How to Properly Break In A Trumpet Mouthpiece

[@rubenproost2552]

Does it need any hazing?

[@JasonKlobnakMusicInc]

?

[@jf18]

Thanks Jason! I have been playing with Bach 3C megatone for years and I would like to try these Dennis Wich mouthpieces to have a better response and execution when playing. Which of the two would be better for it, the new "Heritage" seems to be designed to make it easier even though the sound is less warm than the "American Classic"?

[@JasonKlobnakMusicInc]

I have found that after acclimation the Heritage gives me just as much warmth as my American Classic did...but I can make it bright when I need to (which I had trouble doing with the AC). I think they're both great pieces, though. If you can find a place to do an extended trial I would do both and find which one suits you the most.

[@silvioribeirodossantos6858]

Obrigado!

[@JasonKlobnakMusicInc]

Thanks for watching!

[@paulgrimm]

This is a very comfortable mp. I own one in a 4 C.

[@JasonKlobnakMusicInc]

They're great mouthpieces! I have the 4x and my main piece (the 3C).

[@jf18]

What difference should there be between 4C, 4X and the typical 3C?

[@andyquinn1125]

Jason, can you point me toward a good beginner's KZbin for young trumpet players? I'm a sax player with some aspiring young trumpet players, with no access to a trumpet teacher.

[@JasonKlobnakMusicInc]

Hi Andy - I like Bobby Spellman's channel www.youtube.com/@RidgewoodSchoolofMusic Adam Rapa's channel www.youtube.com/@lotustrumpets6739 and Charlie Porter's www.youtube.com/@CharliePorter There are a TON of other great players/teachers that have KZbin too, but those are some of my favorite to get beginners started.

[@IndianOutlaw1870]

I seem to be experiencing a reverse honeymoon effect. I couldn't play my DW 5C *at all* the first day. But after a few days, I'm starting to figure it out.

[@JasonKlobnakMusicInc]

I have found that after a few weeks it all starts settling in. Glad to hear you're liking the Wick 5C, though!

[@artvandelay8090]

You don't "break in" a mouthpiece. Mouthpieces are metal. They don't change. They don't forgive. They don't break in, like a baseball glove. The lips and the muscles are the things that change and break in. They adjust and heal. Practicing consistently and systematically on a new mouthpiece will find that permanent honeymoon with proper practice for enough time. Furthermore, that CTS system, I've tried it. It is a BAD idea. It creates too much tension in the playing. Trying to create compression with the muscles of the oral cavity in that manner causes everything in the mouth area to be too tight, it also causes tightness in the throat. AND if used incorrectly, (which we know a lot of people are going to do, even if they read the instructions) it can cause strokes and aneurisms which are deadly. Trumpet playing, even in the highest registers should be more relaxed than the way that that tire pressure gauge gimmick conditions a player to play. The magic really occurs around the aperture, inside the rim of the mouthpiece. Getting things to work powerfully and efficiently there is the key to all great playing. All of this focus on creating all of this compression in the oral cavity is a bunch of nonsense. You can practice creating compression in the oral cavity all day long, but if the embouchure is not operating efficiently, compression in the mouth is meaningless. By the way, nice jazz playing, Jason.

[@JasonKlobnakMusicInc]

Thank you for the compliment on my playing. And no, you don't actually 'break in' a mouthpiece because it's metal. However, this term is a widely accepted and understood analogy. I haven't had a single student of any age get confused that we're clearly not talking about the metal. As for the CTS; my students and I have found it beneficial to our playing. If you don't, that's fine.

[@artvandelay8090]

@@JasonKlobnakMusicInc I'm not saying that I don't believe anyone who feels that they may have gotten some gains from using the CTS. But it's very possible (and I'll say most probable) that those gains came from the mere fact that the time spent on the CTS in addition to their normal practice routines just gave them some more muscular work. If the same amount of time that they spent using the CTS was used doing something like the Caruso exercises or some of Reinhardt's high register exercises, they could have gotten even more benefit than they had gotten with the CTS. I've already stated the risks of the potential fatal injury of the CTS if used improperly, along with the issue of creating unnecessary tension even when used properly, but here is another problem that I have with the CTS in addition that I didn't mention previously: When using the CTS, the lips don't buzz. That's huge. The most important physical aspect of trumpet playing is how well and how efficiently the player utilizes his aperture and the buzz is what creates the sound. Using the CTS completely ignores that most important aspect. There are all of these teachers and experts out there who mention that "how you use your air" is the most important aspect of trumpet playing. "How you use your air." Well, what is it that controls how you use your air, or how you direct your air? It's the aperture. For some reason all of these folks want to give all the credit to the air, and make students feel like air power is the key to the whole thing, but the fact is that if the lips at the aperture don't vibrate and direct that air to the right place according to the register being played, all of that air is useless - there won't even be a sound. So this is the third reason that the CTS is a waste of time. The lips don't buzz and the air doesn't flow. And that whole thing about buzzing into the rubber hose - that's not as good as buzzing on the leadpipe or just with the mouthpiece because you can better discern the quality of your sound buzzing on just the leadpipe or the mouthpiece. Using that rubber hose is silly. What I'm saying are not necessarily just my opinions, they are actually facts to which I've given very thorough and cogent explanations, rather than someone just stating their PERCEPTION that they think the CTS helps. There are some rather credible professionals who have given the CTS their endorsement, but that's just the typical symbiotic professional courtesy. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. You endorse my product, I'll endorse your book or your method. Look, the CTS is just another gimmick from a guy who was hoping to generate some kind of retirement income for himself, while he knows that the desired goals on the trumpet can be achieved without using this ridiculous device. And I can guarantee that he never used this thing throughout his career and decided to come up with it just now. He knows just as well as I do that the standard Caruso, Gordon, Reinhardt, Stevens/Costello, Cat Anderson routines can accomplish the same thing without the risks of this gimmick device. It's just a money-making attempt. It's easy to sell gimmicks, especially today in this age where people are always looking for shortcuts. But there are no shortcuts. The best thing to develop trumpet playing is still trumpet playing.