Flugelhorn Mouthpiece Shootout !

Dennis Wick 4FL
Ray Farr “Diamond”
Lotus 3XFL-B
Bach 1XFL
SoundFresh Sound Freak FL-1

[@catherinedolmenartist8012]

Thank you Garot - I've recently retired my horn and started playing flugelhorn and have been searching for the deep rich sound. I loved the sound you got out of the Dennis Wick - just got it the other day and I love it. Lots of buttery sound and very comfy. Couldn't find a gold one - but still very happy! Thanks for your advice and the comparison with all the mouthpieces - you saved me some money!

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

So glad to hear and thank you for sharing... I really feel the Wick pieces are the most mellow that I own and play them when I am looking for that "buttery" flugle sound !

[@rainermeyer-arend5879]

I love the DW flugelhorn mouthpieces......oh, what a kick it is to play with my DW 2 FL (little larger diameter, 17,00 mm)....so beautiful mellow sound, really great !

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

I just picked up a new SFL and they are really nice as well !!

[@kickstand801]

So happy i found this channel. I am GOING to buy a Flugelhorn!! And now i have an idea of which mouthpiece i can use. It's gonna be interesting juggling this and trombone. Honestly, it's something i should've done ages ago, but it's never too late to learn. Thanks for all the tips!!

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

that's awesome to hear... I have considered getting a valve trombone for some time... maybe I will visit that again soon !! thanks for the comment :)

[@tomchojnowski9215]

The Bach has the best intonation and the sound is (to me) very nice and more middle of the road . The Wick almost sounds like a trombone. The Lotus is definitely different in a good way. The last mouthpiece sounds very Art Farmerish which is also a good thing. Bottom line is they all sound great so I’m just as confused as before. But intonation always wins. So if I had to chose it would be the Bach. Which is weird because I was always a fan of the Wick 4. Great video thank you for taking the time to make it. I think the Lotus has a larger throat so that is why it may be a little more diffused in the upper register.

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

yes indeed and that is the issue right? I like them all, so I guess I am fortunate to have a rather large collection of mouthpieces that I can use on a variety of things, but I for some reason "want" to have 1 that is just "the one" though I have no idea why I feel that I want that???

[@beverlyconklin3171]

Loved the 1xfl Bach sound. Great video... 💖

[@DanielRivera-jl6cv]

Honestly very thankful i came across this video, I really needed help on finding the right mouth piece for my flugelhorn. And I’m glad this video was very informative and the demonstrations were great (you played really well). All around very informative and great review.

[@frederic_viennot]

Thank you so much for sharing this video ;)))) 👏🎶✨

[@da11king]

They are all very good mouthpieces for different occasions.😊

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

for some reason I have not really gotten comfortable with changing mouthpieces, despite having hundreds of them lol I just "feel" as if I should have "one" that is it for everything??? Makes no sense when I type this out but not being a pro player, I really have no idea what they are doing in this regard...

[@IndianOutlaw1870]

I drove down to Chuck Levin's near Washington last week. Played a Scodwell flugel and a Yamaha 8315. Drove home with the Yamaha. I kinda like the 14F4 that came with it. It's not too deep.

[@benhur959]

Great horn sound!

[@ricksharonblumenthal7096]

Very cool!

[@NeoManoscaMusic]

Thanks a lot!!!

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

thanks for checking it out !!

[@davidescaravilli4393]

Bought DW 2FL gold. Waiting for it to try. Thanks.

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

Very nice piece. Enjoy :)

[@justinsmith2530]

I liked the Farr mouthpiece the best.

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

That is a great "all around piece" for sure... it's always sitting in one of my horns :)

[@richardtongi2391]

Since flugelhorn is an instrument belonging to the group of horns, the mouthpiece should have a V-shape cup. Mouthpieces with a U-shape cup are for trumpets udn trombones. Unfortunately mouthpieces with a V-shape cup are hard to find today.

[@jean-pierredevent970]

I played a Courtois Flugelhorn in a Belgian "fanfare" where flugelhorns are the main melody instruments. The DW 4 F was my mouthpiece but it doesn't project enough as highest voice in a band including bright trumpets and saxophones. It could be ideal for solo work nevertheless if the band is able to play pianissimo. It's like in England they can appreciate a band with much brass, playing very sweet and quiet, well in tune, almost like an angelic choir while here bands would even look down on that and they seem here to prefer to play "spectacular"and dynamic.

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

I love DW products but you are correct they are very diffused and fat

[@SamuelPlaysBrass]

This was a really cool comparison! Love your playing and sound concept, first of all. But it was very interesting to see how even then, the mouthpieces yielded such vastly different results! I myself play a Denis Wick 2FL in gold and find it to be the 'gold standard' for me, but these are all quite cool in their own respects (although I'll admit I'm not huge on the Bach's sound...) Out of curiosity, what do you use to record audio with? I can never seem to get good audio for my gear comparisons/reviews.

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

For recordings, not these videos, I have a pretty extensive setup at this point that takes in a good deal of analog gear in the signal chain.

[@hubertmoda3289]

Hi. Great video. Question? What are your top 2 most comfortable and easy to play on mouthpieces that help provide a mellow sound? This is for a carol brass flugelhorn

[@timothyburt8014]

The Lotus 3XFL-B sounded a lot like Chet Baker's flugelhorn tone quality. My experience with inner rim shape is "sharp bite" helps notes "slot" into place where the rolled rim (soft bite) gives more fluidity to bend pitches. (You said that just after I typed it.) When I first obtained my flugelhorn, I stuck in a Bach Cornet 3 (no letter after). I liked it, but had to do the "tape" to make it work. I have since reverted to the stock mouthpiece that came with the instrument (no name, no size marking).

