New Mouth Piece - Lotus
Hi Looked long and hard, researched what I thought may be a good option. I'm rural so going to a shop to try is not easy.
I purchased a Lotus S mouth piece. . . It's roughly the same size as my current Bach and I'm really disappointed. After a week of long notes, gentle articulation, lip slurs and whisper notes the Lotus doesn't produce a clear or a pure a note as my other mouth piece. The notes are more "furry", not as clear or as "pure" in tone. Further range is more difficult as are lip slurs and pitching notes.
Perhaps I'm doing something wrong in transitioning to the Lotus, maybe it's not the right one for me. It's a huge investment for an experiment. Any advice would be very much appreciated.
3 replies
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What size is your current Bach mouthpiece? What is the difference in your Bach to the design and specs compared to the Lotus S? What persuaded you to try out a new mouthpiece? What about the Lotus sold you on trying the Lotus?
Obviously the best way to determine if a new mouthpiece will work for you is to demo them live and compare how they feel versus your current mouthpiece. But I have also found it helpful to buy some used lower priced models to get a feeling of how each compares which may help you decide what direction to go in in terms of cup size, shape, depth, backbore, etc. -
I have a Bach 3E and got the Lotus 7S which was the closest in rim size and cup depth. Persuasion was to improve on ease of playing, range an endurance. (I know mouth pieces aren't a quick fix, but find your "fit" can go a long way. Lotus' pitch is the everyone that tries their mouthpieces will find it easier. Adam Rapa has numerous videos of numerous people demo Lotus mouthpieces.
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Hello Bevan,
I picked up the trumpet again about a year and half ago after setting it down for 35 years. So I am having to redevelop my embouchure from scratch and wanted to avoid all the bad habits we picked up when we were young. Like you, I was poor back in those days and I played professionally on a Schilke 14B. I didn't have the money to go out and buy a number of mouthpieces to try. I was in the San Francisco area and did find a shop that had a few Schilke mouthpieces that I could try and landed on the 14B for mid/high range work. There wasn't a large selection of boutique trumpet mouthpieces back then and we did just fine without them.
When I rebooted trumpet playing a year and a half ago, I spent hours researching mouthpiece testimonials and design. I purchased over 20 trumpet mouthpieces from various makers. Here's what I learned... everyone is going to have a different experience with the same mouthpiece. Humans' facial/teeth structures are all unique and individuals all have different skill levels, posture, breath control, etc.
I know this may be a difficult option for you, but you should consider finding yourself a shop that has several mouthpieces available to try. Take a long road trip to the nearest city with mouthpiece dealers and enjoy that experience. There may be others that can continue to provide more guidance on Tonebase, but in the final analysis, all the wisdom they can impart will not be better than getting in front of several mouthpieces personally and trying them out for yourself.
I hope you the best!!
Shaun