Are mouthpiece differences all in the head?

[BrassSection]

100% happy with French horn mouthpiece, tenor trombone mouthpiece, euph mouthpiece, and tuba mouthpiece. Trumpet…it’s basically ok. I have 3 trumpet mouthpieces, original Holton MF 3 that came with the horn, Bach 12 previous owner used, and an old Olds 3 that came with an old Bohland and Fuchs trumpet. Several times I’ve tried Olds and Holton in trumpet during practice, after 5 minutes it’s “Nope, this ain’t cutting it” and back to the Bach. Ditto borrowed mouthpieces from other players.

First song this morning was trumpet. Most notes in or above the staff. Felt fine on the chops, sounded normal. Trombone next two songs. Putting horns away, and WHAT?? I was playing the Holton mouthpiece in the trumpet. Are differences in mouthpieces more in the head than on the face? Was wondering if it was all in my head, then I realized probably not. Nothing else is in there…

Need to try a blind test sometime on a couple horns to see. Curious to see if others have experienced anything like this.

[hyperbolica]

Need to try a blind test sometime on a couple horns to see. Curious to see if others have experienced anything like this.

I have a hard time relating to your story of being so facile with so many different instruments and mouthpiece sizes and shapes. I definitely can't do that.

But I can adapt to just about any rim shape it seems. Some people have trouble adapting to rim shapes.

Anyway, It's not all in your head, meaning it's not just a made up feeling. There's a combo of feel and sound, and the mouthpiece vibrating vibrates inside your head, so it can be difficult to hear the actual sound with all of that vibration going on. So in that sense, yes, it's in your head.

But mouthpieces are definitely different from one another, and physical differences change the way they feel and sound. I've tried the blind test thing, and I can always pick out my favorites and least favorites.,

Other aspects of a horn I might pass over one time and pick as a Fav the next - things like leadpipes or the whole horn itself.

The real problem for me comes when the things I'm testing are very different, and both of them have great characteristics, but they are great in different ways. It's not just a good/bad thing. There is a multi axis set of criteria, and sometimes you might prefer the clarity and other times you might prefer the depth and sometimes the articulation or slotting or intonation.... When I waver when selecting hardware, this is the biggest difficulty for me - selecting which axis is the most important.

[BrianJohnston]

Mouthpiece differences are definitely more than in the head. I feel a difference if a throat is off by .001inch

[Richard3rd]

For the other horns, are you playing what came with them? That's hard to believe. And if not, why are you doing that with the trumpet? I play all those horns too. I have boxes of mouthpieces for each of them as what works isn't the same over time and with all models of instruments. Experimenting is how you find the right match. That being said, Yamaha makes fine mouthpieces that are not expensive.

[GabrielRice]

no

[BrassSection]

For the other horns, are you playing what came with them? That's hard to believe. And if not, why are you doing that with the trumpet? I play all those horns too. I have boxes of mouthpieces for each of them as what works isn't the same over time and with all models of instruments. Experimenting is how you find the right match. That being said, Yamaha makes fine mouthpieces that are not expensive.

I’m the whole brass section in our church band. “Music” consists of guitar chord sheet to give me a starting point. Basically orchestrate and compose on the fly. Match horn to style of songs being played. Generally start on trumpet, then work my way through low brass according to needs. Trombone generally gets most use, but euph regular and French horn occasionally. Only quick switch that throws me is trumpet to French horn, got to be real careful getting first note right. Not unusual to end on an upbeat song, so trumpet comes back out…sometimes just for a big ending after starting on trombone.

Now mouthpiece history.