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

agreed, I actually move around pieces quite a bit and seem to like different ones for no real reason... I am currently playing a Yamaha 12f3d lol

[@degelepassant1186]

I played various Curry Precision flugel mps, to end up on a Dennis Wick 2BFL... Less deep than a 2FL, IMHO better balanced between registers, still a great flugel sound, but not that "smoky" toned... Just me on an old Courtois flugel...

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

I also have several Curry models for trumpet as well, they are very nice.

[@svenkarlsson7282]

soundfresh Fl-1 was the best to my ear(thomann flugel is very good fl. if you is on low budget)beutiful plaed

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

Funny that you mention that as I have a Thomann FH900j flugel :)

[@gavriushka]

Although I might cause some problems here, I found Lotus mouthpieces to be disappointing. All of them. And that comes from a person solely playing on a Lotus trumpet. But I found that Monette mouthpiece sound far better than Lotus on them. And I’ve yet to find a more comfortable mouthpiece than my Monette, and the best part I can have the same exact rim shape and size, while getting a regular Bflat, a flugel (they call it flumpet) and a lead mouthpiece. All on the same exact rim.

[@laserjim]

A great array of sounds there. The soundfresh is something else! I'd tend towards the Wick end, but when I played Wicks on cornet as a kid I never liked the sharp inner rim. The Farr is really inexpensive still and I might trial one. It's one size fits all, with no listed dimensions - where do you find it fits on the rim size scale?

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

Ya the Farr seems to be maybe a 3-ish size? Doesn’t feel too big or too small, so kind of right in the middle I guess, but for $45 I took a chance :)

[@laserjim]

Cheers, I tend towards a 5 but it's worth a punt I think. In the UK at least they've a good trial/returns policy

[@curtelverd4008]

How does the cup depth and throat compare with the Denis Wick and Lotus? I’ve got a Wick for my flugelhorn for brass band. It’s got a great sound, but tough above the staff as well.

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

the Wick is hard to beat when it comes to fat, fluffy sound IMO but you pay for that a bit in range... the Ray Farr is better overall IMO as it can play in a wider range, but you will have to sacrifice a little of the fluffy sound.

[@johanv4128]

Thank you Garot for the Good review. I have a question I can here in Europe buy een Vincent Bach mouthpiece 1X. Is that the same as the 1XFL? Thank you. Grtz Johan

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

Yes this is the 1XFL Bach mouthpiece :)

[@SnurpyTheCat]

I bought an old Couesnon Flugel that was missing a receiver. Ya'll have any suggestions on one that would replace it?

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

Very cool. I have checked this site www.grmouthpieces.com/category-s/184.htm but also perhaps an email to J. Landress Brass might yield some results as well. Additionally, my Schilke 1040 flugelhorn receivers fit into my 1971 Couesnon, so they may not be "unstandard"

[@SnurpyTheCat]

@@GarotMichaelConklin Awesome, Yeah I figured maybe because of the French taper it might be specific in a different way than the other tapers. Thanks for the info. I'll check it out.

[@golf4funjn532]

Great review! Any idea of the diameter of the Soundreak or what size it would be compared to a Bach mp?

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

Pretty sure it’s a 16.33mm cup diameter, it says medium deep but it’s deep to me, not Denis Wick FL deep but not trumpet medium for sure. Despite having lots of mouthpieces there is no issue using this one at all in terms of feel, it really feels inconsequential to me so I can switch to it very easily for most of my recordings.

[@golf4funjn532]

@@GarotMichaelConklin Thanks Michael. I use a Bach 10.5 size so it would be a little large for me.

[@user-hu2zb6qw2g]

You need to try an Austin Custom Brass Custom Reserve flugel mouthpiece. You’ll never play anything else.

[@Ivansgarage]

The mouthpieces kind of look like a cornet piece, right, wrong... your thoughts....

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

yes the Wick Flugelhorn mouthpieces look very much like a cornet mouthpiece but the shanks are very different :)

[@Ivansgarage]

I am hooked on the Tenor/Alto horn, they use a trombone mouth piece, way bigger than trumpet...

[@johngoodfellow4776]

I guess I am very partial to Denis Wick--and on that Schilke Flugel, it sounds really niece and warm and smokey. You said you are playing on a 4Fl Wick, have you ever played on a wick 2Fl, if you have how would you rate it?

[@johngoodfellow4776]

Your statement of being able to play higher on the larger mouthpiece, is not strange to me, as my trumpet mouthpiece is a Schilke 24, and have better range, with much better intonation, so much so, I would love to have a Flugel mouthpiece with the Wick depth, backbore and throat, but with the Schilke rim contour and width. These are just my thoughts and feelings. Keep the videos coming, I thoroughly enjoy, thanks much. Regards John.

[@johngoodfellow4776]

I am very sorry for my spelling, but I get so into these talks, that I forget to proof read. Sorry again. Regards John.

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

Yes I would agree that the Wick really had the most "flugelhorn" traditional sound, so buttery and "phat" ... it's funny as I look back at videos like this one, on any given day, literally ANY of my mouthpieces can be "the one" lol strange but that is what I have found over the years... perhaps that is the next video !! Thanks for taking the time to provide your comments :)

[@user-sl5bg4kh6h]

Hi there, the Farr sounds good 😊 can you tell me the diameter of the Rim ?

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

sorry I cannot, they do not specify what it is even on their own website: www.rayfarrflugels.com/diamond-mouthpiece

[@ethanearnest5192]

what tune is played at 5:53 ???

[@GarotMichaelConklin]

It’s just a line that I made up that I like to play as part of my daily warm up :)

[@rickberry4477]

GR FL 62.5 in gold. 😎