Keeping it Interesting

October 21, 2007, John Ericson 1325No comments yet...http%3A%2F%2Fhornmatters.com%2F2007%2F10%2Fkeeping-it-interesting%2FKeeping+it+Interesting2007-10-21+19%3A57%3A00John+Ericsonhttp%3A%2F%2Fhornnotes.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F10%2F21%2Fkeeping-it-interesting%2F

A few years back I was speaking with another horn teacher, a well known one, and he commented that he changed horn and mouthpiece every couple years “to keep it interesting.” While there is probably a danger to making things too interesting, there is something to be said for keeping your eyes open and trying other things, it does keep horn playing interesting.

I finally received a Laskey 85G mouthpiece, a model I have wanted to try for a while, and have been trying it the past week. It is 18.5MM inner diameter, bigger than what I was playing by a half MM. I like how it fits my upper lip and I like the big sound. For the player used to playing something smaller than 17.5 MM it would, initially at least, be a bit too much mouthpiece. The extra MM of inner diameter will sap your endurance for a time; it would be a bit of a shock on the system. But I have found it very interesting, and this is a good point in time to try something different for me. If you think you might be up for a mouthpiece with this inner diameter it is certainly worth a try. For some players it will certainly open up your sound.