French horn: Snatched daughters MP stash and narrowed it down to two. Little time on each and picked the Bach 7. Probably 20 years ago, still works fine for me.
Tenor trombone: Thanks Dad! Dad gave me his late 40s Army band days baritone MP, Bach 12SC. Used it on baritones all through school and beyond. Picked up trombone and that listed as a trombone mouthpiece has been my go to trombone MP ever since. OEM was a King 3. Playable, but funnel shaped and gives horn almost a French horn sound. Good sub if I don’t want to transpose on horn, but doesn’t have the sound I want.
Euph: OEM Olds 3 great for below the staff for me, not so much into and above the staff. Plugged in a Bach 12 I had with an adapter and it gave me in the staff, but not much above it. Talked to a few pro euph guys, advise “Try 6 1/2 AL. That’s the one for me too. Full range, easy to play, good tone.
Tuba: Gifted a nice 1930s Conn. Came with a King 25. Only gets pulled out occasionally for an ensemble. MP works well for me, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

Trumpet: Bought a used Holton Maynard Ferguson model from guy I worked with. OEM MF3 MP included, along with the Bach 12 he was using. Little time on both and I went with Bach as well. Worked ok, sounds good, not bad comfort wise, but just not as content with that compared to the others. Have an ancient Bohland and Fuchs trumpet, came with an Olds 3 MP. Not a good fit in the Holton. It’s the only mouthpiece I’ve found that makes the old horn play in tune, my other ones make it flat. Tried other MPs borrowed from friends, keep going back to the Bach 12. I’ve even picked an occasional week to give the MF a fair shake. Nope, still not it, Bach it is.

[Grotewobbo]

As a brass player I feel the space of your mouthpiece becomes your universe where 1 mm change in depth, width etc in the real world becomes the difference in lightyears. I can play any mouthpiece but I really feel the small differences like huge steps.

[Richard3rd]

Wow. You have an incredibly high tolerance for generic and plain Jane mouthpieces. I guess one would say good for you. Most players would never play on any of those mouthpieces to get the best out of those instruments, let alone have an accepted characteristic sound for each. But hey, there have been players in the past who did the same and seemed to do okay. It's just these days most players have moved on.

[LIBrassCo]

Mouthpiece differences are definitely more than in the head. I feel a difference if a throat is off by .001inch

Where there is certainly a great deal of importance in keeping specs consistent on mouthpieces, no one, and I mean no one, can feel, play, or sound any different with a .001" difference in a throat measurement.

[harrisonreed]

Mouthpiece differences are definitely more than in the head. I feel a difference if a throat is off by .001inch

I believe this, especially since the change would either lengthen the throat or necessitate a new taper in the backbore, but I also feel like this could be quite a handicap if that kind of variance becomes a problem for you as a player. If something is off by .02 (like a .271 throat vs .295) then it definitely is going to change how I have to play. But if I'm getting picky over a .295 vs .296 throat, and I'm not saying you're being picky and maybe it's just that you can tell the difference which I think is incredible, I would think I've got other things I need to work out in my playing approach.

[BrianJohnston]

I’ve had a custom that was a .276 it played well, but I wanted a bit more free blowing and a larger warmer sound. We opened it up to .277 and voila.

This isn’t to say the .276 wasn’t good, I was able to successfully play on it, just the .277 was $

[BrassSection]

Wow. You have an incredibly high tolerance for generic and plain Jane mouthpieces. I guess one would say good for you. Most players would never play on any of those mouthpieces to get the best out of those instruments, let alone have an accepted characteristic sound for each. But hey, there have been players in the past who did the same and seemed to do okay. It's just these days most players have moved on.

Two things in life I’ve never been accused of:
A. Being a fisherman
B. Being normal

[MStarke]

I’ve had a custom that was a .276 it played well, but I wanted a bit more free blowing and a larger warmer sound. We opened it up to .277 and voila.

This isn’t to say the .276 wasn’t good, I was able to successfully play on it, just the .277 was $

In theory this may certainly make a difference. It marginally changes the actual bore, the geometry and also marginally reduces the weight in that area. However for most people this difference will be in their heads. Which doesn't mean they are crazy, it just means that placebo effect is a real thing which is also considered in the medical area.

I am not that sensitive for sure.