Appropriate Mouthpiece for a Marching Baritone

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shider
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Appropriate Mouthpiece for a Marching Baritone

Post by shider »

Hi folks,

here's the deal:
I'm primarily a Bass Trombone player, doubling on large Tenor. But a few years ago i got a good deal for a used Kanstul 290 Marching Baritone (which is a real rarity here!) and could not resist.. :shuffle:
I so far only played it for my own enjoyment and that (because it seems to take small shank trombone mouthpieces) was with a Denis Wick 10 or 12 CS i think. The reason for that was that this was the only small shank mouthpiece i had at hand :idk:
I absolutely adore the mellow, warm sound this horn produces and mainly play slow singing ballads with it, but i feel the mpc i used is not really the best fit, neither for me or the instrument.

It originally comes from the factory with a 6-1/2 AL trombone mouthpiece (it says so on the Kanstul website, i didn't get the original mpc) which i was kind of surprised of...

As a German, i have no idea what is ideal or usual for the marching instruments which are used in the US. Is this instrument really supposed to be played with a trombone mpc? I can only relate to the Tenorhorn/Bariton (the oval kind) we use here and they use different shanks already :idk:

Please enlighten me :mrgreen:

Greetings,
shider
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Burgerbob
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Re: Appropriate Mouthpiece for a Marching Baritone

Post by Burgerbob »

Anything up to a Wick 4BS would probably be fine.

I play mine (and have my students play theirs) with Hammond 12L or 12XL, like larger 5G and 51D.
Aidan Ritchie, LA area player and teacher
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BGuttman
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Re: Appropriate Mouthpiece for a Marching Baritone

Post by BGuttman »

I would suggest a relatively large mouthpiece also. You could look at the Wick 4AY (which is meant for the Yamaha 321 Euphonium). You can also get a Schilke 52E2 in small shank. I even tried a Warburton 3B on a 6ST shank (which is a bass trombone mouthpiece). I'm talking about regular small shank Baritones here, but it should translate.

I'll bet a Klier mouth;piece in this larger size would work as well. I'm not familiar with them, but they seem to be pretty big in EU.
Bruce Guttman
Merrimack Valley Philharmonic Orchestra
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shider
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Re: Appropriate Mouthpiece for a Marching Baritone

Post by shider »

Burgerbob wrote: Thu Jul 12, 2018 1:36 am Anything up to a Wick 4BS would probably be fine.

I play mine (and have my students play theirs) with Hammond 12L or 12XL, like larger 5G and 51D.
Thank you for your answer! The Hammond might be a bit expensive, given that i play this instrument only for myself..
BGuttman wrote: Thu Jul 12, 2018 4:37 am I would suggest a relatively large mouthpiece also. You could look at the Wick 4AY (which is meant for the Yamaha 321 Euphonium). You can also get a Schilke 52E2 in small shank. I even tried a Warburton 3B on a 6ST shank (which is a bass trombone mouthpiece). I'm talking about regular small shank Baritones here, but it should translate.

I'll bet a Klier mouth;piece in this larger size would work as well. I'm not familiar with them, but they seem to be pretty big in EU.
Yeah, Klier is more of a standard piece here, i play a 4A on my large Tenor trombones.

So, given your suggestions its nothing unusual to use a normal trombone mouthpiece for a marching baritone? There are no dedicated marching baritone mouthpieces, differing in cup shape or something different?

In that case i will probably look into the small shank Klier 4A since i'm already used to that size and they are not so pricey.

Thank you!
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JohnL
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Re: Appropriate Mouthpiece for a Marching Baritone

Post by JohnL »

shider wrote: Thu Jul 12, 2018 4:58 amSo, given your suggestions its nothing unusual to use a normal trombone mouthpiece for a marching baritone? There are no dedicated marching baritone mouthpieces, differing in cup shape or something different?
There's not really a sharp distinction between baritone/euphonium mouthpieces and trombone mouthpieces. The Schilke 51D was intended as a euphonium piece, but you'll find people using it on trombone, too. You'll also find people using 5G-ish through 3G-ish trombone mouthpieces on euphonium.
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Matt K
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Re: Appropriate Mouthpiece for a Marching Baritone

Post by Matt K »

I had that exact same model. Really nice playing instrument. I actually did a write up of it compared to a flugabone but that was before we had to wipe the site. I believe I wrote down what I wrote but it's been long enough that I don't have a crystal clear memory of it. I want to say that I used my normal XT104N/C/C3 setup on it and found that to work best for me but I could have also used my A/A3 setup as well. I have depeer cups but I seem to recall them not giving me quite the soudn that i wanted, counterintuitively. If I recall correctly, the reasoning behind it was that it already had a much darker sound than the trombone and to get it to project the way I wanted it to, the shallower cups worked very well for me.
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Re: Appropriate Mouthpiece for a Marching Baritone

Post by davebb »

I tried a Denis Wick SM4 small shank which I really liked on my 0.525 bore trombone.
I normally play large bore tenor with a 3G and find a 6-1/2al too small.
The SM4 is a Steven Mead model meant for euphonium , but the volume and larger throat might suit you.
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Re: Appropriate Mouthpiece for a Marching Baritone

Post by Mikebmiller »

I am teaching the trombone section at a HS band camp in a couple of weeks and just found out that they all play marching baritones instead of trombones. I am going to borrow one just to see how those things play.
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Burgerbob
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Re: Appropriate Mouthpiece for a Marching Baritone

Post by Burgerbob »

Depends on the brand. Some are pretty good instruments, some are not.
Aidan Ritchie, LA area player and teacher
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BGuttman
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Re: Appropriate Mouthpiece for a Marching Baritone

Post by BGuttman »

For a High School ensemble I would suggest having them use their trombone mouthpieces, as long as they fit. There's really not going to be a measurable difference on the field and you probably aren't going to do any contests indoors with the things.

If their trombone mouthpieces don't fit, get the same size in the proper shank.
Bruce Guttman
Merrimack Valley Philharmonic Orchestra
"Almost Professional"
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