone. I suspect it is something about the fit of the mouthpiece on the horn; as I said before, thousandths of an inch matter in mouthpieces.