This is a very short mini blog I've been meaning to share for a few weeks now.
In the mid summer, I asked Dave Harrison to redesign my signature series mouthpieces around his new G2 rim style.
This isn't to say that I was remotely dissatisfied with my original sigature line. I have loved them form the moment I first got my hands on them. It was just that Dave had been discussing the new rim stule recently and I figured, let's go for it.
I am so glad I did!
I hav e several different mouthpieces marketed under my name:
Lead Model
Jazz Model
Classic Model
Flugel
Cornet
Jazz Cornet (a new addition to my series)
I had every version rebuilt with the G2 rim. The feel on my chops is only subtly different, but the way the play is strikingly different - better!
The G2 rim seems to improve accuracy quite a bit. They also feel really nice against my chops for the long hours I put in.
For quite a while I have been struggling a bit with my original cornet models, so Dave did two redesign jobs for me. First, he put together a classic cornet mouthpiece with a different bowl design to allow me the flexibility to cover the crazier pieces I want to tackle without sacrificing a true cornet sound. What he came up with is positively sublime. It produces a velvty smooth cornet sound and yet, if I want to tackle some of the flashier cadenzas that ascend up in the territory of high F's and G's I can do so with a sweet flutelike sound.
The new addition to the mix is my jazz cornet model. This has a shallower cup, so the tone is a bit brighter. However, if I back way off on the air, with the new rim it will lock in on almost as velvety a sound as the classic cornet mouthpiece. This is really useful on trad jazz gigs where the cornet is used, but needs to cut a bit more than would be expected for a British brass band.
I used my new jazz cornet mouthpiece in a replica Arban model cornet on a little gig with just cornet and piano playing from the "great American song book" repertoire. The gig went beautifully and I was thrilled with the smooth sound I was able to achieve by backing off and yet, when I wanted things to sparkle a bit more, it too very little effort to brighten the sound up for musical effect.
Dave has done it again for me with his Wedge mouthpieces. I couldn't be more thrilled.
Here is the info on my original signature series. I'll have to have Dave weigh in n any changes he made in moving to the G2 rims.
Respectfully submitted,
Nick Drozdoff